Emmy nominees discuss the upside of a virtual ceremony: 'If you lose, all you have to do is just log out'

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Published on August 24, 2020 02:00PM EDT

On account of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Emmys, like so many other major events, are going to look a little different this year. But that doesn't have to be a bad thing.

During a new roundtable conversation for EW's The Awardist, some of this year's multi-nominated Emmy contenders — in this case, Angela Bassett, Giancarlo Esposito, Dan Levy, Maya Rudolph, Wanda Sykes, and Ramy Youssef — dished on some of the positives of having a virtual ceremony for this year's awards show.

"One thing I'm happy about is I have a really huge family — of course, my four daughters and other folks who represent us — and it would be wonderful to have a place, a party, where we could all be together in a more relaxed fashion," Esposito, who is nominated for his performances in The Mandalorian and Better Call Saul, said. "So that I'm very excited about. It allows us to have a more home feeling. I think it's going to be an interesting year, but we're all looking to make it fun."

"It's also kind of nice too, because if you lose, all you have to do is just log out," Youssef, who is up for directing and starring in Hulu dramedy Ramy, joked. "That's way easier than having to walk around and be like, 'Congrats, man, that's really dope.' You just shut your computer."

"By the end of the night, it's just empty black squares," Levy added. Levy is nominated four times over for his work writing, directing, producing, and starring in Schitt's Creek.

The group did lament, however, that they will miss running into people at the annual awards show, with everyone agreeing that some sort of virtual Zoom bar should happen instead.

The 2020 Emmys are set to air on Sunday, Sept. 20 live from coast to coast starting at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Jimmy Kimmel has been tapped to host.

For more with the nominees, check out the video above.

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