Although Mark Duplass is nominated for an Emmy on Sunday for his role as Chip on “The Morning Show,” he admits he doesn’t prepare an acceptance speech before the big night.
“But I have a tuxedo,” he told me Friday night at the Television Academy’s Performer Nominee Celebration at Wallis in Beverly Hills. “I’m looking forward to my tuxedo.”
Then he joked: “Have you seen ‘Dumb and Dumber’?”
Duplass, who has never shied away from talking about his mental health struggles, also revealed his plans for Emmy morning to help ease any social anxiety he might feel at the awards show.
“I go to the gym and work out and try to get rid of my social anxiety,” he said. “I’m an elliptical guy. I used to be a runner, but now I’m 47. Nothing can give you that runner’s high, but I want to keep my knees. I need my endorphins and the elliptical gives them to me. I like a four-mile, 36-minute ride with breaks. I can get pretty much everything I need at that point. Then I go for a walk and catch up on my phone calls. That gets me about 15,000 steps.”
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“The Morning Show” has 16 nominations, including best actress in a drama series nods for Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Duplass called the decision of which co-star to vote for “Sophie’s decision.”
“But yes, I made a decision,” he said, laughing, when asked who he had voted for.
Duplass hopes his second Emmy nomination as an actor – he was also nominated for “The Morning Show” in 2020 – will draw more attention to his independent projects. “It’s cool, but I’ve gotten away from the need to be nominated,” he said. “I went to therapy. I’m a good boy. But when you get it, you realize, ‘Oh, there’s still a little bit of ego in there and it feels good to be stroked.’
“And then my pragmatic side thinks, ‘Oh, maybe this will open up more roles for me. Maybe this means I can cast myself in my own independent projects and they’ll sell better and more people will see them,'” he continued. “It’s like a whole ecosystem for me.”
The Emmys air Sundays at 5 p.m. PT on ABC.
