Sarah Silverman received an unexpected SAG nomination for Best Lead Actress yesterday, for her turn as a mom suffering from addiction and depression in I Smile Back. She’s the wild card in the mix, and her nomination was just as surprising to her. Silverman revealed, in a new interview with People Magazine, that when her manager called her all choked up and crying from the news, Silverman assumed that “someone had died.” Unfortunately she’s been touched by loss recently, her mom died just this August and Silverman so misses her that she emailed her to tell her that she was nominated. I’m getting choked up just writing this and am going to hug my mom today.
I answered the phone and she was sobbing,” Silverman, who was nominated for her dramatic turn in I Smile Back, tells PEOPLE. “I thought somebody died. I didn’t realize these were being announced [today]. Silverman happened to be awake-ish at the early hour of the nominations announcement thanks to her commitment to attend The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Breakfast.
“I feel like I’m kind of slumming it being in the company of like Dame Helen Mirren and Cate Blanchett and all those hacks,” Silverman joked to reporters at the event about her fellow Female Actor in a Leading Role nominees. “But yeah, I’m totally in shock.”
So who did Silverman share her good news with first?
“I didn’t tell anybody,” she admits. “You learn early in Hollywood not to share your wares or brag. My mom died in August, but I email her good news, so I emailed her. On my birthday I wrote her a really long email and today, I found a picture of the list of names, the five [actress’] names and I sent her the picture and I said, ‘I got nominated! And I miss you,’ it’s so corny.'”
There’s nothing corny about her nomination, which many, Silverman included, considered a big surprise.
“I worked so hard in therapy to not let my self-esteem be defined by outside sources but today, f— it,” she says. “I’ve just been letting myself feel really nice from it. I’m totally shocked. I’m not trying to be humble. Everyone who works with me is shocked, it’s so lovely, it was unexpected and I’m really letting it make me feel great.”
“This is just an unbelievable frosting on a great cake of a good life,” Silverman told reporters earlier in the day. “But I’m excited because most starlets are discovered at 45, and I just turned 45.”
Ha “most starlets are discovered at 45.” I haven’t seen this movie but I know Silverman’s work in Masters of Sex and she can act. This is validation of that. Plus she got a nomination from her peers for a relatively obscure film while Jennifer Lawrence’s work in Joy wasn’t acknowledged. She’s up against some big names and while she might not win the SAG I hope this leads to more work from her. Silverman has been honest and open about her personal battle with depression and anxiety, and she revealed how deeply affected she was. She’s a rare celebrity who lays it on the line and is not afraid to be herself. Plus she’s hilarious. I’m rooting for her.
Photo credit: WENN.com
I completely understand how she battled her anxiety by not letting being defined by what others think. I have struggled with this since I started to work in a high profile law firm where everybody constantly judges everyone else. I think this is extremely important to let go the perfect version of yourself and just allow yourself to be the vulnerable, imperfect you. It’s easier said than done, though.
I never liked her very much, since the one time I watched her show she urinated in a bucket for some reason, and I just sort of wrote her off. But that story made me feel really bad for her, being unable to share something so special with her mother, and what she said about validation. I liked her in this interview.
I never liked her either, but have changed my mind in the last year or so. I’ve listened to her on a few podcasts, read a few interviews, and I like the acting work she’s been doing vs her comedy show, which I didn’t care for. It’s interesting to watch her take her career in a whole new direction.
Neither do I and I don’t get her jokes. She isn’t funny, at all. She’s kind of like a Chelsea Handler, to me.
Sarah is one those rarities that are so refreshing in their perspective, that it’s like a ray of sunshine in a dark room. She’s so honest, painfully so and so smart. I enjoy her hugely. I wish her more success and great things. I also was very impressed by her admission of her lifelong battle with Depression. She was so honest and was brave to share such personal information.
I love her she’s so funny. And this is superficial to say but she does not age!
What she says about her mother isn’t corny at all. A note or a saved voice mail from a parent you’ve lost is a treasure.
Definitely. I email my dad from time to time, so I get it.
I’m already having an emotional day and this just sent me over the edge. Calling my mother right now.
It would be touching had she not insured the world knew about it via People..campaign step one..
My brother in law passed away this Spring unexpectedly and tragically at 39. I still have his number in my phone and post messages to him on Facebook. I understand her emailing Mom. Hug all of your relatives and tell them how much you love them while you can.
I’m sorry for your loss- I’ve emailed my father-in-law who passed and felt weird but also good to “try” and connect with him. I can’t delete his number from my phone or his email…..I don’t think I ever will.
I don’t really follow her but I think this is lovely. There’s no rule stating you can’t talk to your dead mom. Frankly, I’m envious of those of you who can just pick up the phone. :-/ it’s much harder to get an answer back from the other side. Which isn’t to say it’s impossible. But what I wouldn’t give for just one more phone call with so many I’ve loved and lost. Forget wrinkles. This is totally the worst part of getting older.
I never truly understood the depth of loss it is to lose a parent until going through it (lost both this year). And my mother said that losing a spouse was the worst thing she had ever experienced (more so than parents or siblings, which were hard enough).
So sorry for your losses. I cannot fathom losing both in one year.
I know what she means my mom died this past September from her fight with cancer after being diagnosed just one year prior. She never quit fighting and we had such hope. I tell her how much I love her daily. I swear I can hear her still reply that she loves me more. I miss so much.
I actually know Ms. Silverman and she is as amazing as all of you might imagine her to be. She’s warm, kind, and completely grounded.
Her book was really great as well, I thought. Hilarious mixed with some sad and one particularly tragic story from her childhood. I’ve liked her ever since reading it.
I get it….I used to text my Dad with good news for about 6 months after he passed. Took me a year to delete his number from my phone….I still always think to call him first when something happens, good or bad, those type of emotional reflexes don’t go away…
this post and comments are so sweet. Hugs to everyone who’s lost somebody special. On a lighter note, I think she’s got a really cute figure and she is very pretty.
Sarah Silverman is one of my personal heroes. Thanks for covering her even though so many readers seem to despise her. I could be wrong, but I get the feeling most just don’t understand her comedy and how smart it actually is despite being off the wall silly.