“The Bear”'s Liza Colón-Zayas Admits She Didn't Write Emmys Speech Because She Didn't Think Winning Was 'Possible'

The actress won her first Emmy Award for best supporting actress in a comedy

One of this year's comedy all-stars has officially been crowned at the 2024 Emmy Awards.

The Bear star Liza Colón-Zayas won the award for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series at the annual ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 15, her first Emmy win ever.

"Thank you for lowering the microphone for me," she quipped. "Thank you to my husband David Zayas, he told me to write a speech and I didn't, because I didn't think it would be possible. How could I have thought it would be possible to be in the presence of Meryl Streep and Carol Burnett and Janelle and Sheryl Lee Ralph. I love you all, I revere you to the bottom of my heart. My mamí, mamí, I thank you. My family, my grandkids, thank you."

"Thank you for giving me a new life with this show. And to all the Latina who are looking at me, keep believing and vote. Vote for your rights." she concluded her speech.

Related: Why The Bear Is Nominated in the Comedy Category for the 2024 Emmys

Colón-Zayas is one of The Bear's whopping 23 nominations. The show is also up for outstanding comedy series, outstanding supporting actor in a comedy for Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Lionel Boyce, outstanding actress in a comedy for Ayo Edebiri and outstanding actor in a comedy for Jeremy Allen White.

In the hit FX series about a Chicago restaurant and its eclectic kitchen staff, Colón-Zayas, 52, plays Tina Marrero, who steadily ascends inside White's Chef Carmy's kitchen.

This was her first-ever Emmy nomination, and she told Variety that it validated her decades-long career. "To have the world day, 'We see you,' and I will dare to say, 'Here are my peers.' Carol Burnett raised me. Meryl Streep is a queen. Sheryl Lee Ralph too. Being in that company with those women is beyond."

In addition to Colón-Zayas, the nominee pool included two Abbott Elementary stars, Janelle James and Sheryl Lee Ralph, along with Palm Royale's Carol Burnett, Hacks star Hannah Einbinder and Meryl Streep for Only Murders in the Building.

Related: The Bear and Shōgun Lead 2024 Emmy Nominations: See the Full List

Burnett's nomination in the category marks her 26th Emmy nomination. She last took an Emmy home at last year's ceremony for outstanding variety special for her birthday special, Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love.

In Palm Royale, the legendary actress played the rich community's ringleader Noma, who was unconscious for a majority of the series, but Burnett, 91, told PEOPLE it was "a lot of fun" to speak some "gibberish" for the role. She also shared her hopes for the show's second season, which has since been greenlit.

"Now there's a whole new mystery about who [Noma] really is," Burnett said of the season 1 finale's big reveal: that Noma murdered her own roommate and stole her identity years ago.

The show earned 11 nominations, including outstanding comedy series and an outstanding lead actress in a comedy nod for Kristen Wiig.

Related: Allison Janney's Dad Is Finally Impressed with Her Career Thanks to Palm Royale Costar Carol Burnett (Exclusive)

Einbinder is one of five Hacks castmembers to earn a nomination for the HBO comedy's acclaimed third season.

The show earned 16 nominations this year and has a total of 48 from its three-season run. Paul W. Downs was recognized for his role as Jimmy Lusaque Jr. for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series, Jean Smart got a nod for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series and Christopher Lloyd and Kaitlin Olson were nominated for outstanding guest actor and actress in a comedy, respectively. Hacks was also nominated for outstanding comedy series and for comedy writing.

Both Einbinder, 29, and Smart, 72, have previously been nominated for their roles on the comedy, where Smart plays legendary comic Deborah Vance who takes aspiring comic Ava (Einbinder) under her wing. Smart has won the Emmy for the previous two seasons of the show.

Related: Hacks Star Megan Stalter Wishes She'd Seen Bisexual Characters on TV Growing Up: 'I Would've Known Sooner' (Exclusive)

James was nominated for her role as Abbott Elementary's hilariously out of touch principal Ava Coleman for the last three years.

The show has been a hit at the awards show since its premiere in 2021, securing a win for Sheryl Lee Ralph in 2022, which made history as Ralph claimed the second-ever win for a Black woman in the category, and earning seven nominations for the first season, which creator Quinta Brunson told PEOPLE at the time was a "dream."

The ABC sitcom earned a total of five nominations this year, including outstanding comedy series, outstanding actress in a comedy for Brunson, outstanding supporting actor in a comedy for Tyler James Williams, and another nod for Ralph in the same category as James.

Related: Quinta Brunson Says Abbott Elementary Crossover with Mystery Show will 'Change Television as We Know It'

More than a year after joining Only Murders in the Building as Broadway star Loretta Durkin — the love interest of Martin Short's Oliver Putnam — Streep, 75, has earned her first Emmy nomination for the Hulu series. The nod marks the sixth-ever nomination, her first since her 2020 nod for Big Little Lies, for Streep, who is a three-time winner.

She previously collected wins in 2017 for outstanding narrator for Netflix's The Price of Victory, in 2004 for outstanding lead actress in a miniseries or movie for Angels in America, and her first win came in 1978 for outstanding lead actress in a limited series for Holocaust.

Short, 74, previously told PEOPLE that Streep "phoned [him] and said, 'I want to be [on the show],'" but it was "coincidental" that she joined as his onscreen love interest.

"She's fabulous," he added of his costar. "There's no one who doesn't adore her."

Related: Only Murders in the Building Creator Knew Meryl Streep Was the 'Perfect Person' to Play Martin Short's Love Interest

Ralph is nominated for the third straight year for her role as kindergarten teacher Barbara Howard on Abbott Elementary. She's joined by James in the category, and the sitcom earned three other nominations as well, including outstanding comedy series.

Ralph, 67, won the award in 2022 after her first nomination, and captured the audience's hearts with her stunning acceptance speech that included a verse from Diane Reeves' "Endangered Species." She later told Jennifer Hudson that she'd had the "speech prepared since [she] was 5 years old."

"I was ready, you know, ever since Tinker Bell came out of that steeple and was starting to make dreams come true, I've been practicing the speech," she said, though she admitted, "When they called my name, all of it went out of my head. I could remember absolutely nothing."

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