Cristin Milioti wins first ever Emmy for ‘The Penguin’

Cristin Milioti has officially joined the list of Emmy winners after taking home her very first statuette at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. 

The actress, best known for her role as Sofia Falcone in HBO Max’s The Penguin, won Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series or Movie during Sunday night’s ceremony on September 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

The category was stacked with heavyweights including Cate Blanchett (Disclaimer), Meghann Fahy (Sirens), Rashida Jones (Black Mirror), and Michelle Williams (Dying for Sex), but it was Milioti who came out on top. 

At 40, the actress looked stunned as her name was called and admitted through tears that she had quickly scribbled her speech. 

“I’m sorry, I wrote this on the back of notes I took in therapy the other day, so don’t look at the back,” she said while holding onto the paper. 

She then thanked colleagues, friends, and family before ending her speech with joy, “I love acting so much, wooo!”

Milioti’s performance as Sofia Falcone has been one of the standout elements of The Penguin. 

Her character, a dangerous and unpredictable figure newly freed from Arkham Asylum, embarks on a dark mission to avenge her brother Alberto, played by Michael Zegen. 

Across the season, she clashes with Colin Farrell’s Oswald “Oz” Cobb, better known as The Penguin, as the two battle for dominance over Gotham City’s criminal world.

While promoting the series earlier in September, Milioti also expressed her admiration for other actresses who have taken on iconic DC roles. 

She shared that although she hasn’t yet spoken with Zoë Kravitz or Crystal Reed, she hopes to connect with them one day. 

“I think they’re fabulous,” she said. Reed previously played Sofia Falcone on Fox’s Gotham, while Kravitz starred as Catwoman in 2022’s The Batman.

Describing the HBO Max series herself, Milioti called the first season “unpredictable, twisted, and weird,” adding with a laugh that it’s “weirder than you might expect.”