It was an unforgettable evening for Jean Smart!

The Tricks star won the honor of Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series at the 2024 Emmy Awards on Sunday, September 15, and began her speech with, “Thank you. Thank you so much. It’s very humbling, really.”

“And I appreciate that, because I just don’t get enough attention,” Smart, 72, joked, adding as the audience laughed, “I’m serious!”

The other nominees in the category included Ayo Edebiri from The BearKristen Wiig from Palm RoyaleMaya Rudolph from LootQuinta Brunson of Abbott Elementary School and Selena Gomez of Only murders in the building.

Smart also won the award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for her role in Tricks in 2021 and 2022. She has won a total of six Emmy Awards in her career, from a total of 13 nominations.

The actress, who plays comedian Deborah Vance in the popular series Max, previously said she had mixed feelings when she first read the script.

“When I read the script, I said, ‘This is everything I could ever want for my next job,’” Smart said The Hollywood Reporter in June. “But I had to make sure that real comedians could believe that I was a comedian.”

“I’d never been a comedian, so that was the real litmus test. And I passed, I think!” she added.

This is the second Emmy nomination for Edebiri, who plays chef Sydney Adamu on the hit series The BearLast year she won the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the same role.

In addition to his role as executive chef at Chicago restaurant The Bear, Edebiri, 28, directed episode 6 of the Hulu show’s third season, titled “Napkins.”

In an interview with Fashion At the 2024 Met Gala, she also spoke about transitioning to directing: “I started out writing and acting, so I feel like I know things from behind the camera and in front of the camera, and just (getting) the chance to zoom out.”

Edebiri also spoke highly of The Bear cast and shared that it was “a dream to work alongside them and collaborate with them in a different way. It was really cool to see that skill from a different perspective.”

On Palm RoyaleWiig plays Maxine Simmons, who tries to gain access to the exclusive high society of Palm Beach in 1969, opposite Carol Burnett.

At the Apple TV+ series premiere in Los Angeles in March, the 51-year-old actress and comedian told PEOPLE that the legendary performer “has become a really good friend of mine.”

“We eat together, talk, text and she’s so funny,” Wiig said. “I spoke to her yesterday and she made everyone laugh out loud.”

“And I’m a better person because of knowing her. I just love her,” she added.

Rudolph, 52, stars as philanthropic billionaire Molly Wells in Loot. And in an interview with Term, The actress opened up about what initially attracted her to the role in the Apple TV+ series.

“Molly is such a fun character because she can be anything,” she said. “The first dive into the idea of ​​playing Molly is that you’re playing a billionaire, and that just feels like endless fun — the dream of all dreams. If you had all the money in the world, what would you do?”

“What I loved about this particular project is that Molly has all the money in the world and she wants to use it for good,” Rudolph continued. “It’s a combination of those two things. I love the ridiculous and I also love the heart. Those are really my two favorite things, and it feels really fortunate when I get to balance the two because I love playing both.”

She added: “They don’t always go together, but in this particular case she feels like a beautiful combination of the two.”

Brunson stars as Janine Teagues, a Philadelphia teacher, in the ABC series, which she also created, wrote and executive produced.

The 34-year-old actress previously spoke candidly about Janine’s decision to join the precinct and how Season 3 gave her the chance to show a new side to her character.

“I always wanted this evolution for Janine,” she said The Hollywood Reporter in may. “I always joke that (Janine) watched some YouTube videos over the summer. She learned a quick makeup tutorial. She learned how to define her curls, (and her best friend) Erika took her shopping.”

“And to be honest, we give Janine a lot of s— in season one and season two, but I think the person she evolved from is still important and still valid and still beautiful. I want to be clear and say that it’s not that we thought she was a troll,” she added. “It’s evolution.”

Gomez, 32, received her first Emmy nomination this year for her role as Mabel Mora in Only murders in the building.

And the actress is grateful to the show’s writers for keeping the storylines fresh.

“I’m going to give the writers all the credit, because they shocked me. I’m a realist, so of course in my head I’m thinking, ‘How many people can be in our building and this happens?’” Gomez said The Hollywood reporter. “And every time they lay out the storyline for me, they point out important arcs that each of our characters are going to go through. I’ve found that they’ve really given my character the opportunity to grow.”

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“I think she was feeling a little bit more lost, and this season in particular, she’s very much in control of (herself) and the situation,” she continued of Mabel. “So I feel very proud to be growing with the show.”

Watch PEOPLE’s complete coverage of the 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, broadcast live on ABC from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.