“Do not fuck with a woman from NYC,” exclaimed comedian/actress Alex Borstein, accepting her award for The Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment Made in NY Award at this year’s NYWFT Muse Awards.
The “Mrs. Maisel” star reminded 700 guests seated for a sumptuous steak dinner at Cipriani 42nd Street, she was not actually “made in New York,” but everyone seemed to think she was, maybe because as Susie Myerson she epitomized the brash, pushy person who could be a talent agent.
The actress said her parents never called to congratulate her for any of her work, but they did for “Mrs. Maisel.”
“You were good,” said Borstein’s mother, while her father asked, “Why weren’t you the lead?” Her mother — yes, her own mother — replied, “Because the skinny one with the perfect tits is the lead.” This may have bothered her growing up, she said, but as the Muses dispense advice, now she knows: “You are enough.”
Canadian actress Tantoo Cardinal — whose personal story informed Martin Scorsese’s Oscar nominated “Killers of the Flower Moon” — had gratitude to family, particularly her grandmother who picked her up from the “dregs of genocide.” When her grandfather spoke her name, she said, “I knew he knew me.” And when he died, she wore an eagle feather in her hair for him. That was brave, she told the crowd. Of indigenous descent, she was taught to be ashamed of who she was.
“Wonderstruck” and “A Quiet Place” actress Millicent Simmons — whose hearing impairment has not affected her career — accepted the Loreen Arbus Changemaker Award. Her mother was discouraged from learning to sign by doctors who thought that would slow her, a deaf baby, in learning to speak. A riveting performer, in “A Quiet Place II,” she led the cast including writer/director John Krasinski and Emily Blunt, and often gave them notes.
Actress Kyra Sedgwick has taken on directing. Her husband Kevin Bacon, who is one degree away from. advised her: she was great at directing, if only she would never say “I’m sorry,” as in, Sorry, but we’re doing another take. This gave the audience a hearty, knowing chuckle.
One comedienne was missed by all: Fran Drescher — who had spent the year doing serious work in shepherding actors through strikes to a successful new contract — had a sad reason to be absent. Now, She was sitting shiva for her father. Morty Drescher passed away March 20th at age 94.
Drescher sent remarks that included: “I am his daughter and I am so happy he got to see me not only achieve success as an actor, but even more importantly as a labor leader because doing volunteer work on behalf of the greater good was the ethics by which he raised me.”
