Workers move an Emmy statue as preparations are underway for the 64th annual Emmy Awards, outside the Nokia Theatre at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles, California September 19, 2012. The Emmy, a statuette of a winged woman holding an atom, will be awarded for excellence in television at the Emmy Awards on September 23, 2012. AFP / Robyn Beck
LOS ANGELES – The Emmy Awards were still a day away, but the Nokia Theatre was already abuzz Saturday as celebrities popped in to run through their lines for Sunday’s ceremony.
TV stars such as Aziz Ansari, Matthew Perry, Ginnifer Goodwin and Hayden Panettiere practiced presenting awards on the Emmy stage inside the mostly empty theater ahead of Sunday’s ABC broadcast.
Ansari, of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” sported a red polo, tan slacks and a phony British accent as he delivered his introduction with a bottle of coconut water in hand.
“I feel like people take your acting more seriously when you’re British,” he quipped.
When Goodwin, of ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” stepped on stage, her first question was: “Where am I sitting?” The pixie-haired actress squinted her eyes as she attempted to spot her place card in the crowd.
Dressed casually in a matching floral print top and jeans with black ballerina flats, Goodwin kept her purse around her shoulder as she pretended to present an Emmy.
Panettiere, who is starring in the new ABC drama “Nashville,” presented an award “for this rehearsal only” to a stand-in for “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner, but she mispronounced his name. Producers quickly corrected the actress, who probably won’t make the same mistake if Weiner wins Sunday.
Also spotted backstage Saturday were Andre Braugher of ABC’s “Last Resort” and Lena Dunham, who’s up for the best actress in a comedy trophy for her HBO series “Girls.”
___