Sally Field Proves She's in a Category of Her Own With Emmys Speech
Zendaya, Connor Storrie and More Emmys 2026 Nominations Snubs and Surprises
Sally Field is having a remarkably bright night at the 2026 Emmys.
The Remarkably Bright Creatures star won Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the Sept. 14 ceremony in Los Angeles' Peacock Theater.
Field beat out Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette's Sarah Pidgeon, The Beast in Me's Claire Danes, Beef's Carey Mulligan and All Her Fault's Sarah Snook for the award. (Click here to see all the winners.)
While accepting her prize, the 79-year-old—who became the oldest performer to win in the category—quipped, "This was not supposed to happen."
"I have been so grateful and so proud to be a part of this community—the arts—for 62 years," Field continued. "We're the arts. We matter. Our voices matter. Our diversity, our unique storytelling matters. We can't let those voices be silenced, or compromised, or merged."
This is Field's fourth Emmy win. The actress won in the same category in 1977 for her performance in Sybil, as well as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2001 for ER and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for Brothers & Sisters.
During her acceptance speech, Field also had a hilarious recovery after stumbling over the name of author Shelby Van Pelt, whose book Remarkably Bright Creatures served as the inspiration behind the movie.
"I love this project from page one of this lovely novel by Shelby Van Pelt, whatever her name is," she quipped. "She knows what it is. This story of an old woman, a young man and an octopus doesn't come around a lot."
And for Field, she "read about three chapters" of the book before immediately jumping on board the project, which also stars Lewis Pullman.
LISA O'CONNOR / AFP via Getty Images
"Because I'm old, it's very hard to find a role that's interesting for an older woman," she told People in May. "I never take to the kinds of stories about women and older women that are trying to find a man."
Especially since the two-time Oscar winner didn't like those types of stories when she was younger as well.
"It doesn't appeal to me,' she explained, "because I think women are about so much more."
In fact, Field found Remarkably Bright Creatures to be quite "life-affirming."
"It's an homage to life, to creatures, and the connection that human beings have to creatures," she told People back in February. "Even when we were shooting, we were constantly noodling and fixing and letting it breathe and have its own existence outside of the book. It was a long journey."
To see Field and more stars on the Emmys 2026 red carpet, read on.
Jesse Grant/NBC
Isabel Gravitt
in Alex Perry, Gianvito Rossi shoes and Sophia D jewels.
Randy Shropshire/NBC
Charlie Hunnam
LISA O'CONNOR / AFP via Getty Images
Sally Field
in Akris.
LISA O'CONNOR / AFP via Getty Images
Grace Gummer
in Dior.
Todd Williamson/NBC via Getty Images
John Oliver & Kate Norley
Jesse Grant/NBC via Getty Images
Taylor Dearden
Jesse Grant/NBC via Getty Images
Jack Lowden
Jesse Grant/NBC via Getty Images
David Harbour
in Giorgio Armani.
Photo by Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images
Mo Welch & Brett Goldstein
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
John Mulaney & Olivia Munn
in Brunello Cucinelli (Mulaney) and FFORME (Munn).
Randy Shropshire/NBC
Amy Poehler
Randy Shropshire/NBC
Emilia Clarke
in Prada.
Jesse Grant/NBC
Shawn Hatosy
custom Louis Vuitton and Omega watch.
Randy Shropshire/NBC
Claire Danes & Hugh Dancy
in custom Giorgio Armani Privé and Martin Katz jewelry (Danes).
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Jessica Williams
in Honor, Tyler Ellis bag, and Jessica McCormack jewelry.
Randy Shropshire/NBC
Sterling K. Brown
in Brunello Cucinelli.
Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Dan Levy
in Celine.
Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Amanda Peet
in Givenchy.
Randy Shropshire/NBC
Janelle James
in vintage Roberto Cavalli.
Jesse Grant/NBC
Jaclyn Smith & Cheryl Ladd
Jesse Grant/NBC
Julia Garner
in Loewe and Marco Bicego jewelry.
Jesse Grant/NBC
Allison Janney
in Pamella Roland.
Randy Shropshire/NBC
Michelle Pfeiffer
in Saint Laurent.
Jesse Grant/NBC
Julianna Margulies
Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Florence Pugh
in Vivienne Westwood.
Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Ayo Edebiri
in Chanel and Mikimoto jewelry.
Randy Shropshire/NBC via Getty Images
Jon Hamm & Anna Osceola
Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Kaley Cuoco & Tom Pelphrey
in Giorgio Armani (Pelphrey).
Monica Schipper/Getty Images
Oscar Isaac
in Celine.
LISA O'CONNOR / AFP via Getty Images
Carrie Coon
in Maison Margiela and De Beers jewelry.
Don't miss the Emmy Awards 2026 live telecast tonight, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on NBC and streaming on Peacock. E!'s red carpet kicks off at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT.
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