Alex Borstein Set the Emmys Bar High With Her 'Step Out of Line' Speech

Justin Kirkland
Photo credit: Kevin Winter
Photo credit: Kevin Winter

From Esquire

While an Emmys speech can very quickly careen into list-your-colleagues-territory, comedian Alex Borstein took her short amount of time on stage and made it count. The award-winning actress turned her moment in the spotlight into an opportunity to tell a poignant story.

Winning for playing comedy manager Susie Myerson on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Borstein's speech called on her grandmother's experience during the Holocaust, an especially powerful message considering her show features so many powerful Jewish women characters. Her incredible anecdote of resilience and strength was among the night's most incredible moments. As Bornstein said on stage:

My grandmother turned toward a guard—she was in line to be shot into a pit—and said, "What happens if I step out of line?" and he said, "I don't have the heart to shoot you, but somebody will. And she stepped out of line. And for that, I am here. And for that, my children are here. So step out of line, ladies. Step out of line.

Borstein's words immediately captured both the in-person and at-home audience, with "Step out of line" flooding social media feeds. This speech is going to be a hard one to follow—while the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy was a stacked one, it's hard to imagine anyone having a story and joke combination so incredibly poignant and bawdy at the same time.

And that is how you make an Emmys speech count.


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