Matthew Rhys and Jean Smart Make Emmy History Amid Viral Moments and Backstage Celebrations

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys and US actress Jean Smart made Emmy Awards history during TV's biggest night in Hollywood this year, which brought out stars from the small screen, film, sport and music.

Hosted by Law & Order SVU star Mariska Hargitay - the first woman to host in 15 years - the ceremony was packed with cameos from celebrities, emotional speeches, touching tributes and plenty of banter.

Backstage, the winners continued their celebrations offscreen and answered questions about their wins and some of the ceremony's most viral moments.

Here's a look at some of the viral moments and all the bits and pieces the BBC captured behind-the-scenes at the show:

The BBC had a team at the Peacock Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, which was shutdown to traffic and onlookers as celebrities in black cars took over.

Droves of celebrity handlers dressed in black - from their security details to publicists - were posted throughout the area - which also sits across from Crypto.com Arena (home to the LA Lakers). While the ceremony and red carpet is mostly confined to the Peacock Theater, the set-up around it is vast.

Next door at the JW Marriott hotel, ballrooms are converted into press workspaces where celebrities and their teams milled about throughout the ceremony, reuniting cast-mates who haven't seen each other since they wrapped filming.

The road to this area is long, windy and done on foot. Once a winner accepts their prize on TV, they are taken across the street to get their awards engraved, take photos and chat with reporters.

They are escorted through a series of covered spaces, where they pop into one ballroom specifically for photos, another to speak with print and digital media and then another section cordoned off just for TV interviews.

This area also is home to where winners get their awards engraved. Dozens of golden Emmy statues were set up on tables here, which passerbys (including yours truly) can readily gawk at and take photos of.

So, in every way, "backstage" isn't really "backstage" at the Emmys. It's more like "next door".

The cast and crew behind Apple TV's sleeper hit celebrated the supernatural TV comedy's popular first season, which nabbed six wins on Monday and another eight at the Creative Arts Emmys earlier this month.

Asked about the show being relatively smaller and unknown to some audiences, the cast and creators reflected backstage with gratitude for the grassroots efforts to promote the show through word-of-mouth early on.

"All the people online talking about it, or viewers, or people just tweeting about it, truly like it. That really got the word to spread, and we're so grateful," said writer and creator Katie Dippold.

Rhys quipped that those people were "predominantly our parents".

"I honestly think we're just happy that everyone reacted to the scripts the way we did when we read them, and that's all to thanks to this team," Rhys said.

He said the series was on a "giddy ascent" ahead of the Emmys. Dippold joked that she was terrified thinking that the show might get even more attention with all their Emmy wins.

In a sea of glamorous gowns and tuxedoes, Hacks star Megan Stalter, who was nominated for best comedy supporting actress, arrived on the Emmys blue carpet gilded as an Emmy statuette.

The actress, who has repeatedly turned heads with her red-carpet looks, donned gold body paint and angel wings for the look and held up an enormous version of the atom hoisted by the statuette during arrivals.

Stalter dodged questions about what inspired the look, telling reporters that she and her stylist just threw it together and that her co-star Paul W Downs airbrushed her himself.

Widow's Bay star Kate O'Flynn told reporters backstage that she was "completely gobsmacked" and "on top of the world" by her win in the spooky comedy, which centres on the strange happenings of a haunted New England island.

She said that her character - Patricia, the assistant to Mayor Tom Loftis (played by Matthew Rhys) - has an "awkwardness", "bravery and humour" that resonated with audiences.

"I think everyone just has felt like Patricia in that way," she says.

She says she was pleasantly surprised by "an army" of people who turned up dressed as her character at this year's DragonCon.

"So I'm excited to see Halloween and all the antlers come out and take over the world," she joked to reporters backstage.

Speaking to the BBC, the British actress had a message for everyone back home: "Just to our family and friends, we did it. It's great. I don't know what to say. I don't know."

When Allison Janney's name was announced as the winner for best supporting actress in drama, the camera panned to The Diplomat star with her mouth open and both hands cupping the sides of her face.

She remained for several second before getting up, still surprised, and covering her mouth in shock. "Oh my God," the fictional president was seen mouthing as she made her way to the stage.

With The Pitt flooding the supporting actress in a drama series category, the medical drama seemed poised to have one of its stars take home the prize. Janney, who plays the US President Grace Penn in political drama The Diplomat, told reporters backstage that she was "genuinely shocked" by her win because of how big of a show The Pitt had become.

"We really didn't think it was going to go my way. So I felt just excited and relaxed," she said, because she was "100% sure I wasn't gonna win".

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys refused to go backstage and talk with reporters until he found out whether Widow's Bay director Hiro Murai won in the directing category (he did).

When he finally made his way to the microphone, Rhys specifically called on the BBC for the first question.

"The BBC, surely!" he said, before reflecting on making history and becoming the first person to win two Emmy awards for best lead actor in the same year - for roles in Widow's Bay and the psychological thriller The Beast In Me.

"At the moment, I genuinely can't quite believe what's just happened," he said. "I hope to reflect on it tomorrow."

He also teased the friendly competition between him and his partner, actress Keri Russell, who was up for an Emmy for her role in The Diplomat this year.

"It's not great. I bet a lot of money on myself. The kids ran a book," he joked, adding, "It's going to be a rough week for her. I'm sorry. I don't know if I am."

He joked, waving around the trophy, that Russell is his better half and "always the class act".

"She's always really the winner, if I'm perfectly honest."

Host Mariska Hargitay tapped a handful of celebrities during her hosting debut, including Taylor Swift, Jalen Brunson and Broadway star Andrew Rannells.

The Law & Order SVU star opened the show with a musical number based on Joan Jett and the Blackheart's I Love Rock & Roll, name-checking many of the shows and stars of the night, while singing "I love TV screens".

NBA star Jalen Brunson made a cameo, a nod to Hargitay's love of the New York Knicks basketball team. Later, in a pre-recorded skit, Hargitay and her costars from Law & Order SVU tried to solve the mystery of whether Taylor Swift would appear at the Emmys.

Swift then appeared, joining in as a character trying to solve the case, which took viewers on a tour of the nominees and Swift's album and personal life.

The skit closed with Hargitay, Swift and one of her cats, who is named Olivia Benson, after Hargitay's character on the Law & Order series.

DTF St Louis star Arlan Ruf, who plays David Harbour's son on the dark comedy miniseries, made some jokes about the primary demographic fans of the HBO series, which centres on a murder stemming from a dating app.

"I don't know a lot of my friends are watching it," he says cheekily, adding that "their mums are".

Ruf adds that his friends' mums have been telling him how great it is, a nod to the large female audience for true crime.

"So every friend's mom I know is watching," he says.