Tamara Tunie couldn’t be more “thrilled” that Beyond the Gates received 15 Daytime Emmy nominations in its first year of eligibility, more than any other brand-new soap opera in history.
The show’s Emmy breakthrough includes Tunie in Best Lead Actress (alongside her co-star Karla Mosley), plus bids for Best Supporting Actress (Trisha Mann-Grant), Best Supporting Actor (Timon Kyle Durrett and Mike Manning), Best Emerging Talent (Ambyr Michelle and Arielle Prepetit), Best Guest Performer (Jasmine Burke), and, of course, Best Daytime Drama Series.
Tunie told Gold Derby earlier this year that “the audience was thirsty” for a show centered on an affluent Black family. “This is not your grandma’s soap opera,” she said. “The subject matter the writers tackle is relevant and resonates with people in a fresh, new way.”
One of Tunie’s most talked-about storylines involved her character, EGOT-winning singer and matriarch Anita Dupree, being diagnosed with breast cancer. The audience response has been “more powerful than I even imagined,” the actress explained, despite her initially being “nervous” about the plot point. “When [showrunner] Michele Val Jean shared that this was where we were going, my hesitation was that if we did it, we had to do it right. We had to do it completely. We couldn’t just skate over it or touch on the surface.”
In addition to being a nominee, Tunie will be a presenter at the 2026 Daytime Emmys, which will take place this Friday at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles.
Read on for our full Q&A with Tunie.
Gold Derby: Congratulations on your first Daytime Emmy nomination. How does it feel?
Tamara Tunie: It feels wonderful. It’s an incredible mixed bag. I’m so honored, first and foremost, to be acknowledged. At the same time, there’s a level of humility and a level of looking at the bigger picture of it all. You may have seen my post: Scott Bryce [my co-star in As the World Turns] had just died the night before, who was my brother. The announcement came at the most interesting moment because I was so heartbroken and low, and then the announcement came that I was nominated. It lifted my spirits tremendously, but at the same time, it was bittersweet and poignant because I know Scotty would have been the first one to pick up the phone and call me.
That being said, I’m thrilled for my show. I’m thrilled for the 15 nominations that we received, and I’m thrilled for my other castmates. We’ve all been working so hard, and it’s great to be recognized.
Fifteen nominations is the most ever for a first-year soap opera. Why do you think the show struck a chord right out of the gate?
It was historic as the first show centered on an affluent Black family. I think the audience was thirsty for that — not just the Black audience, which has been supporting daytime drama for decades, but also our white and Hispanic audiences. We have representation on the show of everyone, and I think everyone was thirsty for something new.
When we were promoting the show in February 2025 when we first were about to launch, I said, “This is not your grandma’s soap opera.” It’s really relevant. The subject matter the writers tackle is relevant and resonates with people in a fresh, new way. Even the look of the show is incredibly fresh. I think it’s a combination of all those things: the incredible writing, the extraordinary cast, the great directing, and the fashion. Let’s not forget the fashion!
How cool is it that you have a co-star with you in the Best Lead Actress category? Karla Mosley, who plays your daughter, Dani, is also nominated. How did you two celebrate together?
We laughed and giggled, and we’re just so excited for each other. I don’t know — that might be the first time in history, too. It’s definitely the first time two African American women were nominated for Lead Actress, but for it to be my castmate and my beautiful baby girl makes it even more special.
I was a little surprised that your co-star Clifton Davis did not make the cut, but there’s always next year. Why should voters take another look at him for next year’s ceremony?
I’ve been around long enough to understand how the awards function, let’s just say. Several other people were overlooked, not just Clifton, and it’s all with a grain of salt. It’s not a reflection on the work in any way, shape, or form. Oftentimes, as we know in this business, there are other considerations and things that happen. Who knows? It might have been that some votes canceled out other votes. You just don’t know, and it doesn’t mean anything.
They were voting on our show from February through December of 2025. In our second year, there’s so much to look forward to and so much to see from Clifton and everyone else. It doesn’t diminish the fact that he’s a legend, and he always will be. He took it like a champ. He’s been doing this long enough to know and understand that it doesn’t reflect the work at all. It’s just how the dice rolls from year to year.
You play Anita Dupree, the matriarch of this family. How did they originally pitch the character to you in a way that made you say yes?
In September 2024, I was doing a play in Pittsburgh at City Theatre. We were doing POTUS, the raucous, hilarious, crazy play, and my manager and agent called to say that I had been offered the role of Rosalind Dupree, which was initially the character’s name. They told me it was a new soap opera centered on a wealthy and powerful Black family. The head writer, Michele Val Jean, had written me a note accompanying the first two scripts, and they asked if I wanted to take a look at it.
The cons, if you will, were that it shot in Atlanta, it was a startup soap, and the budget was whatever. I read the first two scripts and thought, “OK, this is pretty good.” Then I read Michele’s note, which was so beautiful and heartfelt. It was an invitation for me to join and lead the show as the matriarch of this family. I told my agents, “Let me sleep on it.” When I woke up the next morning, the voice said, “This is historic. This is important. And you should be a part of it.”
I called my agents and manager and said I would love to get on a call with Michele and Sheila Ducksworth, our executive producer, to hear more about the show and where the characters were going. I also needed to share that I had commitments to pieces I was directing that I had been bringing along for years. They were on the calendar for readings and productions, and I couldn’t just walk away from them.
I got on Zoom with Sheila and Michele, and they told me more about the show. I shared the conflicts I had, but of course, I also shared what a multitasker I’ve been throughout my entire career. I was on As the World Turns while doing Broadway, primetime television, and movies. I said, “It can be done. If you can work around those conflicts, we can continue the conversation.”
They said, “Absolutely, we can figure it out. Don’t worry about it. Julie Carruthers is our line producer. She can do anything.” They were fully on board, so I said, “Great, let’s continue the conversation.” Within a few days, we had closed the deal.
And how did Clifton Davis get involved?
The backstory is that a few months earlier, in July, Clifton Davis and I were co-chairs of the International Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem. We met for the first time and immediately hit it off. We spent five days together co-chairing, having lunches with sponsors, hosting events, and everything else. We were just like family. At one point, we were having breakfast, and he got a text from his agent saying there was a new Black soap opera that was going to be filmed in Atlanta.
After I got the job, I texted Clifton and asked, “Are you still talking to these people about this soap opera?” He said he was and that he had sent in a video. I told him I had just closed my deal and that if he were to play my husband, I thought that would be amazing. I shared that with Sheila and Michele, and a few days later, they asked us to get on Zoom for a chemistry test. The next day, they closed his deal. It was kind of divine order and meant to be. The audience loves VerNita!
What is the vibe like on the set when you’re all there together as a cast?
It’s family. It’s really family. When we started a year and a half ago, Clifton, Karla, Daphnée [Duplaix], and I immediately became family. It was natural and organic. Then there’s the extended cast. Everybody works so well together, loves each other and supports each other. There’s no ego — only healthy ones that are about the work. The crew is the same. The building where we house the show, including the studios and offices, is full of positivity. The work is hard, and the long hours can be brutal at times, but we enjoy each other so much that it’s a pleasure even when we’re exhausted. It’s healthy productivity and having as much fun as we possibly can.
My favorite part about Anita is that she’s an EGOT winner. She has the Emmy, Grammy, Tony, and Oscar. Do you have any ideas about what she won each of her trophies for?
I don’t, but obviously the Grammy is for the music. Obviously, it’s for the Articulettes. We love the Articulettes, and there will be more of them this year, so stay tuned, everybody. As far as the Tony and the Oscar, that remains to be seen. I look forward to finding out. [Laughs.]
They have to draw these stories out because soap operas last for years and years. They can’t reveal everything at once.
Exactly, and that’s the beauty of soap opera. That’s the beauty of daytime drama. We’re now in a culture of immediate gratification, where we’re streaming and binging and getting everything all at once. The soap is a slow burn. I will say that in the 400-plus episodes we’ve just finished, we’ve covered so much. We’ve covered so many stories in less than two years that it’s almost like binging because we’re packing a lot into a finite amount of time. It’s great, but it keeps people coming back. We want to keep them coming back for more.
At the Daytime Emmys, actors have to put together a clip reel of their strongest moments. What can you tell us about one of your favorite moments as a performer on the show?
Everything, because it’s always so interesting and juicy. But I will tell you what I focused on in my clips: Anita doing a rap, Anita being her own female impersonator, and Anita’s Michael Corleone moment. That was when Dani had shot up the wedding. Anita comes into the house all laissez-faire, and Dani says, “Mom.” I say, “Is this my daughter I see before me? How dare you?” And I just go in. Those are some of the juicy little bits. Then, of course, there was Anita’s diagnosis — getting that diagnosis and all the feels she was going through as she listened to the doctor explain what was happening with her body.
How have viewers reacted to the breast cancer diagnosis storyline? What are you hearing from the fans?
It has been incredibly powerful, more powerful than I even imagined. I was very nervous about doing this storyline because when Michele shared that this was where we were going, my hesitation was that if we did it, we had to do it right. We had to do it completely. We couldn’t just skate over it or touch on the surface. So many people deal with this issue that we really had to do it properly. She assured me that we were going to, and we did.
The response has ranged from, “Thank you for this. I haven’t had a checkup in so many years, and I made an appointment with my doctor for a mammogram,” to, “I had breast cancer. It was the loneliest time of my life, and now I feel seen. I feel heard. I feel like someone understands what I was going through.” Then there was the BRCA gene component. People emailed or sent direct messages saying, “My mother had breast cancer, my aunt had breast cancer, my sister had breast cancer. We knew nothing about this gene, and I went to be tested for it.” I call it the most dramatic, beautiful public service announcement anybody could do.
When Anita went on Gayle King to share her situation because the gossip was starting, she cut her hair and went on the show. It was posted on Instagram, and I started getting text messages and emails saying, “I’m praying for you.” I’m like, “No, no, no, no, no! It’s not me. It’s not me. It’s Anita Dupree.” But it turned out to be an interesting gift for me to do that storyline because I have loved ones who have been on that cancer journey. Some survived and some did not, so I was able to pull a lot of emotional information from my experiences with them.
Do you have a dream guest star you’d love to see come on Beyond the Gates?
We have musical guests, and I would love it if Dionne Warwick came on our show. I see she’s doing a tour, kind of like a final tour or something, and I’m like, “Dionne needs to come on the show.” Let’s make it happen. We’re putting it out there!
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
