Kerry Washington surprised her fans with four nominations in the same year. The actress expressed her feeling of contentment while she feels miserable as her late friend Lynn Shelton's name announced in the nomination.

The 54-year-old director passed away on May 16. Shelton was hospitalized because of her condition that had low platelets and the cause remained unknown. The Little Fires Everywhere chief had worked on many episodes of popular television shows such as New Girl, Mad Men, and GLOW to name a few.

Considering Shelton's movie directorial, she earned a nomination in the Emmy 2020 for the Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special. The nomination has been earned for Disney Hotstar drama, Little Fires Everywhere.

"The tears came this morning when I heard about Lynn Shelton’s nomination for Little Fires Everywhere. I’m so incredibly grateful that the Television Academy has chosen to honor Lynn with this very deserved nomination," Washington said in an interview with ET.

Washington received her nomination on July 28 for Outstanding Lead Actress while her production company named Simpson Street also earned three more nominations. The Simpson Street produced sitcom Live in Front of a Studio Audience received Outstanding Variety Special.

Another nomination is for American Son that falls under Outstanding Television Movie while Little Fires Everywhere received a nomination for Outstanding Limited Series or Movie. She acknowledged that being recognized with so many nominations and opportunities to enjoy with Simpson Street's members and Pilar Savone increases the significance of the honor.

Washington explained that the experience she had over a couple of years is beyond her imagination. She pointed out working with Jimmy Kimmel and Norman Lear that helped Live in Front of a Studio Audience to happen.

There are many Black artists nominated in 2020. There are stars such as Maya Rudolph, Giancarlo Esposito, Sterling K. Brown including in the 33 individuals who received the nomination. Interestingly, in each category related to acting, there is at least one Black artist nominated. Excluding the Outstanding Voice-Over Performance category.

The Primetime Emmy Awards will announce the winners on Sept. 20. The event will be broadcasted live on ABC network and the show will be hosted by Kimmel. Washington showed extreme happiness to receive the honor during the conversation. However, much to her chagrin it was visible that the pain of not being able to share the celebration with her late friend is intense.