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Bryan Cranston on Pal Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ Emotional Emmys Revelation About Her Father’s Death: ‘I Think Her Dad Would Really Appreciate That’ (Exclusive)

A shoulder to cry on. Bryan Cranston spoke exclusively with Us Weekly about his pal Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ emotional revelation about her father’s death during her Emmys 2016 acceptance speech on Sunday, September 18 (which you can watch in the video above).

“Oh, God! Bless her heart!” the Breaking Bad alum, 60, told Us of the Veep star at the Emmys HBO afterparty at West Hollywood’s Pacific Design Center. “It was so wonderful to have her be able to come in under those circumstances and be able to keep it together.”

As viewers witnessed during Sunday night’s telecast, Louis-Dreyfus, 55 — who won her fifth consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of Selina Meyer in Veep — tearfully revealed that her dad, William, passed away last week. 

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“I’d like to dedicate this to my father, William Louis-Dreyfus, who passed away on Friday,” she told the star-studded crowd, visibly shaking as she accepted the honor. “I’m so glad that he liked Veep, because his opinion was the one that really mattered.” (William was a charitable billionaire and donated his entire art collection to nonprofits for underprivileged children.)

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Emmys 2016
Julia Louis-Dreyfus accepts the award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for “Veep” at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 18, 2016, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Vince Bucci/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images

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Despite Louis-Dreyfus’ sorrow, Cranston told Us that he believes the Seinfeld alum’s late father would be touched by her accomplishments — and her sweet shout-out.

“For her to celebrate… I think her dad would really appreciate that!” he continued. “I am sure he would want her to move on! But for her it was obviously tough!”

Bryan Cranston Julia Louis-Dreyfus Jerry Seinfeld
Bryan Cranston, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jerry Seinfeld at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards on September 18, 2016, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Charles Sykes/Invision for the Television Academy/AP Images

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Cranston and Louis-Dreyfus have been friends for years, but became particularly close after they jokingly made out with each other onstage at the 2014 Emmys.

“Bryan and I were talking on the phone about what we were going to do for the presenting bit …” the actress — who married actor Brad Hall in 1987 — explained to Elle.com at the time. “So I asked my husband if he was OK with that, he said ‘Sure,’ and Bryan checked with his wife [Robin Dearden] and she said ‘Sure,’ and we said we would go for it.”

She added: “But we wanted to really make sure the presenting stuff worked in and of itself. And obviously I might not have won. That was very stiff competition.”

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