Paul Walter Hauser explains why he was eating mangos before his Emmy win

Paul Walter Hauser is peeling back the layers on why he could be seen eating mangos just seconds before he won the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie at the 2023 Emmys. 

The Black Bird actor, who rapped the majority of his acceptance speech during Monday's awards ceremony, told reporters backstage that his on-camera munching moment was actually an inside joke between him, his manager, and his agent. 

“Man, I don’t even know the origin of the inside joke fully,” he explained, before acknowledging, “I do know the origin of the inside joke, and it’s way too long and you’d get annoyed if I explained it to you.”

Simply put: They’re just all mango aficionados. “We love mangos. So that was a thing my agent at CAA came up with. He handed me a bag of dried mango as a good luck charm,” he said. “And I was like, ‘I’m going to eat this. Whether I win or not, I’m going to eat this on camera.’”

Hauser, who is also a rapper and performs under the name Signet Ringer, accepted his award by reading lyrics from his phone that honored his family, friends, and his late Black Bird costar and fellow nominee, Ray Liotta. Speaking backstage, he explained why he decided to take a different approach with his acceptance speech.

"I had the good fortune of getting to take home a trophy for this performance at the Critics’ Choice and [Golden] Globes and I had already done the regular thank you speeches. So I was like, 'I’m just going to have fun,'" he said. "I love writing lyrics. I love being silly. I actually do write music under the name Signet Ringer. It’s on YouTube and Spotify. If you look up Signet Ringer, there’s an EP of like six tracks of me rapping."

See all the 2023 Emmys winners here.

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