For those of who watch awards shows from the comfort of our couch at home, sometimes it's easy to forget just how much these events mean to the performers being honored. But when Aja Naomi King was interviewed by Entertainment Weekly's Patrick Gomez and PEOPLE's Janine Rubenstein on the red carpet ahead of the Emmys on Sunday, she could hardly contain her feelings.

"I'm doing my best not to cry," King said. "It's really magical. This whole experience so far has just been a beautiful day. Everyone I'm seeing on the carpet has me feeling so inspired. I'm really grateful to be here."

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King is nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her performance in the Apple TV+ series Lessons in Chemistry, adapted from Bonnie Garmus' novel of the same name. King plays Harriet Sloane, a friend of protagonist Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) who spends much of the series trying to stop the Santa Monica Freeway from being built through the predominantly Black neighborhood of Sugar Hill in Los Angeles.

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It's heady stuff, which is part of why King feels so overwhelmed by her nomination and her presence at the ceremony.

"To be able to work in this industry, to be able to make a living doing the thing that you love, is already such a blessing," King said. "And then to do work that is so meaningful to people, so impactful, that it brings me here tonight, it's the kind of thing that as an actor you are sometimes afraid to hope for, because you want it so much and you don't want to be disappointed if it doesn't happen, so it just makes me feel like dreams do come true."

At those magic words, King started crying. Gomez helpfully offered "we'll get you tissues if you need," but King made clear that hers were tears of joy, not sadness.

"I'm just so happy!" King added.

To be fair to King, she was far from the only Lessons in Chemistry star to be moved to tears by the material. "Sometimes I would have to do takes where I would just let out a big cry," Larson said in an interview earlier this year.

Lessons in Chemistry marks King's first Emmy nomination. She was also nominated for a Critics' Choice Television Award for the same role. Watch EW and PEOPLE's full red carpet chat with King above.