Laverne Cox is feeling proud at the 2024 Emmys.

Cox, 52, who is interviewing many of the evening’s nominees for E!’s red carpet coverage, took a moment to catch up Baby reindeer star Nava Mau, who is nominated for Best Supporting Actress in a Short Series or Anthology Film at Sunday’s ceremony.

When Mau, 32, first stepped forward to speak to Cox, Orange is the new black The actress became emotional as the two hugged.

“I’m supposed to hold it together, I’m the host,” Cox said, fanning her face.

“I’m so proud of you,” she continued. “I’m so proud of you. This show is so incredible and the work that you do is so amazing.”

Cox reflected on the milestone she herself reached at the 2015 ceremony, when she became the first openly transgender person to be nominated for an Emmy for acting.

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“And 10 years later, I’m not the last,” she said with a smile. “You’re the fourth and you’re the first in this category.”

“I think what we’re fighting for as a community is to be able to tell stories that come from the heart and that come from a human foundation, because that’s who we are as trans people,” Mau said when asked how it feels to be nominated. “We’re people first and that’s what I think is best to celebrate Baby reindeer.”

“Yes, it is an LGBT show, it is a show with a trans character and it is also a really good show and I am very proud of it. Ultimately, I hope that as trans people on screen, we can be everything we are.”

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The two then reminisced about their collaboration four years ago on Cox’s Revelation documentary, which Mau says “changed my life.”

“I walked onto the set, and it was the first time I had been on a set that big. Before that, I had only been on a micro-budget short film set in Oakland. And I saw trans people in leadership positions,” Mau said. “I got to sit down and watch interviews of trans people talking about their lives, their history, their studies, their craft. I got to see you walk with all of your grace and all of your strength. I saw that I could dream bigger than I had ever dreamed for myself. And it changed me forever.”

In 2014, Cox became the first openly transgender person to be nominated in an acting category at the Emmys, thanks to her performance as Sophia Burset in Orange is the new blackThe award for Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series ultimately went to her co-star Uzo Aduba.

This year Mau is nominated for her role as Teri in the Netflix series Baby reindeer along with fellow actors Dakota Fanning (Rijpley), Lily Gladstone (Under the bridge), Jessica Gunning (Baby reindeer), Aja Naomi King (Lessons in chemistry), Diane Lane (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans) and Kali Reis (Real Detective: Nightland).

Watch PEOPLE’s complete coverage of the 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, broadcast live on ABC from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.