Emmys 2011: 'Desperate Housewives'' Brenda Strong on her 'awesome' first nomination

Brenda Strong did not get up early to watch the Emmy nominations Thursday morning (July 14) -- in fact, she says she forgot they were happening today.

So when her managers called the "Desperate Housewives" actress to tell her about her first nomination for outstanding voice-over performance, it didn't register at first why the phone was ringing.

"I thought someone had died," Strong tells Zap2it. "I thought, This is not good. Nobody calls this early in the morning if something hasn't happened. ... So it was actually -- I would've been the person who died, of a heart attack. 'What? I'm sorry -- say that again?'"

Strong has submitted her voice-over work as Mary Alice Young on "Desperate Housewives" in each of the show's seven seasons, but this is her first nomination. She's competing against Christopher Plummer, who narrated TCM's "Moguls and Movie Stars" series, and four animation performers: Bob Bergen ("The Looney Tunes Show"), Dan Castellaneta ("The Simpsons"), Seth Green ("Robot Chicken") and Maurice LaMarche ("Futurama").

"Usually this category is primarily for animation only. It's unusual that [the Emmys] acknowledge on-camera talent that does voice-over. ... And Seth Green is nominated for [voicing] eight characters, and I'm like, OK, that's enough. That's just being a glutton," Strong says with a laugh. "It's hysterical. And I'm right up there with Porky Pig [Bergen], so I feel quite honored."

Strong, who also stars in TNT's upcoming "Dallas" reboot, says she owes a lot of her nomination to "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry -- "He's the one writing the music; I'm just singing it" -- and the post-production team she works with in recording Mary Alice's voice-overs.

"I'm just blown away," she says. "It just feels so good at the end of seven years to have any acknowledgment whatsoever. I feel like I've got the best job on TV, so to have this on top of it is awesome."