Sarah Pidgeon and ‘Baywatch’ Star Brooks Nader’s Candid Emmys After-Party Photo Has Fans Doing a Double Take
Award season has a way of producing its most memorable images once the cameras stop rolling on the official red carpet. The polished poses and formal gowns give way to something looser and far more revealing once the after-parties get underway, and this year’s Emmys proved no exception.
Photographer Emilio Madrid was on hand to capture that shift, documenting a wave of candid shots from the celebrations that followed the ceremony’s biggest wins. Among the flood of images from the night, one photo in particular has quickly caught fire online.
That standout shot shows actress Sarah Pidgeon and model Brooks Nader dancing together at the after-party, a genuinely unguarded moment that stands in stark contrast to the more formal red carpet portraits taken just hours earlier. The image, part of Madrid’s broader coverage of the evening, captures both women fully in the moment, a world away from the choreographed stillness of the main event.
Sarah Pidgeon and Brooks Nader for the Emmys after party photographed by Emilio Madrid 📸 pic.twitter.com/7l9KWYZ2Nq
— cinesthetic. (@TheCinesthetic) September 16, 2026
Pidgeon arrived at this year’s Emmys with genuine stakes of her own, having earned her first nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series for her role in FX’s ‘Love Story,’ where she portrayed Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy opposite Paul Anthony Kelly’s John F. Kennedy Jr. That recognition capped a milestone year for the actress, one she’d previously discussed at length in a Deadline Emmy magazine interview, having spoken to the outlet from Paris while attending Couture Week as a Chanel Ambassador.
For the ceremony itself, Pidgeon wore a lavender silk Chanel gown before swapping into a simple little black dress for The Walt Disney Company’s after-party, the same event where Madrid’s candid shot with Nader was taken. Ultimately, the Lead Actress category went to Sally Field, but Pidgeon’s nomination alone marked a significant new chapter for an actress whose ‘Love Story’ performance became FX’s most-watched limited series debut of all time.
Brooks Nader is certain she's going to cry watching her younger sister Sarah Jane Nader's debut on #DancingWithTheStars tonight – but she's also loving seeing her "crawling home every day, limping."
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) September 16, 2026
"It's teaching her hard work." pic.twitter.com/zh9CE0usnD
Nader, meanwhile, brought her own brand of buzz to the weekend’s festivities. The model and reality television personality turned heads in a skintight red dress at HBO’s after-party at San Vicente Bungalows in West Hollywood, an event that also drew stars including Noah Wyle, Mark Ruffalo, Lisa Kudrow, and Jason Bateman.
Best known for her modeling career and her Hulu and Freeform reality series ‘Love Thy Nader,’ which follows Brooks and her sisters navigating both their careers and family dynamics, Nader has become a familiar presence on the party circuit surrounding major awards shows. Her appearance alongside Pidgeon in Madrid’s photography places two very different career paths side by side at one of the entertainment industry’s biggest nights.
Pidgeon’s Emmy nomination arrived on the heels of a whirlwind stretch that included fronting a Balenciaga campaign directed by Oscar nominee Celine Song and attending Paris Fashion Week. Reflecting on the nomination news itself, Pidgeon has described becoming emotional after learning about it while still in Paris, admitting she’s “a big crier” and felt “pretty overwhelmed” by the moment.
She’s also been candid about the toll of the ‘Love Story’ shoot, telling Marie Claire she didn’t realize how depleted her energy had become until well after filming wrapped. Despite that exhaustion, Pidgeon has said watching fans respond so enthusiastically to the finished series has brought her real pride, even if she still feels “incredibly itchy” watching her own performance back.
With ‘Love Story’ having become one of Hulu and Disney+’s most-watched limited series to date, speculation about a potential second season has already begun swirling, and Pidgeon herself has floated unconventional ideas for where the anthology could go next. For now, though, her Emmys weekend closed out on a lighter note, immortalized in a candid dance-floor moment alongside Nader that fans clearly can’t stop talking about.
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