Viola Davis ''guzzled'' Prosecco before the Primetime Emmy Awards.

The 'How To Get Away with Murder' actress - who became the first African American to take home the Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series prize at Sunday's (20.09.15) ceremony - indulged in a glass of sparkling wine to settle her nerves before stepping out on the red carpet.

Asked if she was drunk at the show, she said: ''I (drank) my Prosecco before the show.

''I was getting in hair and make-up while my daughter was jumping on my lap. I drank - I just guzzled the glass.''

And the 50-year-old star - who has four-year-old daughter Genesis with husband Julius Tennon - had no idea how people reacted to her winner's speech as all she could think about was fast food.

Asked by talk show host Ellen Degeneres if she realised she had received a standing ovation, she said: ''I did not. I felt a great wall of silence and I think that's because I saw the McDonalds French fries backstage, and I was trying to get those McDonald's French fries, and you know -- I ate them like I hadn't eaten in five years.

''You're subversive if you eat French fries in Hollywood.''