Glenn Weiss and Jan Svendsen open up about that very public Emmys proposal
'There was no chance I was saying no!'
'There was no chance I was saying no!'
'There was no chance I was saying no!'
On Monday evening, veteran awards show director Glenn Weiss nabbed an Emmy for his work directing the Oscars — but his biggest win of the night was getting a "yes" from his girlfriend of 10 years, Jan Svendsen, in front of the star-studded crowd and everyone watching at home.
"You wonder why I don't like to call you my girlfriend?" Weiss said during his acceptance speech. "Because I want to call you my wife."
Svendsen, in a silver Sachin & Babi gown, wiped away happy tears and nodded her head "yes" as the venue erupted in cheers. Then, she made her way to the stage to accept the ring, which had previously belonged to Weiss' late mother, Helen.
Like any public proposal, if Svendsen had said no, the moment would have been a whole lot different. But Weiss wasn't worried.
"Of all the things I was worrying about [in that moment], like making sure I was able to dedicate a tribute to my mom and thanking people and being very cognizant of the time factor of it all ... it didn't even cross my mind that she might say no," Weiss told in a joint interview with Svendsen.
"There was no chance I was saying no!" Svendsen interjected. "We already knew we were going to spend the rest of our lives together. For me, that part wasn't a surprise. But we'd never [talked about getting engaged before], so this was a real, total surprise. I didn't have a good poker face that night."
"And I can tell you she's not a good actress!" added Weiss with a laugh. "She definitely wasn't acting that night, that was all real."
Weiss, who has also directed the Tony Awards and the Kennedy Center Honors, and Svendsen, a former marketing director, met over a decade ago while working together on the Tonys.
"We became friends over a period of time," Weiss said. "But she was this strong, powerful, creative, independent-thinking woman, and our sensibilities just lined up and [our chemistry] became magic."
The newly engaged couple now splits their time between homes in New York and Los Angeles. Weiss was actually in New York the week before the Emmys to pick up his mother's wedding ring from his father, Bob, in preparation for the big proposal.
"When my mom passed away [almost] three weeks ago now, it put a whole lot of life in perspective," Weiss said. "I'd been with Jan for quite a bit, and I thought, 'what am I waiting for? The person who is so important and valuable to me is right in front of me, what are you doing?' [The plan] all solidified in a very emotional couple of weeks."
Svendsen didn't expect anything but "business as usual" on Monday night, since Weiss directs "all the awards shows."
"It made it the surprise of a lifetime," she said.
As an awards-show director, Weiss is used to keeping everyone on track — and he knows how long remarks should be. He had timing in mind when he prepared his own thank yous, in case he won. But like any live television moment, things didn't go exactly according to his plan.
"When I rehearsed this in my head, I did internal editing and cutting," he said. "From when my name was called to when I said 'I want you to be my wife,' it was under one minute and thirty [seconds]. It was exactly the right amount of time. What I didn't expect was everyone the room to get on their feet and for this to become a moment [and take longer]."
Because it was such great television, Weiss noticed that the usual time limits went away. "In the back of the room, the prompter, which has a clock and says 'Please wrap it up,' [was taken] down... It just became a moment."
After the show, Svendsen says director Hamish Hamilton came up to the couple and told Weiss, "It was great and I'm thrilled." She described the interaction as "a real bonding moment."
They haven't had time to celebrate their new engagement with their families yet but hope to do so soon. The couple tells "[Our] family has been following along in all of the excitement."
There's no date set for the big day yet, but the couple would like a "small and fairly private" wedding. In the meantime, Svendsen will enjoy her time being engaged to the "man of her dreams."
"I’ve been called his girlfriend for many years," she said. "I love the new fiancée title, I think we’ll keep that for a while."