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Andersonville Resident Wins International Emmy For Swedish Reality Show

By Josh McGhee | November 29, 2016 9:21am
 James Morgan was a contestant on the Great Swedish Adventure, which won an International Emmy this year.
James Morgan was a contestant on the Great Swedish Adventure, which won an International Emmy this year.
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Courtesy of Facebook

ANDERSONVILLE — James Morgan was just hoping to connect with his Swedish roots when he began pursuing a spot on "Allt för Sverige," a reality show in Sweden.

But he ended up with so much more than a few new relatives.

Earlier this month, Morgan, an Andersonville resident, was part of a group accepting the International Emmy Award for Non-Scripted Entertainment for the show, also known as "The Great Swedish Adventure."

"I didn't really think we'd win. The other shows were really great. The producer even said, 'We might not win and I want you to be OK with it,'" Morgan said of the award, presented at a ceremony in New York.

In "Great Swedish Adventure" contestants learn about the Swedish side of their family in each episode, with cast members eliminated along the way by competing in a series of contests, such as eating rotten fish, swimming in cold water and drinking too much Aquavit.

The last person standing is treated to a Swedish family reunion.

Morgan first applied for the show, which takes Americans with Swedish ancestry on a journey to connect with their roots, in 2014, but didn't make the final cut. Producers of the show urged him to reapply in 2015 and he was selected as one of the eleven contestants for the fifth season.

While he was eliminated in the second episode of the season, he was able to connect with various family members in Sweden. When he returned to Sweden with his children after the show, he was treated like a local celebrity, he said.

"I still think I'm a nobody. I didn't even think I'd get on the show," Morgan said. "People in Sweden knew who I was when I got on the plane and that was amazing. No matter where I went in Sweden people knew who I was for being on the show."

At first, he wasn't going to attend the New York ceremony because the cast had to pay for their own way. But he gave in at the urging of friends and family.

"It was my first time in Manhattan. I was so surprised by how nice everyone was," he said. 

He arrived in New York on Nov. 18. He spent the weekend meeting producers and stars at the film festival, watching question-and-answer panels for the shows, and a celebrity brunch.

During the event, he met Alan Cummings, who hosted the gala; Dustin Hoffman, who won Best Performance by an Actor; and Sally Evans, whose son Thomas Evans was the subject of "My Son the Jihadi," which was nominated for best documentary, he said.

"I was so out of my element. It was crazy," Morgan said.

The gala and award ceremony was held at the Midtown Hilton in Manhattan, where President-elect Donald Trump held his victory party.

"It was just like on TV. We had to walk the red carpet. This guy coached us about stopping every couple steps on the red carpet," Morgan said.

When they won the award, six of the 11 cast members took the stage, along with the host and producers, and then ushered into the back to talk to the press, he said.

"It was this huge room with press and TV cameras doing interviews with everybody," Morgan said.

He's adjusting back to his normal life, which includes picking up some bartending shifts at Simon's Tavern, 5210 N. Clark St., and completing his degree in education at Northeastern Illinois University. Referring to the award, he said his sons Jonah and Lukas "understand it, but they don't really understand it."

"No one really knows, just my Facebook friends," he added.

Still, says Morgan, "I'm probably the only person on my block with an Emmy."

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