Matt Bomer: 'It Was Great to Share' Emmy Nomination News With Husband Simon

— -- After dropping upwards of 40 pounds for his role in "The Normal Heart," it's all about love and family right now for Matt Bomer.

Bomer, 36, was "blown away and just so grateful" when his name was announced today as an Emmy Award nominee for best supporting actor for his portrayal of Felix in the HBO adaptation of Larry Kramer's 1985 play about the onset of the HIV-AIDS crisis among the gay population in New York City.

After the "White Collar" star dropped to an astonishing 130 pounds for the role to show how the disease can ravage the human body -- which meant shedding the chiseled features he usually shows off in his hit TV show or movies like "Magic Mike."

Read: How Matt Bomer Lost Over 35 Pounds for 'The Normal Heart'

Related: Emmy Nominations 2014: The Complete List

Even though it was a long, difficult road to this apex point -- Bomer said all the hard work culminated in one call this morning from his husband Simon Halls.

"I'm in New York and was getting ready to go to work on 'White Collar.' I got a phone call from my husband and he shared the news with me," Bomer said. "It was so great to get to share that moment with him, because I had to separate myself from my family for a while to play this role. I'm sure when I was 130 pounds, I wasn't always in the best mood, so it was nice to get to share a happy moment with him."

At first, Bomer admitted he couldn't even grasp the gravity of an Emmy nomination.

"I couldn't even speak for the first minute," he said. "I was overcome with gratitude, just the moment was so profound for me. I've been working in TV for 13 years and to have this moment, I was completely overwhelmed and had to collect myself for a bit. Simon knew firsthand how hard I worked on this role, how much we put into it, myself as an actor, and us collectively as a family. it was just really great to get to share that moment with him."

Bomer said he read "The Normal Heart" for the first time at age 14.

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"It completely changed my life," he added. "It educated and informed me, angered me and frustrated me, so getting to be a part of it with this group of people for HBO was the great creative experience of my life. The news today just put everything over the top. It's beyond a dream come true."

He said that living in suburban Texas in the 1990's, he "was struck by the social injustice and the fact no one was doing anything to help. But more than anything and what I wanted to bring to the film, was the level of unconditional love between Felix and all the characters."

The actor, who came out himself in 2012, has no doubt "The Normal Heart" was the catalyst for the gay rights movements we have today.

The three children Bomer shares with Halls aren't old enough to understand what their father is doing and the walls he's breaking down, but that doesn't mean they can't share in a joyous moment like this.

"I do want to share with them a moment like this because all they see is me getting skinny and having to go away [to film]," he said. "I want to make sure they know there are great moments to be shared as well. That is something I think they can understand."

As for his husband, Bomer added, "I'm sure we'll find a proper time to celebrate," even though he's in Los Angeles right now.

Adding to this accomplishment and his popularity on "White Collar," Bomer also touched on all the "Fifty Shades of Grey" movie rumors from last year and earlier this year, and added that even though he never auditioned, he "was aware of it only because we were filming in New York and people would approach us on the set and say their piece."

But Bomer is grateful that fans all across the globe were pulling for him to be cast, simply because they thought he was right for the project and that they ignored that the leading man was gay or straight, black or white.

"I hope it's a sign for more opportunities to come for actors regardless of their race or sexuality to be cast in whatever roles people feel they would be right in," he said.