Margulies gave mom tips to Sarah Michelle Gellar

On Sunday night, Julianna Margulies won her second Emmy award for "The Good Wife."

In real life, the star is a wife -- and mom -- and recently gave some advice to new mother Sarah Michelle Gellar, the star of the new CW Network drama "Ringers."

Special section: Emmys 2011
Pictures: Julianna Margulies

So what advice does the TV and film veteran, who won her first Emmy for "ER," have for Gellar?

Margulies said on "The Early Show" Tuesday, "She was very sweet, because I think her anxiety about being a lead in a network show, where you're doing 23 episodes a year, and being a new mom ... was daunting. And I said, 'Look, I'm not going to kid you, it's a lot of work, but it's doable. You just have to balance it out. ... But be prepared. You have to be an Olympian. You have to stay in great shape, you have to eat well, you can't get sick, you have to be there all the time for your kid on your moments of leisure."'

She added, "You have to let go of control, which is hard, especially on their first day of school, and you can't dress them. ... And Kyra Sedgwick said this to me my first day on work on this show. She e-mailed me and said, 'I know you're panicking.' Kieran was only 14 months at the time. And she said, 'My daughter ... would never have the relationship she has with her father if I had been around all the time.' And it does, it makes the father and child bond."

In her Emmy acceptance speech, Margulies thanked her husband, Keith Lieberthal and her son, saying, "And to my spectacular husband, I love being your good wife, and I'm so grateful you have no political aspirations. And I just want to say thank you to you and to our sweet boy, Kieran, you handle my long hours with such grace and understanding. It means nothing without you. Thank you."

Margulies said of living the life of a working mom, "A parent always has that guilt, and my kid never punishes me for it. He'll see me in the morning after not seeing me all day and with a smile on his face, and my husband is so understanding about the hours. You can't do it alone."

Margulies called the CBS drama a dream come true.

"I mean, I love playing this character," she said. "I love the situations she's put in and how she deals with her life, and I love the writing. And it's rare. It's a rare, beautiful thing to have."

In the show this season, Margulies said, it's going to be interesting, because her character, Alicia, is going up against her estranged husband and his office often.

"He's really trying to run a clean office this time," Margulies said. "He feels like he's been given a second chance and Alicia is sort of -- not that she's going to the dark side -- but she's going to win a case any way she can, so the tables are turned a little bit."