Steven Prusakowski
Please note OUR EMMY PREDICTIONS ARE LIVE (links can be found at the end of the article). After reading this FYC piece (and the related Comedy FYC) head over to my Emmy predictions across twenty categories.
Over the past four months the incredible Awards Radar TV team has been endlessly working to provide an FYC of sorts through hundreds of interviews with the contenders both above and below the line. (You can find them all under the TV / FYC menu above.) Our goal is to cast a spotlight on the performances and the talented work not only of the Emmy frontrunners, but some who may not be on your radar.
We know that many of your Emmy decisions are not often made until the last few hours of the Emmy phase one voting. For this reason, in addition to our endless interviews, we have provided this list of names for Emmy voters to keep in mind as you fill out those ballots. Keep it handy as you make your choices, because every name listed truly delivered this season. And, if you have not watched their work yet, NOW is your time.
We are not asking you to forget your personal favorites or to cast aside those worthy nominees currently favored to win. What we do want you to do is instead of voting with the flow make some waves by casting votes for some very deserving nominees when possible. We love all the big shows, we love the favorites, but the TV landscape is vast and better representation of shows big and small is needed.
If you look at the list of potential nominees who will be left off the official final Emmy nominations you will find several if not dozens of worthy nominees. Let’s recognize them. And away we go.
OUR AWARDS RADAR DRAMA FYC
THE RULES: Our Awards Radar TV’s Emmys FYC contains names of the outstanding newcomers and already established work that has yet to find a place on the Emmy ballot that our ARTV team knows deserve your attention. Some of these names are brand new while others are head scratching omissions from seasons’ worth of incredible comedic work.
DRAMA SERIES
Now that Succession is out of the way, we can expect plenty of new nominees, especially in the acting categories. It is also an opportunity to add so previously unrecognized series to the Drama Series category. If you’re going to do so consider voting for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the sci-fi series that boldly took us where no Star Trek has gone before… a musical episode. For All Mankind & Silo both gave us more solid sci-fi adventures one set 20 years in the past, the other the future – both riveting. Mr. and Mrs. Smith took a film many loved and made us forget all about it with a series that felt completely fresh with its look at the most unconventional of marriages.
If you want to vote for something out there, just not in the space sense there’s The Curse which was one of the most unique series to premiere this year or any. Like it Elsbeth blended comedy and drama leaning heaving on the charm of its lead. Let me clarify, while Shōgun is clearly one of my favorite series of the year it is also a lock for a nomination, which is why I decided to give the spotlight pick to a different series. That goes too…
Our Spotlight Pick: Slow Horses which seems to only get better with time. Each season the relationships between the members of Slough House become a little more interesting, and the characters quirkier and more endearing – who can’t root for the underdogs? Gary Oldman’s Jackson Lamb is a gas.
Runner-Up: I hadn’t played the video game before watching Fallout, but after just two episodes I had to because of the amount of creativity on display – a fun mix of dark humor, drama, gore and more.
Lead Actor in a DRAMA Series
The category had been dominated in the past by one series, but this year it has a lot of room for new blood. Starting with some old blood Gary Oldman (Slow Horses) in one of my favorite performances of his career. Another actor with long career that is finally in position for some deserved Emmy love the Hiroyuki Sanada (Shōgun). Donald Glover switched over from comedy to drama with style in Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
More names to keep on your radar, Nathan Fielder (The Curse), Idris Elba (Hijack), and Morgan Spector (The Gilded Aged).
Our Spotlight Pick: The first chapter of Shōgun introduces us to Blackthorne Cosmo Jarvis, a character that instantly demands your attention and willingly had me excited to see where he would take us next. He is an adventurer, a lover, a strategist, has quite the sense of humor and an ego to match. One of the most enjoyable characters to watch this year with plenty of depth under the surface.
Runner-up: Walton Goggins (Fallout) gives two very different performances playing two versions of the same character – one when he had a life and one after he lost it all. Two sides of the same coin that both land with a punch.
Lead Actress in a DRAMA Series
This category offers such a wide range of performances all offering something different – they are hard to compare, so don’t – just cast your vote for those you find work like: Carrie Coon always provides a master class in acting and does so again in The Gilded Age. Emma Stone follows up her wild winning performance with one deserving Emmy consideration, at the very least. Ella Purnell and Rebecca Ferguson both fill their dystopian landscapes with strong characters to keep an eye on as they face their own private battles. Carrie Preston is delightful in Elsbeth, enough so for you to throw her your vote, that is a mystery she’d like to solve.
Our Spotlight Pick: What Maya Erskine did for the teen years with PEN15 was incredible. To follow that up with Mr. and Mrs. Smith where she’s gunslinging and punch throwing while dealing with all the the challenges of marriage makes both performances more impressive – who knew she had it in her? And now that we do I want to see much more of what she has to offer.
Runner-Up: Again I am going to push an FYC to the the runner-up spot, because she seems like a lock. This does not mean you should ignore her on your ballot – anything but. Anna Sawai (Shōgun) gives a complex and nuance performance – one that leaves an impact on the screen and viewers. Vote away.
Supporting Actor in a DRAMA Series
Without Succession this becomes a much quieter category leaving my FYC picks to a limited number, Khalid Abdalla and Jonathan Pryce in The Crown come up strong (though I really do like Pryce’s work in Slow Horses just as much). Benny Safdie rounds out the trio of oddity on The Curse. And
Benedict Wong proves that you can cast him in anything and he’s going to deliver. Ke Huy Quan (Loki) was a very welcome addition to the second season – his comic stylings are a joy to watch making him ever so likable.
Our Spotlight Pick: How in the world do we like the deceitful, brutal Yabushige in Shōgun, because Tadanobu Asano makes him a complete charmer, even when boiling people to death, stabbing backs or looking out for number one. Asano’s performance made him another must watch character – one that may not share the same ethics, but who I couldn’t say no to sharing a beer (or sake) with.
Runner-Up: I have fallen for Jack Lowden (Slow Horses) as River Cartwright. Flawed characters in search of redemption are kind of my thing and no one is doing it better than Lowden.
Supporting Actress in a DRAMA Series
Take away The White Lotus and Succession and this category offers plenty of room for new blood to choose from. Coincidentally, they seem to come in pairs – some names to keep in mind include Kristin Scott Thomas and Saskia Reeves (Slow Horses), Celia Rose Gooding and Christina Chong (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds), Moeka Hoshi and Fumi Nikaido (Shogun). All bring something unique to their roles that span space, time and genres.
Our Spotlight Pick: Maybe I am still stuck on Past Lives, but Greta Lee work this season really worked for me. The restaurant scene alone was enough to make her a standout this season doing much more with much less than some of the leads (if I do say so myself).
Runner-up: Every season someone steps up on The Crown – this season it was Lesley Manville whose work as Princess Margaret has her dealing with loss of health issues of her own yet still being the rebelious princess she was known to be.
Thank you For Your Consideration. We look forward to seeing who makes that final list on July 12th – hopefully a few surprises. Look for more Emmy coverage and interviews on Awards Radar from our incredible team; Joey Magidson, Abe Friedtanzer, Niki Cruz, Ayla Ruby, Danny Jarabek, Maxance Vincent, Diego Peralta, Lucas Longacre, Emilia Yu, Norm Felker, Cory Stillman, Joshua Harris, Red Broadwell – along with me, TV Editor Steven Prusakowski, have been working endlessly to ensure all the best of television is on your Awards Radar.
How about Danai Gurira for both lead actress in a drama and writing in a drama. She really deserves recognition.