Again, there are many good options - perhaps too
many to sort of through. There's a very good chance Lady Gaga, who won an upset
victory at the Golden Globes, will get a nomination. It is my hope, however,
that the problems with this incarnation of 'American Horror Story' will be
ignored for several, subtler, performances. Here are some of my candidates
Gillian Anderson, 'The X-Files'
This is a little bit of a cheat,
considering Anderson got four
previous nods and one Emmy for her work in the series original run. But
considering the general level of her work once again demonstrated why Dana
Scully was one of the great characters in the lexicon of TV, I think she's
entitled. And considering the series featured her dealing with the world if her
son had stayed with her and the moving hour when she dealt with her mother's
incapacitation and death, that was her wheelhouse when the show was on the air,
and the Academy loved it then.
Kirsten Dunst, 'Fargo'
As Peggy Blumquist, the Minnesota
resident whose accidental hit-and-run sets everything that happens into motion,
it would be easy to type cast her as some kind of addled blonde, considering
how deluded she seemed to be much of the time. But considering her naive yet
calculated performance as her actions spiraled out of control, still thinking
all the while she would come out ahead, was one of the more ingenious pieces of
acting. The Broadcast Critics already named her Best Actress, she's almost
certainly going to be on the short list.
Felicity Huffman, 'American Crime'
As the prep school dean determined
to keep her charge under control after a devastating sexual assault involving
her basketball team, it would be easy to make her come across as the villain.
Certainly many of the characters saw her as such. But just as last year
demonstrated that there were many layers to the character she played, watching
her deal with the consequences - including a school shooting where she narrowly
missed being the victim - demonstrated why she remains one of the great actors
of our time.
Sarah Paulson, 'The People V. O.J.
Simpson'
I've never been a real admirer of
this actress' work. But playing the horribly put upon Marcia Clark, the
prosecutor who naively thought that the facts would be enough to convict her
high-profile defendant, Paulson revealed something I had rarely seen in any of
her performances before - subtlety. And watching her try to keep up with the
media circus that surrounded the trial was one of the more heartbreaking
elements of this exceptional series.
]
Lili Taylor, 'American Crime'
So far left out of the discussion
for the candidates for this category is Taylor 's
work as a poverty-stricken mother whose efforts to get justice for her son
after his assault lead to even greater tragedy than she ever imagined. But
she's always been one of the great actresses of this generation. And watching
her trying to find some kind of recompense, despite everyone - including her
own son - telling her to let it go was one of the most poignant performances of
the TV season,. She deserves this nomination far more than some of the other
candidates.
Kerry Washington, 'Confirmation'
We're so used to seeing her playing
the ultimate Washington insider
that it was something of a revelation to see her playing one of the most famous
outsiders, Anita Hill. And we're so used to seeing her act with such
self-confidence, that seeing her shaky, uncertain testimony before the Senate
Judiciary - just before her life would be shredded was something remarkable.
I'm nowhere near her biggest fan, but she deserves a nomination here.
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