BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, MOVIE OR
LIMITED SERIES
This category may be even harder to
parse than the actress category, considering that a lot of the nominees may be
directed from Actress to Supporting because of Big Little Lies. (Not that won't have its own problems). But there
are a lot of good possibilities in this category, some of whom may be among the
great actresses of our time, some coming into their own.
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
She deserves recognition for
playing the legendary Diane in the revival in Twin Peaks . But
her performance as the working mom whose anger and frustration, first from
having her daughter attacked, then by the general hostilities that come as a
consequence of the feud between her and Madeline was at least at the level of
any of the three leads in this miniseries. This is going to be a difficult
category, but her work definitely stands out, and is a reminder why she is one
of the great actresses of our time.
Regina King, American Crime
All right, let's be honest. King
deserves to be considered in the lead actress category. Her continuously
overwhelmed social worker, trying to save a few people while unable to become
pregnant was as much a lead in this category as Huffman was. But she has been
regulated to the Supporting cast before, and I see no reason why the same thing
might not happen this year, considering that's she was the deserving victor the
last two years. It's going to be very difficult for her to make it three years
in a row, but it would be the crowning achievement of a magnificent actress in
a great series.
Michelle Pfeiffer, The Wizard of Lies
We've seen so little of this
formidable actress in recent years that's it tempting to say that she'll get
nominated just for resurface. And considering that Liz Madoff was essentially a
co-lead means that regulating her to the supporting category borders on
ludicrous. But it was another one of her great performances, and as we can
already see just how hard I had to negotiate just to get seven nominees in the
lead actress category makes me certain that she'll be listed in the supporting
category.
Lili Taylor, American Crime
One of the undervalued actress in
any medium has never quite been given the recognition that she deserved, even
though she deservedly got a Best Actress nomination last year. And her work as
the set-upon wife, mother to a child that her husband doesn't seem to care for,
determined to be social to her Hatian au pair - to a level that reached a kind
of darkness even great for this series - was one of the more stirring
performances in this often great series. I know her odds of being recognized
are less than Taylor , but she was
no less exceptional in her work.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Fargo
Playing the parolee determined to
win legitimacy in professional bridge playing, it would have been easy for this
series to regulate Nikki Swango to another one of the femme fatale cliches. But
Fargo
Catherine Zeta-Jones, Feud: Bette & Joan
This is typically the spot that
would go to Sarah Paulson or Kathy Bates for American Horror Story, and it might end up going there anyway. But
for her portrayal of the still living legend Olivia De Haviland (a portrayal
that royally irked the actress) this already remarkable actress demonstrated -
after a while away from acting in general - why she is one of our most valued
actors. And while there were a lot of good female supporting leads in this
category, Zeta Jones has enough of a link to acting royalty to make it stick.
WILD CARD
Kelly Bishop, Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life
Yes, yet again I'm going out on a
limb for this series. But Emily Gilmore was just as great a creation as any of
the other characters on this treasured series.
And seeing her deal in the oddest way with her husband's death (Emily in
jeans!) was one of the funniest and most touching portrayals in all this year.
And its wrong that this great actress never received any recognition for any of
her great TV work. If they lead, I will follow.
See you next week.
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