This category is the one that has
been affected by Game of Thrones the
least. There has been more variety in this category over the past decade than
almost any others. A different actor has won every year for the past nine
years, and Bryan Cranston was the only one to win more than once. There’s a lot
of room for variety in this category, and little chance for a repeat. While I
think Jason Bateman could make another dent in this category, as well as room
for some of the men from Westworld, here
are the men who are the most likely nominees.
Sterling K. Brown, This is Us
Of all of the actors in this great
ensemble, Brown is by far the one who impresses the most year in and year out.
Originally a candidate because of his character’s overall goodness, it has been
interesting watching him going through areas of denial and darkness. From
Randall’s refusal to seek therapy and his begrudging ability to accept his
flaws to his ever complicated relationship with his mother and her fast-coming
illness – which will lead to the biggest break with his family yet, Brown’s
work is one of the great triumphs of television. His continued presence in this
category is one of the few sure things about the Emmys, and I have no problem
with it.
Brian Cox, Succession
Cox has always been one of the most
undervalued actors in every medium he works in – from his portrayal of the
first ever Hannibal Lecter to his superb work on Deadwood, he has been constantly given the short end of
recognition. That has pretty much stopped when he landed the role of a lifetime
as Logan Roy, the patriarch of a clan who represents everything we hate and
love about the top one percent all at once. It’s hard to tell what’s harder for
this communications billionaire; maintaining control of his empire or his
family, and in the final minutes of the Season 2 finale, he seemed to lose
both. And yet there was something in that last shot that made me think he was
proud of his son at last. The Golden Globe gives him a slight edge for the
Emmy, though he will face stiff competition (again possibly from his own
family), but I’ll be glad to see him nominated.
Justin Hartley, This is Us
I’m still not certain whether
Hartley’s move to be listed as a lead instead of a supporting actor is a smart
one. What I do know is that Hartley has deserved recognition from the Emmys for
at least the last two seasons, and especially for this one. Watching Kevin try
to give support to the uncle he only recently learned he had for much of the
first half, to his determination to try and start a family, to his learning of
his mother’s illness which leads to him a collision course with Randall, was
among the finest work I’ve seen him do, and he’s been the undervalued player of
this entire cast. Is it likely that his father will once again swoop in and
take credit away from him? It’s hard to ever deny Milo Ventimiglia’s work on
this show. But in my opinion, on Season 4, the son finally has outshone the
father, and I hope the voters see that.
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Just like the series receiving a
nomination for Best Drama, it’s clear that the likelihood of Malek being
recognized for his work in the final season of Mr. Robot is next to impossible – the series has basically been
ignored by the Emmys since its first season. But looking at Malek’s body of
work in the final season, its hard to figure how the Emmys could not nominate him. From Eliot’s obsession
to rob ECorp blind leading him to the darkest territory yet – including the
outright the blackmail of an innocent – to his learning the truth of what his
father did to him in the freakiest therapy session of all time, to finally
achieving his goals, and then getting trapped inside his own mind, Malek has
demonstrated why he became a superstar in the first place. Maybe the Emmys
think the Oscar he won last year is more than enough for him. But I think he
deserves to be put in the winner’s circle one more time. Please tell me they’ll
see it too.
Tobias Menzies, The Crown
I don’t know why the judges are
considering Menzies’ work as Prince Philip a lead role in this series, whereas
Matt Smith was content to go into the supporting category. That being said,
having seen his work in this season of The
Crown, one can hardly deny that he is unworthy of recognition. There were
two exceptional episodes that more than demonstrated his skill – one, where after decades of having no real
relationship with his mother, he finally embraced her, and the other where,
feeling lost in his role in the shadow of the moonwalk, led him to finally face
his spiritual problems. Both were superb performances. Throw in the fact that
he was unjustly ignored for his superb work in the early seasons of Outlander, and its hard to see how the
Emmys can deny him.
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
I’ve been saying for four seasons
that Odenkirk should’ve won at least one Emmy by now – though to be fair, given
the intense level of his competition in this category, it’s hard to figure out
who he should have triumphed over. But considering just how brilliant he’s been
before, and how masterful he’s been in this season, it’s going to take a lot of
effort for the Emmys to not
acknowledge him this time. Watching Jimmy embracing Saul, and starting to get
involved with the cartel that will bring him down, to his work in Bagman, where
a simple money pickup ends in death to his confrontation with Lalo in the next
episode, shows that Odenkirk has elevated his work to a level that even Bryan
Cranston, for all his gifts, never achieved. Because five seasons in, we still
feel for Jimmy in a way we had lost any respect for Walt by this time. We know
how his saga ends – and yet we don’t. But I want to know what happened to
Jimmy. And I want Odenkirk on that dais.
Billy Porter, Pose
I’m still not a hundred percent
sold that Porter’s work as Pray Tell was worthy of beating Odenkirk’s last year.
I do think, however, that it was at the next level this season. As Pray Tell
accepting his diagnosis of AIDS by getting angry, by deciding to fight it, and
then finally embracing a new love, Porter has been one of the most dazzling
points to watch this entire season. He is the pater familias of the gang at the
ballroom and of his unlikely family, and as we watched the end of Season 2, we
know that despite everything, he will continue to endure. I honestly don’t know when we’ll finally get
a third season of Pose, but I know
that Porter is even more of a superstar than he was before. Somebody help this
guy complete his EGOT.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Bill Pullman, The Sinner
It is rare that the Emmys give
nominations, much less awards, to actors who underplay their characters.
Indeed, that exact attitude has probably plagued Bill Pullman his entire
career. But in his superb work as Harry Ambrose, a battered down detective who
constantly finds himself investigating why people died rather than how, he
continuously finds level of calmness in darkness. This season, he drove himself
to darker places than he did in the past, trying to get inside the mind of an
ordinary teacher who let a classmate die while he watch, and trying to get inside
his head cost him even more than these cases usually do – something he didn’t
realize until the last minutes of the season. Pullman has been forced to go between Limited
Series and Drama due to the Emmys problems in categorizing The Sinner, and it’s cost him. I hope they find a way to
acknowledge him this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment