In the years of
Peak Limited Series, this category has frequently seen relative newcomers
overcome seasoned veterans: Sterling Brown defeating John Travolta and Hugh
Laurie in 2016; Alexander Skarsgard beating Michael K. Williams and Alfred Molina
in 2017; Ben Whishaw beating Stellan Skarsgard and John Leguizamo in 2019. We
have a fair balance of veteran character actors and relative newcomers in this
category – and unlike previous categories a pretty clear front-runner. Who will
win? Here are the nominees.
Johnathan
Bailey, Fellow Travelers. Odds: 9-2. For Playing: Tim, a junior
staffer in Senator McCarthy’s office whose relationship with another man sends
him on a journey of activism and self-discovery. Pro: Bailey has
actually won a couple of awards for his work on Fellow Travelers – the Critics
Choice Award and the Dorian Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Drama. And
while Bailey didn’t receive similar recognition among the Golden Globes that
his co-lead Matt Bomer did, his work was if anything more revolutionary. A devout
Catholic and die-hard anti-communist at the start of the series his
relationship with Hawk led him to do things he didn’t think he was capable
of - and its telling that his
homosexuality was the one he didn’t regret. Unlike Hawk, Tim had scruples that he
never truly lost, was never ashamed of who he was in a way that Hawk in their
entire relationship hiding and there’s an argument that his deep love for him
cost him far more than it ever did Hawk. Yet even as he was dying of AIDS at
the end of the series he was still the brave one. And its worth noting among
his last lines were: “I have loved you my whole life. My great enduring love.”
It was something Hawk couldn’t admit until Tim was forever beyond his reach.
Bomer’s work was the more revelatory performance but Bailey’s was by far the
more emotionally potent one and he deserves to win. Con: It’s really hard
to look as Bailey’s performance as ‘supporting’.
Robert Downey,
Jr. The Sympathizer. Odds: 11-2. For Playing: Various
characters in the lives of The Captain. Pro: From the moment it was
revealed that Robert Downey Jr was not only doing his first TV series in 1999
but he would playing for different roles he became the overwhelming favorite in
this category. And anyone who watched his work knows that this was another example
of why Downey is one of the greatest actors of all time. He took on four
different roles – a CIA agent, an academic, a far-right congressman and a
Hollywood auteur – and even when you saw all four share the screen, it was
clear that they were all similar but not necessarily Downey. This wasn’t just a
trick of acting, we saw in the series finale that there was a fifth character
Downey played – and it was clear their resemblance was not only how the Captain
saw them all but how all of them were part and parcel of the exploitation of
Vietnam. Downey entered the ranks of Alec Guiness, Peter Sellers and even Eddie
Murphy with his work in The Sympathizer. After his deserved Oscar for Oppenheimer,
many assumed he would win an Emmy in the same year. This performance is
more than worthy of it. Con: Downey’s nomination is the only one that The
Sympathizer got. Granted his fellow Avenger Mark Ruffalo was in the same
position as Downey for another HBO limited series, I Know This Much Is True (which
involved a similar bit of acting brilliance) and he was able to win. The difference
is the category Ruffalo was in that year was a fairly weak one by the standards
of the last few years. Downey is up against far stiffer competition.
Tom
Goodman-Hill, Baby Reindeer. Odds: 6-1. For Playing: Foley, a British
comedy producer who takes Donny under his wing – in more ways than one. Pro:
I didn’t consider Goodman-Hill’s role large enough to be worthy of a nomination
when considering this category last year: his character was only in three
episodes. But considering that one of them was the flashback in which we
learned the dark history of Donny and how significant that was to his entire life
going forward, you can’t pretend it wasn’t important. And in that episode
Goodman-Hill did show a range worthy of the work of many of the performers in
this category: he had to. He was, after all, playing a groomer and sexual
predator and he had to be charming, kind and just visible enough in Donny’s
life that he would seem a real ally - to
the point when he sexually violated Donny the first time, it came as much a
shock to him as the viewer. How it played out over and over was more shocking
then anything that happened with Martha in a way, particularly as we saw how it
destroyed Donny as a person. And their final scene together where Donny seems
unable to know if he can forgive him or not, was a haunting one in a haunting
finale. It was a superb performance. Con: There’s been just as much controversy
about who the real Foley was Martha. And more to the point, this role is less
significant in the way the others are.
John Hawkes, True Detective: Night Country. Odds: 6-1.
For Playing: Hank
Prior, the former sheriff who comes into constant conflict with everyone
involved in the investigation. Pro: Hawkes has been one of the most
undervalued actors in Hollywood for more than thirty years and Peak TV has shown
him at his best and HBO always brings out the best whether as Sol Star in Deadwood
or Dustin Powers in Eastbound and Down. Now after twenty years of
playing so many basically good characters on TV, he gets to play an absolute dick
on Night Country. As Hank, he is the adversary of every character,
sexist towards his new boss, racist towards so many of the workers, a bully to
his own son. Hank is a monster in a way that even the killers in this series
are because his behavior has become so indoctrinated. Hawkes has been one of
the most underrecognized actors in history (save for the Independent Spirit
Awards) and that he never even got nominated for Deadwood is a
f---ing crime. He earned this. Con: Had he played a character like this
in an earlier version of True Detective he probably would have been the
hero and won an Emmy. Now he’s the monster and this series belongs to the women.
Lamorne Morris,
Fargo. Odds: 7-1. For Playing: Deputy Witt Farr, whose violent
encounter with Dot Lyon is only the start of a journey down a rabbit hole. Pro:
When we first met Witt in the season 5 premier we didn’t think he’d survive
the bloodbath that involved Dot’s escape. When the season ended, we realized he’d
only managed to delay his violent end by a few days. Witt was part of a tradition
of good-hearted officers of the law dating back all the way to the first season
of Fargo; one who has a strong sense of duty and morals that are
unaffected by the evils that go on around them and adjust to all of the bizarre
characters they meet. In that sense his character was the type that was
expected to get lost under the brilliant other character performance who might
have been in this category (Joe Keery’s Gator was expected to be here) But
Morris’s good heartedness and sense of right and wrong was something Hawley has
perfected and by this point we’re used to them being the last ones standing.
That he pulled the rug out from under us in the finale was a kick in the teeth
Hawley has never done before. It’s a wrenching work. Con: Just as Morris
was a surprise nominee for this series, he’s unlikely to win in this powerhouse
in this category.
Lewis Pullman, Lessons
in Chemistry. Odds: 13-2. For Playing: Calvin, a brilliant
physicist who falls in love with Elizabeth. Pro: Calvin shockingly died at
the end of the second episode of Lessons but his spirit hung over all of
Elizabeth’s life, sometimes in flashback, sometimes figuratively, sometimes
through the daughter he left behind. Due to Mad’s determination to find out who
her father really was, Calvin was as much a presence in the second half of the
series as the first. And in The Life of Calvin, we got to see a side of him
Elizabeth never did – someone who wasn’t as close-minded to spiritual ideas,
someone who was capable of being a good friend, someone who genuinely was
capable of love. It was a superb stint that you’d expect from the son of one of
the greatest character actors in history. Pullman received multiple nominations
and he would be a worthy winner. Con: Lessons has never gotten a
reception the way that so many other great series in this category have. And it’s
likely not to help that his performance was subtler.
Treat Williams,
Capote Vs. The Swans. Odds: 13-2. For Playing: Bill Paley, the
head of CBS who takes the betrayal of his wife by Truman Capote very seriously.
Pro: The world was stunned by Treat Williams’s accidental death just a
few weeks before Capote Vs. The Swans premiered. Williams’s was one of
the great actors of the 1980s and 1990s, brilliant as a romantic lead, in
character parts and in Everwood a great father figure. Attention was
paid one what would now be his final performance and it was a suiting valedictory
for a great career. Bill Paley is the most prominent of the husbands of the
Swans and it’s clear from the opening what a philanderer and bastard he is. He
comes to Babe’s behest at the time of her diagnosis but that doesn’t stop his
infidelities – including with one of his wife’s closest friends. As she
approaches her death Babe and Bill have a drag-out argument where she makes it
clear how much the two of them have failed in this marriage and it hits him
hard. But in his scene at his wife’s memorial, women are crowding around him in
consolation. Williams went his entire career as an actor never receiving any real
recognition. An Emmy would be a fitting tribute to one of our greatest actors. Con:
If we know anything about the Emmys, it’s that they don’t let sentimentality
rule their judgment. Look no further than last year when Ray Liotta was defeated
by his co-star Paul Walter Hauser in this very category. It was a great
performance to be sure, but just like the series he was a part of, the Emmys
have no more respect for the dead then the Swans and Capote do.
Prediction: I think this
one goes to Bailey by a fair margin.
Tomorrow I wrap
this up. Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series will be my focus
but I’ll try to hit everything else I care about.
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