First
things first. In my last choice I am going to break my rule and advocate for a
performance in a TV movie. That said for the five nominees I'm going to pitch
here all of them are from Limited Series – though in one case, I'm going off
book as to proper choice.
Here
we go.
Olivia
Cooke, The Girlfriend
The Girlfriend got some buzz at the end of 2025
with the series and Robin Wright getting a fair amount of nominations. It got
some recognition from the Astras but I remain pessimistic it will be
recognized. Which is a shame because having seen the series last February I found it superb.
In a perfect world there would be
room for both female leads: Olivia Cooke and Robin Wright both deserve
nominations. So I'm going to advocate for the one I think deserves it and
that's Cooke in the title role. I really thought Cooke's work as Cherry Laine,
the working class woman who manages to land David as a boyfriend was the master
class that carried this piece, despite the brilliance of Wright's possessive
mother. We knew that Cherry was a liar and we saw her do incredibly horrible
things but we also knew that Wright's character was too possessive of her son
to the point that no woman would be good enough for her. When David was in an
accident that seemed certain to kill him – and Laura told Cherry that he was
dead – it was a betrayal so horrendous that it seemed impossible to forgive and
it was. However by the finale it was clear just how devilishly matched these
two women were – and when the tragedy was over you had every reason to think
twice.
Cooke has been a major figure on
TV ever since she shot to prominence on Bates Motel; her frail
appearance showing women with incredible toughness beneath. As I write this the
third season of House of The Dragon has debuted to incredible raves and
considering how vital Cooke is to that story in a very different way I wonder
if that might shoot her back into consideration. This would be one performer
from Westeros I wouldn't mind getting an Emmy nomination.
Claire
Danes, The Beast in Me
I
long since stopped being astonished by anything Claire Danes was capable of
after nearly three decades in TV and two Emmys for her work as Carrie Matheson
in Homeland. But just as Matthew Rhys found ways to still surprise me as
Nile Jarvis Danes' work as Aggie Wiggs was just as impressive.
Danes has made a career of playing
women who appear strong on the outside and professional but who are utterly
broken on the inside. Here Aggie is something different: a woman who has been
fundamentally broken for years because of the tragic death of her son, her
marriage in a shambles, suffering from writer's block for her second book,
living in a house in Long Island that is falling apart. When next door moves
the literal neighbor from hell, demanding a jogging path and not taking no for
an answer, Aggie finds herself opening up to him and when it seems a young man
maybe dead she's terrified by what she might have caused. Then she finds
herself getting deeper into Nile's orbit, fully aware of who he is,
increasingly terrified by what he represents but increasingly pot committed to
finding out the truth about what he is. When it is revealed the truth is
something that not only doesn't always set you free but is best never revealed
at all.
Danes got even more recognition
then Rhys did, nominated for every award in the book at the end of the year and
even more in the last month. In a wide open race she may earn yet another Emmy
and while there may be more deserving nominees I can't wait to see what happens
next.
Carey
Mulligan, Beef
Ever since she made her debut to
American audiences in An Education Carey Mulligan has a long history of
playing characters who are broken internally even if they seem strong in their
actions. You can understand why it made perfect sense to cast her in Beef even
before it was revealed it would be a reunion with her co-star from Inside
Llewyn Davis.
As Lindsay Mulligan plays a
wealthy expatriate who's spent much of her marriage holding up her husbands
dreams. They haven't had sex in over a year at the start of the series, she
spends most of her time following her former boyfriend's socials without being
able to follow through, she has no confidence that they will hold their job
when the country club is taken over. So in a sense the fights that starts
everything in Season 2 is technically her fault even though there are a lot of
long-standing issues. She pushes for Josh to cover it up, when things spiral
she's less supportive at first, then they seem to find a way to heal from it,
and then everything goes from there before things end with them being held
prisoner at a spa in South Korea. (As one is in these series.) By the end of
the season she's managed to find a way forward – but there's a very good chance
that she'll be back where she was in a few years' time.
Mulligan has been nominated for
more than a few awards and she even has
a fair amount of trophies for her work in Promising Young Woman. Deservedly
she'll be walking the red carpets during the next few months yet again.
Laura
Pidgeon, American Love Story
In many ways Laura Pidgeon had a
far more difficult role to take on then Paul Anthony Kelly. JFK Jr was a public
figure but Carolyn Bessette was known only as the woman who'd won the heir to
Camelot and then basically disappeared. Her life was eaten by her husband's
despite everything, and that's sadly true about her death.
So it might be surprising that in
this version Carolyn comes across as the far more dimensional and realized
character even more than JFK Jr. Pidgeon makes it very clear that Carolyn was
her own woman, a silent force at Calvin Klein, a woman who was independent and
had no early desire to be in the hands of America's tragic family, who resisted
John Jr despite his entreaties – and then finally fell in love. Its clear their
relationship was combative and that she resisted the idea of being part of this
family. Their wedding day was happy – and from the moment the honeymoon ended
she became a prisoner in her own home, a monster in the eyes of the media. In
the penultimate episode we see two scenes of fights between the two of them, a
Carolyn who is horrified by what happened to Princess Di among the most tragic
moments. "They killed her," she says. "We're next." And we
see them trying to rebuild their marriage before the inevitable tragedy claims
their lives leaving a wreckage behind that, sadly, only a few truly know then
or now.
Pidgeon is destined for
superstardom for her incredible work as Bessette in one of the most erotically
charged and sexually confident performances I've seen in years. I'm expecting
great things from her and I think she has a bright future.
Sarah
Snook, All Her Fault
Snook is the only performer in
this category with a prize on her mantle for her work: she deservedly received
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series from the Critics Choice Awards
this past January. To be sure it was the third prize she'd won from them in
five years (she won for the last two seasons of Succession) but though
she was stunned I wasn't. Her work as Marissa Irvine was one of the great
triumphs of 2025.
Marissa finds herself at the
center of a nightmare when she finds out her five year old son Milo has been
abducted and the nanny of a woman she sent him to a playdate with was the one
responsible. The abduction leads to a nightmare that reveals the fundamental
cracks in her marriage and a series of events that reveals the rot at her
relationship with Peter. This becomes even worse when Milo ends up being
returned to her and the consequences have already spiraled. By the final
episodes multiple people have died but even that is not the greatest tragedy of
all and it forces Marissa to do something unthinkable in order to protect her
family – something that the viewer sympathizes with despite everything.
Snook would appear to be the
prohibitive frontrunner in this category though her one prize was a long time
ago. As someone who had issues with her work in Succession I fully
endorse if she ends up being the ultimate winner.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Allison Janney, Miss You, Love
You
I rarely push for nominees for
their work in TV movies but when the performance is great enough I can make an
exception. And that is the case for Janney's work in what will be one of the
frontrunners for Best TV Movie this year Miss You, Love You.
Allison Janney plays Diane, a
widow who is planning her husband's funeral. Her estranged son chooses to send
his assistant instead of coming himself, forcing her to grieve with his
assistant. What follows is essentially a stage play with very few characters
showing up and Janney and Andrew Rannels carrying much of the action.
Janney has always been greatest
when it comes to turning what should be tragedy into farce (she was superb in
her last HBO TV movie Bad Education) and Jim Rash, the Oscar winning
screenwriter behind The Descendants knows just how the handle how grief
often leads to comedy. In addition to all of this with Janney near certain for
a nomination for The Diplomat and a dark horse for Palm Royale –
well I'd love to see a woman whose already made Emmy history keep making it.
Tomorrow I deal with Outstanding
Supporting Actor in a Limited Series. And this time it will be strictly
Limited Series.
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