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| Tatiana Maslany should own this category for "Orphan Black" |
The Emmy nominations will be announced tomorrow and we’re
down to our last acting category and it’s somewhat fitting that we should end
with the category that typically sees the most change every year: Lead Actress
in a Drama. It’s actually kind of
amazing how many different women have gotten recognition in this category over
the years. Lead Actress in a Drama has
had ten different winners since 2000 and no woman has won more than two
trophies. Twelve different women have
been nominated in the last three years.
Even traditional stalwarts often have had trouble maintaining nominations in
recent years. Mariska Hargitay had
earned eight consecutive nominations and a win before being shut out the last
two years. Julianna Marguiles won in
2011 but wasn’t nominated in 2013. There
has been a lot of turnover in this category recently and last year’s surprise
nominees could mean the same for 2014.
A couple of caveats before we start. First, I’m working from the actual Emmy Performer Ballot, so I can’t move somebody from lead to supporting
(Woody Harrelson), nor can I call True
Detective a miniseries or Orange Is
the New Black a drama, nor can I nominate somebody who didn’t submit
themselves (like Alan Cumming in The Good
Wife). Also, I’m only including
actors from shows I watch regularly, so if your favorites from House of Cards, Parenthood, The Good Wife, or Scandal
aren’t here, that’s why.
My 2013 Choices:
Claire Danes (Homeland)
Tatiana Maslany (Orphan
Black)
Elisabeth Moss (Mad
Men)
Piper Perabo (Covert
Affairs)
Keri Russell (The
Americans)
Katheryn Winnick (Vikings)
Actual 2013 Nominees:
Connie Britton (Nashville)
Claire Danes (Homeland)
– 2013 Emmy Winner
Michelle Dockery (Downton
Abbey)
Vera Farmiga (Bates
Motel)
Elisabeth Moss (Mad
Men)
Kerry Washington (Scandal)
Robin Wright (House of
Cards)
The first thing to note about last year’s nominees is that
there were seven of them. There is a
quirk in the nominating process that allows for a seventh nominee if the person
is within a certain percentage of the sixth place nominee, so while it’s
possible we could see seven again next year, it’s unlikely. That already leaves us with one fewer spot to
deal with and only one clear favorite to return. Despite my rantings about Homeland in previous Emmy articles,
Claire Danes is a lock. It’s
the biggest role on the show and she’s consistently given the most to do, even
if her good performance is in service of crappy storylines. Britton, Farmiga, and Washington were all
somewhat surprising nominations last year and could easily stay or go. Dockery and Moss are both great actresses on
shows with fading cultural profiles.
And, while Wright will likely return, the mantle of “Prestige Netflix
Series” may be shifting from House of
Cards to Orange Is the New Black.
Not only were there a lot of new actresses and surprising
actresses nominated last year, there are a number of women with great
performances looking to replace them.
Lizzy Caplan was amazing in Masters
of Sex last fall. Julianna Marguiles
seems certain to return after a strong year for The Good Wife. Then there
are critical favorites like Tatiana Maslany and Keri Russell who might be able
to score nominations after increasing cultural discussion around their strong
sophomore seasons. This category is wide
open and it feels like anybody could win.
I’m going to start with the actress who probably has the
least chance of scoring a nomination, Sleepy
Hollow’s Nicole Beharie. Sleepy
Hollow was the surprise hit of the fall, succeeding both commercially and
critically and most of that success was thanks to the wonderful relationship
between Beharie’s detective Abbie Mills and Tom Mison’s Ichabod Crane. The show itself was a rather straightforward
supernatural drama, but the relationship at the center held everything
together. I couldn’t find a spot for
Mison in my Lead Actor piece, but Beharie has no problems earning a nomination
here.
My favorite new show of 2013 was Masters of Sex and Lizzy
Caplan was the best part of that show.
It’s still far too uncommon to see a career-minded, socially liberated
woman on television, so to have this woman in a show set in the 1950s and 1960s
is all the more strange. Caplan seems
born for this part, sliding effortlessly into the role. She’s capable of playing the harried mother,
the ambitious student, and the Siren. This
feels like the kind of role that is built to earn Emmy nominations and Caplan
is more than up to the task.
I’ve been down on Downton
Abbey recently, but one of the highlights of last season was Michelle Dockery’s Lady Mary and her
attempts to enter the world of men, overseeing and maintaining the estate in
the wake of her husband’s death. It was
a slow build and she was still burdened with a potential love triangle late in
the season, but Lady Mary and Dockery were at their best when allowed to think
and act for themselves. I may have a
soft spot for women seeking power in a man’s world (as this list no doubt
shows), but Dockery plays that part well.
Were she not burdened with all of the love stuff, which she appears
bored with at this point, I’d consider this performance even more highly.
My wife made the perfect argument for Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany during an episode a few
weeks ago when she remarked, “I just forget that they’re all the same person.” That’s really what separates Maslany from the
rest of the actresses here. While Orphan Black may not have been as good
of a show in its second season as it was in its first, Maslany may have
been better. It’s not just that she
plays five different regular characters, but that she’s capable of
distinguishing between all of them in actions and mannerisms beyond even the
hair and wardrobe. And then you have
scenes like in the second season premiere where she’s playing Sarah pretending
to be Cosima and you can see the subtle differences she adds to distinguish the
performances. It really is a tour de force unlike anything television has ever
seen.
Just as I was amazed that Jon Hamm could go this long
without an Emmy win, it’s becoming more and more likely that the same fate will
befall Elisabeth Moss. She’s been nominated five times (six if you
count her miniseries nomination for Top
of the Lake) and been denied every time.
The first half of Mad Men’s
seventh season had many more great moments for Peggy, whether she was being despicable
(and a complete ass on Valentine’s Day with her secretary’s flowers), loving
(watching TV with Julio), or horrified (receiving Ginsberg’s nipple). The truth is, no Mad Men actor has yet received an Emmy award, a fact that becomes
more unbelievable every year.
My final nomination would go to Keri Russell, who put on a stellar performance in the second season
of The Americans. As with Hannibal,
The Americans made a huge leap in its
second year, transitioning from great drama to must watch television. What makes the show remarkable is the way it
handles its central marriage and family.
The back-and-forth of the Jennings’s relationship took a backseat in the
second season as their relationship became stronger. But that deepening relationship began to
cause other problems with their work lives, culminating in the stunning and
almost horrifying scene when Elizabeth asks Phillip’s alter ego Clark into
bed. I doubt many Emmy voters even know The Americans exists, but they really
should.
Others meriting consideration: Claire Danes, Diane Kruger
Previously: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy,
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama
So those are my Emmy choices. Agree?
Disagree? Let me know in the
comments or on Twitter @TyTalksTV.
Tyler Williams is a
professional librarian and an amateur television critic. You can reach him at TyTalksTV AT gmail DOT
com or on Twitter @TyTalksTV.
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