Whether comedy or drama, it’s a mix of the old and the new.
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Alright, TV fans! I’ve worked my way through the official Emmy ballot after sampling the best of the past season, and rather than making predictions—a fool’s game, I tell you!—I’ve picked seven actors in each category (the standard six nominees, plus a tie) that I feel are most worthy of a nod.
To kick things off, here’s the first of five Emmy Dream Ballots, honing in on the supporting actor stand-outs in both comedy and drama.
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
- Louie Anderson, Baskets (FX)
- Brian Tyree Henry, Atlanta (FX)
- Marc Maron, GLOW (Netflix)
- Ray Romano, Get Shorty (Epix)
- Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon)
- JB Smoove, Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)
- Lakeith Stanfield, Atlanta (FX)
Behind My Ballot: With the Veep guys out of the running (the show didn’t air during the eligibility period), I had plenty of room to slot-in Atlanta’s MVP duo alongside former Emmy darlings continuing to do great work (Anderson, Romano and Shalhoub). Add to that a couple of scene-stealing dark horse newcomers who bring the funny to a new level in every episode (Maron and Smoove), and I think we’d have a real race on our hands.
Almost a Contender: Henry Winkler, Barry; Michael Cera, Arrested Development
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
- Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones (HBO)
- Noah Emmerich, The Americans (FX)
- David Harbour, Stranger Things (Netflix)
- Justin Hartley, This Is Us (NBC)
- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game of Thrones (HBO)
- Anthony Hopkins, Westworld (HBO)
- Jon Voight, Ray Donovan (Showtime)
Behind My Ballot: Four of these seven guys have scored a tip of the hat from the Academy in the past for the same roles (with Dinklage taking home some hardware), but the trio of newcomers on my list—Emmerich, Hartley and Coster-Waldau—broke through this year in a big way after delivering consistently great work for seasons. It’s time for proper attention to be paid, especially to Emmerich, whose performance in The Americans series finale alone could land him the gold.
Almost a Contender: Christian Slater, Mr. Robot; Matt Smith, The Crown; Jake Lacy, I’m Dying Up Here