Is losing the new winning? If you’re an actress trying to earn a nomination in the Emmys’ Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie category, that may have to be your mantra. There are only five nominee slots and 10 performances and no one would be surprised to make the cut.
Frankly, anything could happen in this category and anyone could get snubbed. We think Amanda Seyfried (“The Dropout”) and Margaret Qualley (“Maid”) are safe, but, um, sure. Emmy favorite Julia Garner (“Inventing Anna”) felt like a lock back in January, but now? Fingers crossed. Lily James gives the performance of her career in “Pam and Tommy,” but is that enough this year? Another Television Academy favorite, Claire Foy, should be in contention for “A Very British Scandal,” but will enough members watch it? And can the same be said for this year’s Oscar winner, Jessica Chastain from “Scenes from a Marriage” which was released last fall? Elle Fanning (“The Girl From Plainville”), Jessica Biel (“Candy”), and Julia Roberts (“Gaslit”) may have arrived too late in a deluge of new content dropped by the Emmy deadline. And Michelle Pfieffer? The legendary actress is hands down the best performance in “The First Lady,” but will voters get past the first episode? And somewhere in the Emmy void, three Oscar winners, Anne Hathaway, Renee Zellweger, and Sissy Spacek, are also clamoring for voters’ attention. For just five coveted slots. Just five. [Posted April 29]
Likely
Amanda Seyfried, “The Dropout”
Margaret Qualley, “Maid”
In the Mix
Julia Garner, “Inventing Anna”
Claire Foy, “A Very British Scandal”
Michelle Pfieffer, “The First Lady”
Lily James, “Pam and Tommy”
Julia Roberts, “Gaslit”
Elle Fanning, “The Girl From Plainville”
Jessica Biel, “Candy”
Jessica Chastain, “Scenes from a Marriage”
Gillian Anderson, “The First Lady”
Viola Davis, “The First Lady”
Longshots
Anne Hathaway, “WeCrashed”
Toni Collette, “Pieces of Her”
Renee Zellweger, “The Thing About Pam”
Mackenzie Davis, “Station Eleven”
Sissy Spacek, “Night Sky”
Emmy Rossum, “Angelyne”
Sienna Miller, “Anatomy of a Scandal”
Wunmi Mosaku, “We Own This City”