Written by: Holly Pulley, Staff Writer
EXCITEMENT: A prediction of Emmys winners from a chronic streaming service user.
The Emmys take place on January 15, 2023, and as time passes, I become more and more excited to see the beautiful outfits and to find if my predictions of the award winners come to be true or false. In this article, I will give my very biased opinion on who I think should win the awards for best lead actor and actress in both comedy and drama series.
To begin, let’s introduce the nominees for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series: Sharon Morgan for Bad Sisters, Melanie Lynskey for Yellowjackets, Elisabeth Moss for The Handmaid’s Tale, Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us, Keri Russel for The Diplomat, and Sarah Snook for Succession. Now, one with any knowledge of television would predict just by looking at this list that Sarah Snook will win, as she has been nominated three times for her role as Chiv on Succession; the show is coming to an end, and everyone likes closure. The show’s success speaks for itself with its 95% Rotten Tomatoes rating and an 8.9/10 for IMDb, which is quite resounding for them. It’s also one of the most successful shows on HBO. All of that being said, though, I believe that Bella Ramsey is going to win. I loved The Last of Usgame, and the show did it justice. The casting along with the incredible acting from both lead actors made it a great show, and with the state of the world right now, Bella Ramsey is the safest vote when it comes to diversity. Sure, she might be white, but she’s queer, and along with the obvious theme of queerness in the show, it might help the Academy Awards’ image to give the award to Ramsey. That is not to say she isn’t a great actor, because I also believe that actors are not just nominated for their identity, but their performance as well, and I will say that Ramsey did her due-diligence when creating the most accurate human, Ellie.
Moving on, we have Best Lead Actor in a Drama Series with the nominees being Jeff Bridges for The Old Man, Brian Cox for Succession, Kieran Culkin for Succession, Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul, Pedro Pascal for The Last of Us, and Jeremy Strong for Succession. Now, I have a lot to say about these nominees, but I will be honest, I’ve never even heard of The Old Man, and I believe the only way Jeff Bridges would win is because of his household-name-esque career.However, the rest of the nominees definitely create quite the competition. To start, three Succession cast members are nominated for this category, meaning there is a fifty percent chance that one will win, and while Pedro Pascal delivered an incredible performance in The Last of Us, there is no doubt that Succession is an amazing show with incredible acting. Jeremy Strong’s portrayal of a rich kid just trying to get his father to love him personally struck a chord in me, and my parents love me to no end. Kieran Culkin and Brian Cox also offer an incredible broken relationship between father and son, with Culkin mastering the art of theatrical sarcasm. So the obvious prediction would be Jeremy Strong of Kieran Culkin, because of Strong’s previous win and Culkin’s into the award winner world,butI want so badly for Bob Odenkirk to win. People tend to see Better Call Saul as a comedy in which a silly lawyer does silly things, but it’s so much more than that. It tells the story of a broken family, a self-sabotaging couple, and a man with a hunger to be remembered above all else. It’s a deep, beautifully written series that has consistently kept a high viewer rating and a comprehensible storyline. Odenkirk has also received six nominations for his performance as Jimmy McGill, Gene Takovic, and Saul Goodman in Better Call Saul, and like I mentioned with Sarah Snook, everyone loves closure. I truly hope Odenkirk wins for his outstanding performance, but it’s not crazy to believe a Succession cast member will win.
Let’s advance to comedy. The nominees for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series are Bill Hader in Barry, Jason Segel in Shrinking, Martin Short in Only Murders in the Building, Jason Sudekis in Ted Lasso, and Jeremy Allen White in The Bear. This is a hard one, because all of the men in this category are not only talented, but have been in the entertainment industry for years. Sudekis has won two Emmys for Ted Lasso, and so has Bill Hader for Barry. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sudekis or Hader won again. I believe Only Murders in the Building and Shrinking are still too new or unrecognized to win an award, so they might start with a nomination and, if they continue to run or become increasingly better with time, might win. Now, I believe that Jeremy Allen White has a good chance of winning this award, and not only because of his literally incredible performance as Carmy, but also because of the show’s ratings. It’s maintained a 100% from Rotten Tomatoes since its first season, and holds an 8.6/10 from IMDb with 170,051 votes. The Bear’s fast-paced style and engaging character analysis allows for anyone to watch it and not become extremely bored. Jeremy Allen White plays a critical part in that as the main character, and I truly believe he is deserving of this award.
Let’s meet the Lead Actresses nominated for Best Performance in a Comedy Series; Christina Applegate for Dead to Me, Rachel Brosnahan for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary, Natasha Lyonne for Poker Face, and Jenna Ortega for Wednesday. So many women, and very few worthy opponents for this match. First of all, Jenna Ortega being recognized for Wednesday and not the Fallout (2021) just proves how ridiculous award shows are, but that’s a different article. Wednesday, in my opinion, was so boring and never really dove into any deeper themes that kept me watching it. It was a teeny-bopper, and that’s perfectly fine, but should not be nominated for an Academy Award. Applegate’s performance in Dead to Me was stunning, and I would not be surprised if she won. Natasha Lyonne kind of plays the same character in every show that casts her: quirky, bordering on heavily intoxicated sellout who just wants to turn her life around. That is just my opinion, though. Who I want to win is Quinta Brunson. Abbott Elementary is a great moc-umentary film that includes diverse characters and doesn’t entirely focus on their diversity. It’s just a story of teachers with completely different backgrounds working together in a low-income area to teach the next generation. It relates to Parks and Recreation in the way that it deals with both light-hearted and more mature topics, while still keeping this fun air to it. Quinta Brunson does an amazing job at portraying a teacher who wants to make change and isn’t afraid to show it.
Those are my predictions for the 2024 Emmy Awards for Best Lead Actor or Actress in a Series. I hope to be right, and live another day whole-heartedly believing that I should write my own show, with how predictable all of this is. But on the very slim chance that I am wrong… I state my regret.