Deadline Hollywood - AwardsLine - 08/14/19

PRESENTS AU G U ST 14 , 2019 E M M Y N OM I N E ES / PA RT 1

INSIDE

CHERNOBYL

DEADLINE.COM/AWARDSLINE

H OW CR AIG MAZIN’S HBO HI T B ECA ME T HE WAT E RCOOL E R T E L E V I S I O N E V E N T O F TH E YE A R

PATRICIA ARQUETTE

MARGARET QUALLEY

The double Emmy nominee speaks

Meet this year’s freshest Emmy breakthrough

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NOMINEES’ GALLERY Michael Douglas + James Corden Phoebe Waller-Bridge + Amy Poehler Mahershala Ali + Christina Applegate And More...

Chernobyl's Craig Mazin and Jared Harris

8/9/19 10:34 AM

9 EMMY

®

NOMINATIONS INCLUDING OUT S TANDING DR AMA SERIES

“ E X P L O S I V E .”

FILM INQUIRY

OUTSTANDING DIRECTING

JASON BATEMAN

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR

JASON BATEMAN

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS

LAURA LINNEY

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS

JULIA GARNER

FYC.NETFLIX.COM

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PATRICIA ARQUETTE Telling truths twice over with The Act and Escape at Dannemora

14

MARGARET QUALLEY The rising star moves from Tarantino to television with FX’s Fosse/Verdon

16

CHERNOBYL Creator Craig Mazin, director Johan Renck, and stars Jared Harris & Stellan Skarsgård on the limited series that woke up the world

26

THE DIALOGUE: EMMY NOMINEES Julia Garner Jason Bateman Laura Linney Phoebe Waller-Bridge James Corden Michael Kelly Mahershala Ali Nic Pizzolatto Amy Poehler Alex Gibney Christina Applegate Joey King Michael Douglas

44

FLASH MOB Deadline presents AwardsLine Screening Series, TCA Summer Press Tour and Hulu’s Handmaid’s Tale Season 3 premiere ON THE COVER

Craig Mazin and Jared Harris photographed exclusively for Deadline by Josh Telles

ON THIS PAGE

Phoebe Waller-Bridge photographed exclusively for Deadline by Nicol Biesek

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E M M Y N O M I N AT I O N S ®

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“POWERFUL AND HAUNTING” – LOS ANGELES TIMES

19 E M M Y N O M I N AT I O N S ®

I N C L U D I N G O U T S TA N D I N G L I M I T E D S E R I E S

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE JARED HARRIS HARRIS JARED OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE STELLAN SKARSGÅRD SKARSGÅRD STELLAN OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE EMILY WATSON WATSON EMILY OUTSTANDING DIRECTING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR DRAMATIC SPECIAL JOHAN RENCK RENCK JOHAN

OUTSTANDING PROSTHETIC MAKEUP FOR A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL OUTSTANDING MUSIC COMPOSITION FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL (ORIGINAL DRAMATIC SCORE) OUTSTANDING SOUND EDITING FOR A LIMITED SERIES, MOVIE OR SPECIAL OUTSTANDING SOUND MIXING FOR A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE OUTSTANDING SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

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“FASCINATING AND HILARIOUS” –INDIEWIRE

17 E M M Y N O M I N AT I O N S ®

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The sound of Good Omens

p. 12

| Rent: Live in the round

p. 12

| Fresh Face: Margaret Qualley

p. 14

Raw Talent

Patricia Arquette returns to Emmy contention with The Act and Escape at Dannemora—and two intensely transformative real-life roles

BY ANTONIA BLYTH

P H O T O G R A P H B Y

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Michael Buckner

D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

7

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DUAL ACTION Arquette (left) as Tilly in Dannemora; (above) with Charlie Hofheimer, (far left) with Joey King in The Act.

LAST TIME PATRICIA ARQUETTE WAS STARING an Emmy in the face it was 2007, and she was on her second nomination for playing Allison Dubois in Medium— the pretty mom who has it all, with psychic powers to boot.

What could have been a hackneyed stereotype became, in the hands of Arquette, a nuanced and moving portrait of a woman torn. She didn’t win back then, but this year she just might, with two astoundingly challenging real-life roles under her belt: abusive mom Dee Dee Blanchard in Hulu’s The Act, and dissatisfied prison worker-turned-criminal Joyce “Tilly” Mitchell in Showtime’s Escape at Dannemora.

With the two limited series

Murdered in 2015 at the hand of

was that she might be the type of

her daughter Gypsy Rose’s boy-

person where if you meet her, she

friend Nicholas Godejohn, Dee

might manipulate you a little bit,”

Dee Blanchard was recreated from

Johnson told Deadline. “If you look at

scratch, without family involvement.

her life history, she’s got a long track

Following the 2017 documentary

record of manipulation and we were

Mommy Dead and Dearest, which

worried about that.”

depicted Dee Dee’s condition of

Once Dannemora came out,

Munchausen syndrome by proxy,

Mitchell objected, specifically to the

and consequent abuse of Gypsy,

depiction of the sexual relationships

Arquette says the family had com-

in a small prison backroom. “Tilly was

pletely turned against Dee Dee.

upset,” Arquette says. “She said all of

“The family had already reevalu-

these things hadn’t happened, that

ated Dee Dee as the monster who

they couldn’t have possibly had sex

had done this horrible stuff to Gyp-

in that room. But the thing is, we’ve

sy, so there was nobody left to get

shoots, and her new Netflix film

Based on a real-life 2015 prison

all been in that room. And actually,

an unbiased opinion. She was now

Otherhood crammed into a few

break, the limited series explores

the woman who took over Tilly’s

the hated one, even to the point

months, Arquette found she leaned

the dynamics between Mitchell and

job was arrested having sex with an

that the family flushed Dee Dee’s

on the network TV training she had

convicts David Sweat (Paul Dano)

inmate in that same room.”

ashes down the toilet. I would have

on Medium to run that marathon.

and Richard Matt (Benicio Del Toro).

“Absolutely it prepared me for

After becoming sexually involved

screen Mitchell, Tolkin says. “I don’t

Dee Dee that didn’t include a lot of

that,” she says. “I think it gives you

with the prisoners, Mitchell ultimate-

think there’s an actress in the world

condemnation and re-evaluation of

a different skillset working that

ly helped them escape. Arquette is

that could have done a better job

who she was, so I kind of had to fill it

quickly, the way you have to, when

nominated alongside her co-stars,

than her. She embraced the char-

alone, honestly.”

you’re doing 22 episodes a year of

and director Ben Stiller.

acter’s complicated lust for power

something. We actually took more

First to shoot was Dannemora.

and understand about Joyce Mitchell

Inherent in every retelling of a true

Arquette skillfully wove the on-

a very hard time getting a version of

As with Mitchell’s objections to

and brought her humanity to the

Dannemora, the Blanchard relatives

time than you would usually take

story is the pressure of accuracy, but

character, by not softening the char-

voiced concerns about The Act. But

on TV for Dannemora. For The Act,

Dannemora showrunners Michael

acter’s edges, by not winking at the

Arquette believes that may be par

we did move really quickly, but it

Tolkin and Brett Johnson made the

audience, by not doing anything that

for the course with stories like these.

is a serious, fully intense workload

decision not to meet Mitchell—a

would make you like the character.”

“The thing is,” she says, “when you

and it’s a steep learning curve

choice Arquette then seconded.

when you aren’t used to that.”

8

“Part of what we seemed to know

For limited series The Act, Arquette once again flew solo.

involve the family, you also then bring in their re-imagined versions of

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events. Certain things that may have happened that they don’t want to see; they don’t want to talk about.”

One of the ways Arquette got into Dee Dee’s mindset was by expanding upon her own feelings of concern for her daughter. “There’s a little bit of the fear when our kids go out of the house,” she explains. “If they’re driving with young friends at night and they’re going to a party, there’s a certain amount of fear just from life that goes with that. But people like Dee Dee, I think, take things to phobic levels, and it dominates their life and dictates their thinking pattern. It kind of rewires them.”

Much has been made of Arquette’s decision to slough off her good looks for these two roles— both Blanchard and Mitchell are heavier and less conventionallyattractive than Arquette—and in Mitchell’s case, Arquette embraced the chance to challenge ideas about female sexuality.

MIRROR, MIRROR Arquette and King as doomed duo Dee Dee and Gypsy in The Act.

“We really haven’t heard the story—or even talked about—females being sexual beings if they don’t look a certain way,” she says.

“Nobody minds if Jack Nicholson has a potbelly in a movie and is a

really not that fun. Having said all

sexual guy or a playboy. But it’s a

that, I’m grateful to be an actor, and

different story when you have sexual

to have this opportunity to make a

with Arquette is how she became

choices I’ve made; whatever gave

women that don’t look a certain

living acting. I know how rare it is. I’m

a person willing to be exposed; to

me strength to question certain

way. Of course, there are millions

certainly not complaining. I just really

stick by the truth and her integrity.

things or to be an activist for equal

and millions of women who don’t

want to expand the artform and I

Before these two latest roles were

pay. What things impacted me to

have that ‘normal’ body type, who

want us to look at different stories.”

on the table, there was of course her

get me there? Even though I’m not

have sex and are sexual beings, but

want to participate in that.”

What stands out in conversation

big lessons have been, what made me who I am, and why I’ve made the

Even as a child Arquette turned

memorable 2015 Boyhood Oscar ac-

tying them together like that, I think

we act like there’s a meteor hitting

away from the expectation of con-

ceptance speech, in which she vehe-

when you see these stories you start

the earth or something.”

ventional attractiveness, refusing the

mently called for equal pay, despite

to understand: what’s the fabric that

the potential backlash. So, what

makes us who we really are?”

gave her that strong sense of self,

NOBODY MINDS IF JACK NICHOLSON HAS A POTBELLY IN A MOVIE AND IS A SEXUAL GUY OR A PLAYBOY. BUT IT’S A DIFFERENT STORY WHEN YOU HAVE SEXUAL WOMEN THAT DON’T LOOK A CERTAIN WAY.” Arquette has felt that age-old

Right now, she’s working through

the drive to speak her truth regard-

telling the story of her sister Alexis’s

less of the consequences? “I think it

illness and 2016 passing. “I am trying

came from my mom because she’s a

to push myself, but it is very raw,” she

really intense activist,” Arquette says.

admits. Despite all the challenges

“Then also just age. I never saw my-

she has set herself to be authentic,

self as winning an Academy Award.”

or the difficulty inherent in making

These days, Arquette’s working on

two shows that risked the wrath of

putting together her directorial de-

the real-life people involved, writing

but, the details of which she’s not yet

this memoir has turned out to be the

ready to reveal. But mostly, she says,

scariest thing of all. “It’s just intense,”

her head is full of the memoir she’s

she says. “I think writing like that,

offer of braces on her teeth. “I was

writing. As she wades through her

it’s the most intense thing on Earth.

pressure to look a certain way. “It’s

already feeling this weird pressure by

personal history, emotional revela-

It’s really almost like swimming with

like, ‘We’ll hold you to it as long as

society that I was supposed to look a

tions are coming from left and right.

sharks. So scary. I’m pretty brave and

humanly possible.’ And you go from

certain way as a girl, and to some-

“It’s less [about] career than I ever

pretty bold. I’ll go anywhere and I’ve

being an ingenue to the beautiful,

how be picture-perfect to have value

thought it was going to be,” she says.

been in crazy situations on Earth. But

she’s-still-got-it-together mom. It’s

in the world,” she says. “I didn’t really

“I went back to see what the pivotal,

writing is the scariest one, so far.” ★

10

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EMMY NOMINATIONS MICHELLE WILLIAMS LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

SAM ROCKWELL

LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE OUTSTANDING

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CHARTED TERRITORY

At press time, here is how Gold Derby’s experts ranked Emmy chances in the Variety categories. Follow all the races at GoldDerby.com

Divine Composition Composer David Arnold channels the sound of heaven and hell for Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens

AN UNCOMMON COMEDY CENTERED ON AN ANGEL AND A DEVIL

working together to prevent Armageddon, Good Omens called for a score that could balance both the intimate and the immense. Based on a 1990 novel by series creator Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett, the Amazon series is cheeky, tonally complex, and fantastical, gravitating between the serious and the absurd, as it travels through centuries.

The series’ sprawling nature demanded a multifaceted score, with music to suit scenes in ancient Rome, 18th century Paris and 1960s London. Per Arnold, the challenge then was to find a musical center, “a place to which we always return.” He accomplished this with his Emmy-nominated main title theme, which deftly blends the concepts of heaven and hell. “The main thing I started with,” Arnold says, “was the idea that whenever you heard something that would traditionally be considered a ‘nice’ instrument, there would be an instrument which played alongside it which was not nice, growling and spitting at you. So there is a little bit of angel and a little bit of devil in everything that you hear.” —Matt Grobar

ODDS

1

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

69/20

2

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

4/1

3

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

5/1

4

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

11/2

5

The Late Late Show with James Corden

13/2

6

Jimmy Kimmel Live!

7/1

VARIETY SKETCH SERIES

ODDS

1

Saturday Night Live

69/20

2

Documentary Now!

4/1

3

Who Is America?

5/1

4

At Home with Amy Sedaris

11/2

5

Drunk History

13/2

6

I Love You, America

7/1

VARIETY SERIES DIRECTING

ODDS

1

Saturday Night Live

37/10

2

Documentary Now!

4/1

3

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

5/1

4

Who Is America?

11/2

5

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

13/2

THE ROUNDHOUSE Production designer Jason Sherwood created a 360-degree theatre for Rent: Live A GROUNDBREAKING MUSICAL DEPICTING SEVEN

set as a theatre in-the-round. Capitalizing on the energy

struggling artists in the midst of the AIDS crisis, Jonathan

of the 1100-strong audience, Sherwood aimed to

Larson’s Rent is all about community, a theme Jason

embrace “the idea of live-ness” like no live TV musical had

Sherwood tapped into this year while devising sets

before. “We were entirely 360,” he says. “I wanted to do

for Fox’s live televised adaptation. A first-time Emmy

something that felt like we weren’t hiding at all. We were

nominee, the 30-year-old production designer began his

making a community of spaces, so instead of putting the

career in the theater with an interest in “pushing limits,”

set in one corner of the room and the audience in the

and went on to do so by devising his layered, scaffolded

other, we mashed them all together.” —Matt Grobar

12

COMMUNITY THEATER Brennin Hunt and Tinashe face off in the circular production of Rent: Live.

DAVI D AR N OL D P H OTO G RA P H ED BY J UL I E EDWAR DS

VARIETY TALK SERIES

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Fresh Face

BY DAMO N WI SE

WHO Margaret Qualley Age: 24 Hometown: New York/Los Angeles

WHY

WHEN & WHERE

It’s a measure of Qualley’s talent that, since her screen

Next up, Qualley has another two

as Manson Family girl Pussycat in Quentin

debut in Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto, it’s taken six years for

period pieces. In My Salinger Year, she’s

Tarantino’s box office hit Once Upon a

the media to realize she’s Andie MacDowell’s daughter.

Joanna, a college grad working for the

Time… in Hollywood, Qualley has also

But Qualley didn’t intend to follow in her mother’s

author’s agent. Then there’s Seberg, a

earned her first Emmy nomination for the

footsteps. “I didn’t want to be an actor,” she says. “I was

political thriller about the persecution

role of choreographer Ann Reinking in FX’s

really just trying to be the best possible dancer ever, but

of Jean Seberg. “One of the most

Fosse/Verdon, which charts the tangled

I wasn’t actually enjoying the process, so I quit.” Aged 16,

gratifying, rewarding parts of this job is

lives of ’60s/’70s dance legends Bob

Qualley moved to New York. “And then I started dating

having the opportunity to learn about

Fosse (Sam Rockwell) and Gwen Verdon

this guy,” she recalls, “and he took me to an acting class.

things that I generally wouldn’t in my

(Michelle Williams).

I was a little reluctant about it, but then I was like, ‘Holy

everyday life,” she says. “Seeing as I

smokes, I love this so much, this is what I have to do.’”

was not alive in those various periods

there’s not that many good dance movies

Her big break was HBO’s The Leftovers. “It was like a

it is obviously a little gift to have the

out there. Despite the fact that I probably

really high pressure acting school,” she recalls. “I was

opportunity to do some research. I

shouldn’t have been watching it, I did watch

learning from all these really talented people. Everyone

mean as a Manson girl, your world is

[Fosse’s 1979 film] All That Jazz many times,

on the show was super kind and Peter [Berg] was a great

very different than that of a New York

so I grew up idolizing him.”

mentor to me.”

Broadway dancer.” ★

“I grew up dancing,” Qualley says, “and

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J OR DA N STRAUSS /I NV I S I ON /AP/S H U T T E RSTO CK

WHAT As she breaks through on the big screen

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“THE PERFECT LIVE-MUSICAL. ” –

O I T A R E D I S N O Y C M M E R U O Y R FO ®

N

NOMINATIONS INCLUDING

OUTSTANDING VARIETY SPECIAL (LIVE)

Untitled-16 1

8/6/19 2:51 PM

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ES OSH TELL J Y B Y H P HOTOGR A

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ernobyl has h C ’s in z a M Craig ercooler t a w e h t e m o bec detailing r, a e y e h t f o series he e f f or t t f o t s o c n a th e h um d contain n a d n a t s r e d t o un her noby l C e h t t a r e t s the disa o r e than m t n la P r e w Nuclear Po iences d u a s A . o g a s 30 year n s ab o u t o s s le h it w n recko y n e ve r a m t a h t r e t s the disa Utichi e o J , d e n r a le have b e e n to r J o han c e ir d , in z a M me e ts Ja r e d s e t a m t s a c d Renck, an Sk ar s gür d n a ll e t S d n a Harris seismic to discuss the breaking d n u o r g a f o t impac ision. piece of telev

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can be few shows in television history subject to the kind of scrutiny that met Chernobyl when its five episodes started going out on HBO in May. As most critics heaped praise on the show, written by Craig Mazin and directed

by Johan Renck, still others descended to pick apart every aspect of its storytelling, from the accuracy of the period details to its timeline of key events. Russian state television, even years after the fall of the Soviet Union, announced plans to create a competing narrative series around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, offering its own version of events that will suggest a CIA saboteur—and not Soviet mismanagement— was behind the meltdown.

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But it’s testament to the work put into Chernobyl’s conception and creation that it has survived the radioactive onslaught of scrutiny to become the television event of the year. For his part, Mazin came out in front of the fallout, launching a podcast that ran side-byside with the show, over five episodes detailing every aspect of research that went into piecing together the narrative drama, as well as being honest about aspects that were changed or reordered to make the series work so well. It was in keeping with the transparency of a creator who has racked up more than 400 episodes of a podcast about screenwriting with fellow scribe John August, and who published a bibliography and the scripts for Chernobyl to his Twitter account.

But beyond the headlines, the true impact of Chernobyl is in the conversation it has begun about the Soviet mindset, and the lessons we might have learned—but perhaps never did—from the way the disaster happened. Crafted in the shadow of world politics of the last two years, Chernobyl explores the human cost of misinformation, not only on those caught up in the disaster itself, but in the psyches of those that survived. As Mazin explains, over the course of a wide-ranging hourlong discussion, Chernobyl wasn’t a disaster that happened to other people, but rather to people like us.

8/9/19 10:50 AM

RESCUE MISSION From far left: On-the-ground scenes of the cataclysmic disaster; Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgård as Valery Legasov and Boris Shcherbina, and Emily Watson as scientist Ulana Khomyuk.

cal moments for my generation: where were you

But my real inquiry into Chernobyl began about

when you heard about Challenger? People will tell

five or six years ago. It began very casually. I be-

you where they were standing and what they were

come interested in things and start reading about

doing. It was something that shattered our sense

them. There’s no upside, it’s not purposeful, I just

of who we were. There was a lot of pride invested

like reading. I like knowing things. I’m curious. But

in Challenger; pride in our technology, pride in

this one kind of dragged me in, in a very deep way,

our people. That particular shuttle was a really

and I had a psychic connection to it that, at least

well-known mission because we were sending a

for me, was profound.

teacher into space, so it was a big deal. We were all quite a bit shattered.

Halfway around that same time, the format of television started becoming much more flexible in

And then, almost exactly three months later,

the U.S. The medium had changed in a way that

we hear about this incident in the Soviet Union,

could accommodate the proper telling of a story

and I remember feeling, for the first time in my

like that, and that aligned with my interest in telling

life, we were talking about Soviet citizens like

a story like this. It was all a happy accident.

they were us. Not potential recruits into an army

Chernobyl details the delay it took for the

that was meant to kill us, but rather people going

Which book, or books, were your gateway

through a similar traumatic experience to the

drugs? The show foregrounds the story of Ly-

one we had just gone through ourselves.

udmilla Ignatenko and her husband Vasily, who

news of this disaster to hit the world; one

was a firefighter at the disaster; her story is told

this story’s many aspects that seem un-

When did your interest in this period crystalize?

in Voices from Chernobyl by Svetlana Alexievich.

thinkable now. What do you remember of

I came back to it later. I took a class in college

Correct. Prior to reading that, I had read quite a

Chernobyl as it happened?

with an academic named Stephen Cohen, who’s

few books that were straight historical analyses;

Oh yeah, in today’s world, within minutes there

a well-known Sovietologist. It was a fascinating

breakdowns of what happened. Obviously, scien-

would be video that somebody had taken of it, and

view of 20 Century Soviet history, with an em-

tific work needs to be done to understand the sci-

it would be on YouTube.

phasis on the period post-revolution, right up to

ence. But when I read Voices from Chernobyl, that’s

the conclusion of Stalinism. I became fascinated

when the tragedy became clear to me.

My memory of it was strangely within the

th

context of something that had happened three

by it. In my own background, all of my relatives

Ultimately, I don’t know how to experience

months earlier. In the United States, in January

had essentially fled Eastern Europe post-revo-

historical events in any meaningful way unless

of 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.

lution, so it was a part of the world I was always

I’m doing it within the context of human beings

It was one of those unifying, traumatic, histori-

fascinated with to an extent.

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not compelling for me otherwise. I might as well at that point be making a documentary, or one of those awful videotapes that substitute teachers show their class when the teacher’s out. I don’t care to do that.

But when I read these first-person accounts, not only did I get these stories that no one else would have been able to tell, but I also absorbed a kind of sensibility. They all shared a heavy weight in their souls and a beauty of poetry; a remarkable persistence to survive. There’s just such wonderful content in those.

Even when people are tested—for example, the story that inspired Episode 4, where you have three liquidators going around to exterminate pets. I knew I wanted to tell that story literally just looking at Barry [Keoghan]’s face. He’s so expressive and so subtle that, when something changes, you realize that something large has happened inside. But what’s interesting about the story is that, in the actual reading of the first-person account that inspired it, the person telling that story is much more like the character that Fares Fares plays. He’s stoic and he’s doing his duty. I thought that was also important to show, that there was a kind of hardness that develops over time. But also, that glide path of a boy who, in many ways, is going to end up like this man next to him, because that’s what this situation does to you.

Just as your experience with this disaster put a human face on the Soviet Union, so long considered ‘other’, it was hard to watch this show without seeing parallels with the way we treat the people considered other today. Are we incapable of learning the lessons of history?

Well, it was certainly one of my intentions to tell a Soviet story from the point of view of Soviet citizens, which meant being inside of them. Naturally, the second you get inside of them you immediately begin to empathize with them, which is the point.

I’ve said many times: the Soviet system didn’t fall out of the sky and land in Russia. It was invented by human beings. The same thing happened in Nazi Germany. It is comforting to imagine there was something in the water in Berlin or something in the air in Moscow. There was not. It’s all us, all of it.

There is no question that, when I was writing this, I wanted not to suggest that the villain was some kind of Soviet system that could never exist anywhere else, but rather that the villain was a kind of Soviet thinking that absolutely can and absolutely has existed everywhere else. It comes in all different colors. Sometimes it pretends it’s on the right, and sometimes it pretends it’s on the left. But what it is, in reality, is a system of human beings controlling each other, demonizing each other and ruining each other, out of a kind of inherent human madness.

I started laying out the show bible in 2016, just prior to the election. The scripts were being written in 2017, after we had experienced this change in the United States. Recently, I’ve been particularly

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Helming History

How director Johan Renck, responsible for all five episodes of Chernobyl, dealt with the scale of the task before him

BY JOE UTICHI

JOHAN RENCK FELT THE CALL

Actors know a good part when they read one.

Everybody I knew in London was talking about it, because they were casting in England. It was a page-turner, right from the off."

of Chernobyl grow stronger as he charged through more of Craig Mazin’s scripts for the five-part limited series.

But, ever an apprehensive man, his initial reaction was caveated. “I love this, but I’m not going to do it,” he told himself.

The problem? He’d just brought his family home after months shooting The Last Panthers in Eastern Europe, and the idea of a return to the Bloc for the whole family—a wife and three kids—was too much to conceive of.

Still, the itch kept itching. Mazin, along with EPs Jane Featherstone and Carolyn Strauss, came to visit him in New York, to persuade him to sign up. In retrospect, he now believes, he had already made that decision. “I realize maybe they thought they were there to convince me to do it,” he says now.

“To me, it was just about getting further ammunition to use on my wife and kids.”

He could see the path of the show, and what he could bring to it. “I started playing the theater of it in my head,” he says. He felt the pathos of Mazin’s telling of the story and saw the responsibility to get it right. He loved that the scripts focused on the human side of the catastrophe and were grounded deeply within characters. “I wanted to rub shoulders with reality, but still with some of the enhancements we can bring to it with filmmaking. I wanted it to be like nothing else.”

But as his excitement grew, he pushed a tricky conversation with his family to the back of his mind. “I’m a bit of an ostrich like that,” he notes. “I like to stick my head in the sand.” The result of going to ground? “It was kind of catastrophic,” he says, with only a subtle hint of humor. “I didn’t know how to tell my wife, so she found out I was doing it by reading an article in the trades. I was like, ‘Oh, I was supposed to tell you.’ It was not good at all.”

Thankfully, his marriage survived—indeed, Renck welcomed a fourth child while in production in Lithuania—and the experience they had in Eastern Europe turned out to be wholly positive for the entire family. “The kids

loved it, my wife loved it, it was all good. But yeah, that’s the way it goes.”

For his work on the show, he has been recognized for the first time by the Television Academy, with two Emmy nominations.

It’s testament to the complexity of the challenge he faced, navigating a series that turns between action, drama, thriller and, of course, horror. Renck rejects the notion of referencing what has come before. “I’m not a film school person,” he says, “I just sort of taught myself how to do this.” He began in music, and segued into directing when tight budgets demanded that he helm his own music videos. So his approach was to push the authenticity of Mazin’s already meticulouslydetailed scripts.

“We could not cheat anything here,” he says of this approach. “Everything had to have cultural authenticity. Growing up in Sweden in the 1970s, to be honest, was not drastically different from the Soviet ’80s. We were a social democratic government with two national TV stations. Our grocery stores had maybe two kinds of cereal, and one type of sausage. There was a resemblance there, so I felt I knew visually what we were going to try to do.”

He loved the variety that the story encompassed. “There was a vignette aspect to it, because of these different stories running side-by-side. All those stories were different animals, but they all pointed back to that exploded power plant. It never feels disjointed.”

What it does feel is big. In Renck’s hands, the scale of the disaster is immediately clear.

He would have it no other way. “My motto in filmmaking is to make it as difficult to film as is humanly possible,” he says. “That’s how you make it good. In any artform, one of the things we respond to is this inherent feel that there’s a struggle behind it. Film is cumbersome and horrendous. Dry and Sisyphean work, in so many aspects. You should never take the path of least resistance. Always make it as difficult as possible, and look for the most difficult solutions, because I think that comes through on the other end.” ★ D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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You need to talk about the things that go wrong to understand why things go right."

Union, in a culture that is so steeped in trauma and

driving along endless green, green, green. And then

tragedy—still will rise and sacrifice to help each

suddenly the driver points, and peeking over the

other... That was beautiful.

tree line in the distance… It’s a bit like when you’re

The fact that the exclusion zone has become

a child, when you’re driving to Disney World, and

one of the largest wildlife preserves in the Euro-

then at a certain point you suddenly see a bit of

pean continent is remarkable. And the fact that it

it. It’s just incongruous to where it is. It doesn’t

stands there as a warning to us is remarkable. It

belong there, and yet it is there and it’s stunning.

doesn’t need to be a crippling warning. The warn-

It’s an amazing achievement, what they did, at

ing of Chernobyl is not, ‘Don’t mess with science.’

obviously tremendous cost.

It’s not even, ‘Don’t mess with nuclear power.’ It’s,

There’s a great documentary about the con-

‘Be careful. Because when you’re not, people are

struction of it, and one of the things that is so

going to die. And it won’t be the people who make

remarkable is how they moved it into place. They

the mistakes generally; it’s everyone else.’

couldn’t build it in place, because that would be too dangerous. They built it probably 500 meters

I’ve long harbored a dream to visit the exclu-

away, and then had to move it into place. The way

sion zone and the abandoned city of Pripyat

they did that took just the most remarkable engi-

to see the place for myself; pay tribute to the

neering. The whole thing is mounted on hundreds

lives lost there. Did you get to make that trip?

of tiny little hydraulic things, like little shoes. But

Oh, of course. I couldn’t have not. It was really im-

the problem is you’ve got them all on one side, and

portant. And it was a very moving experience for me.

you’ve got them all on the other side, and if one

In part, because I had been going there in my head

of them is literally a millimeter off, the whole thing

for a while at that point. I had spent so much time

starts to torque and twist. So it is all being con-

reading about it, watching documentary footage of

trolled by a computer, at incredibly slow speeds,

what it was like before and what it became. I almost

to move exactly uniformly in place. And they did

fascinated by what’s been going on in the United

knew my way around the streets, and the geography

it! It’s incredible. I mean, the triumph of technol-

Kingdom, and how these two things are con-

of the plant. It was remarkable to be there.

ogy here, and we need it because this problem of

nected. What do we keep finding as we look into

There were things that, just because I’d visited,

Chernobyl is going to be the birthright of many

these stories? Our friends from Moscow. Now, the

I was able to say, “OK, here’s something I didn’t

generations of humans to come. Long after you

communist period ended there; the Soviet era is

realize.” Often very tiny things, like how on the side

and I are gone.

over. But the methodology of the KGB lives on in a

of the Polissya Hotel, which is a centerpiece of

President who was in the KGB. That methodology

Pripyat, they ran these long strings of lights, like

Right, unless we manage to destroy the planet

is very much about messing with your head. And

little Christmas lights. I never saw them in photos. I

in other ways first.

it’s easier than ever before to do that.

never saw them switched on, really. And our guide

We’re certainly trying.

I’m greatly concerned that we’re all capable of

who grew up there, he said, “Yes, those were on at

sliding back into that kind of thinking, all of us. We

night and it was very lit up, they loved these lights.”

The irony of Chernobyl is that, when handled

live in a time in which we’re not actively watching

So we were able to reproduce the lights when we

properly, nuclear power is a lot cleaner than

tens of millions of people being slaughtered. But

made our version of the exterior of Pripyat.

the other forms of energy that are fast erod-

tens of millions of people were being slaughtered

But it was surreal. We got as close as the pump

ing the planet.

not long ago in China, and across Europe during

room of Reactor 3. And in that room, you can’t

You know, I struggled a little bit because some

war, and in Southeast Asia, and going back further

stay too long because the dosimeter is beeping

people have looked at Chernobyl and said, “Well,

in Armenia, and in the pre-United States, and in

like crazy. You get a little bit of time in there. But

this is why we should never have nuclear power.”

Africa. This is our history. We do this to each other.

when you walk around that facility, you do get a

And that’s not accurate. But more annoyingly, it’s

If people watch this show and, at the very least, say,

sense of size. It is massive. I started to understand

been the pro-nuclear industry who have just been

“I recognize myself or people like me—I recognize

more, being there, why it was easy for people to

pointlessly critical, because they feel like anything

them in the face of the actions of my system,” that’s

deny that something like a reactor had exploded.

that questions the wonderful gorgeousness of

a good thing. Because it’s not us and them. It’s us.

Because the building seems too big to have failed.

nuclear power is going to lead us down a path of

We have an us problem.

It just does. It seems impossible, the thought

endless cycles of heating and carbon creation, and

of it. The Soviets were good at that. When they

therefore Chernobyl has to be rejected.

Was there a cathartic aspect for you in the

built things, they may not have been the prettiest

writing of the show, to work through all

things, but they were always big.

these thoughts?

And I just think... but it happened. I mean, the responsible advocates for nuclear power are not afraid of talking about Chernobyl. You need to talk about

Well, once you’re through the whole thing… You ar-

Did you go before or after the New Safe Con-

the things that go wrong to understand why things

rive at the end of writing a show like this and you’re

finement—the massive shelter built over the

go right. Chernobyl was a kind of reactor that nobody

very, very depressed [laughs]. But then the ending,

entire Reactor 4 facility—was built?

else had ever used or ever would. It was a reactor

in its own way, is somewhat hopeful, because what

That new cover was in place. We went shortly be-

that was functioning in a system where a safety

do we see? And this actually started with the very

fore principal photography began, so I think it had

culture was not particularly important or enforced.

first thing that I ever said to HBO: This is a story

been in place for well over a year at that point. It’s

It was in a system where information was withheld

about the absolute worst that human systems can

also beautiful in its own way too.

from people. And, there wasn’t even a containment

do, and the absolute best that human individuals

So, when you’re driving up to Chernobyl, the

building around it. I mean, there are so many reasons

can do. It’s the best and worst of us all at once.

Ukrainian countryside actually reminded me of

why it went wrong, and nuclear power is a very good

To see the way people—particularly in the Soviet

Pennsylvania. It’s just green, green, green. You’re

way to create power without damaging the climate.

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Every way of creating power causes problems.

The problem with nuclear is that it’s a bit like air travel. You can get into a car accident and walk away. It’s hard to get into a jet accident and walk way. But there are way more car accidents than jet plane accidents. We’re not very good at handling statistics like this. It does become emotional for people, and I tried to just stay in the middle, where the truth is, I think. But I do get frustrated when Forbes invites its 12th nuclear power industry lobbyist to write an article about how we’ve got something wrong. I always look at it and go, “No, I think we actually got that right.”

The conundrum of a show that has had the kind of popularity and success of Chernobyl.

It became watercooler television in an era in which we’re told that does not exist anymore.

People are equally fervent about indulging in it as they are about picking at the fabric to debate the veracity of the show. There are so many articles about how accurate this show is.

Yeah, I like those [laughs]. You know, we really made an effort to be accurate. We were obsessed with accuracy. And I think the closer you get to absolute accuracy, the more people will pick at it. If you don’t give a damn, nobody will bother writing about it.

Look, I can write a Buzzfeed article that says, “Eight Things Chernobyl Got Wrong About the Soviet Union,” but what I can’t do is write a Buzzfeed article that says, “1000 Things Chernobyl Got Wrong”.

And of course, some of the things they say we got wrong, we didn’t get wrong, we made choices.

You came out in front of all that criticism. You did their work for them. You presented a podcast for each and every episode of the show, running around an hour apiece, going through what’s presented.

And that’s one of the reasons I did the podcast.

I wanted to be accountable for all of that. What I never wanted anyone to say was, “Oh, did you not know that Valery Legasov wasn’t present at the show trial of Anatoly Dyatlov?” The podcast is my way of saying, “No, I’m well aware. But I made a choice, and here’s why...”

The slight things you get wrong are the slight things you get wrong. But by and large, what we’ve heard… I mean, even today, someone sent me a tweet. He obviously grew up in the Soviet Union, and he said, “Watching Chernobyl was also like going down memory lane. You got everything right. You got the glasses right. You got the shoes right.” That, actually, is what we mostly hear. The complaints were, you know, a couple people I think felt like maybe we had wandered into their domain.

That they are the sole gatekeeper of Soviet culture and what happened. People who grew up in the Soviet Union, or people whose parents had grown up in the Soviet Union, what we’ve heard from them has been overwhelmingly appreciative, D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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because they can tell we made an effort. And I think

those folks out to lunch and go, “We’re in the same

Is that what’s behind the podcast, or mak-

it’s an unprecedented effort to trace Soviet citizens

business, you and I.”

ing your scripts available for download, or the

And I can’t necessarily expect anyone to hold

list of books you used as reference? Is all that

romantic nonsense or villainous nonsense, or even

their criticism because they feel bad for me that this

transparency your attempt to allow people to

just an American lens in general.

was hard to do. I don’t think I need to go out and say

empathize a little bit with the process?

We were essentially a European production.

that. The point is, we’re asking for people’s attention.

I think that’s really a perfect word for it. I think

Only two people other than myself are American.

These things cost money to see. It’s more like, if your

people should be empathetic for the process. They

Everybody else is either British, Swedish, Lithu-

job is to analyze these things and present them back

don’t have to like the end result. We are entitled to

anian... The fact so many of our crew were Lithu-

to people, it would help to have at least a little bit of a

our opinions, and when we put stuff out there, we’re

anian, and had personal history with the Soviet

sense of what’s required to make them, and how that

not saying, “Here it is, please watch it, but for the

Union, they kept us honest. And we were dedi-

works. I’ve read reviews of films I haven’t seen and

love of god no opinions please.” We want people to

cated to that. In the end, for a show that has been

been able to dismiss them because I go, “No, there’s

say, “Oh, we love it!” When they don’t, it’s upsetting,

scrutinized so carefully, not only by social media

not a chance what you’re saying is possible.”

and when they do, it’s wonderful. But an empathy

the way they were. And not through the lens of

and think piece journalists, but also by the Russian

Sometimes there is what they call the illu-

for the process I think would be great. Someone

government itself, I think we’ve come out pretty

sion of intentionality, which is, as a consumer

who says, “Listen, I appreciate what you tried to do,

well. I’m pretty proud.

or a reviewer, you’re presented with a show and

but I hated it.” I would say, “No problem.” That’s bet-

you assume it was all how it was meant to be,

ter than, “You’re an idiot and you’ve done idiot work

The Television Academy seems to agree. 19

and therefore it’s reflective of your intentions.

yet again.” And yet, you see a lot of that.

Emmy nominations is an incredible haul.

But there are days when the actor doesn’t show

I am so excited to go. I’ll be there for the Creative

up. Days when someone is sick, or has a drug

I wonder if a lot of critics and commentators

Arts Emmys too, because all of my people are going

problem, or fights with you. There are days when

feel like the people making film and television

to be there, and that is going to be quite a party. I

the weather says no. There are days when the

are kind of untouchable—they’re not real peo-

am rooting so hard for all of them, because the work

machine doesn’t work; the shark is broken again.

ple—and they feel emboldened to say, “Well, if

they all did was so extraordinary. There’s a collective

It happens, and then you’re just scrambling and

you’ve put yourself out there, you’re fair game.”

sense of pride for the work we’ve put into this show.

doing the best you can to hold things together.

Listen, they’re not wrong. If you put yourself out

It’s five episodes, but the scope of the show

there you are fair game, but then it’s up to you how

is enormous. And all at the hands of a single

to play that game on the other side of it. Yes, you

writer and a single director.

can absolutely take a swing at my head with a bat,

Look, it wasn’t easy. But no show, no movie, none

but you don’t have to. You can explain where you

of them are easy. My least favorite phrase in re-

think I went wrong, and why it didn’t work for you,

views is when they call the creators of a movie or a TV show lazy. No. Listen man, you may not like it, but people worked 13-hour days, day after day.

It’s hard to make a bad thing into a good thing. It’s a hard job.

The Russians put out a trailer for their theoretical Chernobyl show, where the KGB is trying to stop a CIA operative. People have been like, “Oh god, what did you think?” You know what I think? I think it’s hard to make television shows, and regardless of what’s going on with politics and Putin and the

Everyone making everything you love is on anti-anxiety or antidepressant drugs."

government, in my heart I will always sympathize

In part, it’s because, like everything else, the conversation on the internet is essentially about hurling yourself to the far extremes of where the most clicks will occur. That distorts everything.

When you look back at the kind of reviews Roger Ebert wrote—or even Pauline Kael, who in her day was considered inflammatory—it’s not like what you see now. A lot of it feels like its own performance.

It’s a kind of theater.

So I think anything that we can do as creators to, like you say, show that this is not just wealthy

with whoever is out there doing the work. Even if the point of the show is to smear us, or propagandize

but these personal things are remarkable.

people waking up in the morning, emerging from Later, someone goes, “Why would you choose

their bath of milk and honey, and gorging on panda

some false narrative about what happened, mostly

this thing and not that thing?” And you want to

meat, is a good thing. I mean, we’re all on antide-

I’m watching them get beaten up on YouTube—even

go, “I chose that, but I had to do this.” What can

pressants. Everyone making everything you love is

Russian commentators are killing them—and I’m

you do? It’s just part and parcel of the joy and

on anti-anxiety or antidepressant drugs. Start from

like, “I know how that feels.” I kind of want to take

misery of show business. It’s how it goes.

that, and go from there, because that’s the truth. ★

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Eastern Bromance How Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgård telegraphed the unlikely relationship between Valery Legasov and Boris Shcherbina in Chernobyl

BY JO E U T I C H I

AS CRAIG MAZIN FOCUSED ON THE HUMAN DRAMA OF THE

ice, rather than the title character himself, because Shylock has the meatier

meltdown at Chernobyl, so he alighted on one relationship that came together in

part. In Chernobyl, he adds, both Legasov and Shcherbina get the goods.

the clean-up operation, which would speak volumes to the complications of the

“Sometimes—not often—there’s an insecurity between actors where the grass

Soviet system and the efforts of those embroiled in its politics to work within it.

is always greener in what the other person has to play. But there was none

Boris Shcherbina was a vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers in the Soviet government, and Valery Legasov a member of the prestigious Academy of Sciences of the USSR, who led the commission investigating the disaster.

of that with Stellan. We understood it almost like a double act. There’s a real bromance element to our relationship.”

Agrees Skarsgård: “Jared is an amazing actor, and he’s not about showing

In Mazin’s telling, as they meet, they butt heads over the best way to respond.

off. All the time it’s about the scene and the relations with the other actors,

But the unlikely friendship that resulted as they uncovered the true scale of

and the material. There were no egos on this set, and that helps a lot.”

disaster is at the emotional core of Chernobyl.

“Actors know a good part when they read one,” says Jared Harris, who plays

For Skarsgård, the project also meant reuniting with another actor with whom he had formed a solid screen partnership. He had worked with Em-

Legasov, of the scripts he was handed. “Everybody I knew in London was talk-

ily Watson—who plays Ulana Khomyuk, a fictionalized version of the many

ing about it, because they were casting in England. It was a page-turner right

scientists who helped deal with the Chernobyl problem—on her feature debut,

from the off.”

Lars von Trier’s 1996 film Breaking the Waves. “It’s quite a different relationship

“As soon as I saw a picture of Shcherbina,” Skarsgård notes of his own char-

in this one,” Skarsgård laughs. “We keep our clothes on. I felt a bit embarrassed

acter, “I immediately gave up trying to look like him. The information you get

to have so many clothes on in front of her. I wasn’t used to that. But it was a

about him is very diverse, but I knew more about him from the script than from

joy; we haven’t worked together for over 20 years, so it was a treat to be in the

other sources. The rest—the divine inventions—comes from what happens

same room with her again.”

when you act alongside someone like Jared.”

Skarsgård reveled in the moments the two men shared. “And it’s not just

The fervor with which Chernobyl was greeted immediately set the minds of excitable fans racing on the possibility of a sequel—perhaps in some kind of

on the page,” he says. “It was something that developed on set, where Johan

anthology form. “There’s definitely no sequel coming,” laughs Harris. “Some-

Renck and Craig were sure to capture what was happening between the lines,

one actually pitched the idea to Craig on Twitter, and said, ‘You could do the

in the way we look at each other, the way we move together. That’s what cre-

Fukushima story.’ He said it was a great story, but not one for him to tell.”

ates this growing bond between the characters. It’s not so much in dialogue, except for that final speech between them.”

Harris notes that actors are inclined to play Shylock in The Merchant of Ven-

Besides, says Harris, “Everything doesn’t have to be sequels. Otherwise we’d be swamped with sequels and prequels and reboots and remakes. I think that’s what people are responding to. It’s a completely fresh show.” ★ D E A D L I N E .C O M / AWA R D S L I N E

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D THE DIALOGUE

EMMY NOMINEES 2019

Julia GARNER

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Ozark Which of Ruth’s Season 2 character developments did you find most meaningful or challenging to play?

I think the thing that meant the most for the whole season wasn’t just one moment, but having a secret, because of Season 1, what Ruth did at the end of that season. Just holding that secret in was definitely challenging. It’s kind of hard acting like you’re having a secret, in a way, because on one hand, you want the audience to know what’s going on, but you don’t want your scene partner to know what’s going on. Also, you want to stay consistent to the character, because it’s a TV show, but you also, at the same time, have to make sure that the character grows and changes while doing Season 1, Season 2, Season 3. So, that’s also challenging, but it’s a good kind of challenge.

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Jason BATEMAN Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Outstanding Directing For a Drama Series Ozark What most intrigued you about Marty Byrde’s evolution in Season 2?

The general thawing out of my character’s icy, no emotion, trying to keep the wheels on the road kind of thing. I start wobbling a little bit there towards the end, and that was by design—to be so boring, emotionally.

Because there’s so much nonsense that goes on, I wanted to make sure that if I’m the audience’s perspective, or one of them, that I don’t get too riled up, because then it might just get too noisy.

Laura LINNEY

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Ozark How do you perceive the relationship between Marty and Wendy at Season 2’s end? Your character evolves a great deal, moving past the shame of infidelity as she comes to make the boldest and even the deadliest decisions.

The thing that I love about our show is that there’s a core about identity, about who we are, about what we believe, about how we behave, about our worldview. And I think for Wendy anyway, they had a marriage that was solid and functioned well, but they didn’t really know each other. From the beginning of Ozark, and continuing on, the two of them are really getting to know each other in ways that they never really expected.

—Mike Fleming Jr.

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THE DIALOGUE

Phoebe WALLERBRIDGE

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Outstanding Writing For a Comedy Series Fleabag Did you have a sense that Fleabag would work in the U.S.?

I didn’t know. I knew that she was sort of outrageous and that her sexual candor was going to shock and surprise people. But I also knew what was lying beneath it, and I think knowing that was where the story went, because I had pride about the depths of the story, I was like, “If people don’t get that, then I’ve really fucked up.”

N ICO L B I ES E K

Is it reductive when you’re asked about being a woman in the industry?

It’s a way of containing us and controlling us in our work and immediately being able to almost tie a bow around our collective work and go, “That is women’s work.” It’s a trap, because we want to talk about it and each other, and the experience, and share it and make sure it’s something that is articulated well. When people ask me those sorts of things, I just want to point at Fleabag and go, “That.

That does it.” But also I’m more inspired listening to female artists talk about their art than female artists talking about what it’s like being a female artist.

—Antonia Blyth

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James CORDEN

Outstanding Short Form Variety Series Carpool Karaoke: The Series Outstanding Writing For a Variety Special Carpool Karaoke: When Corden Met McCartney Live From Liverpool Outstanding Host For a Reality or Competition Program The World’s Best Outstanding Interactive Program The Late Late Show With James Corden Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media Within an Unscripted Program The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2019 How would you describe your mission as host of The Late Late Show?

I think what we’ve always set out to do is to try and make the purest sort of variety show every night, in that we really don’t ever want any two weeks—or any two shows, even—to feel the same. What we try and do every day is just try and have a slice of joy, really, that people can enjoy on their phone on the way to work, on their laptop with their families.

M I CH A E L B UCK N E R

From the get-go, your late night series has been one that breaks the mold. What inspired you?

Some people feel like all of these shows should be the same, but I feel like the job is to not do that. Nowhere else in television would you go, “Right, from 8:00 till 9:00, we’re going to have a hospital drama, and 9:00 till 10:00, we’re going to have another hospital drama with the same diseases.” So, what we continually try to do, and always will try to do, is to try and evolve our show without our audience even realizing. —Pete Hammond

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Michael KELLY

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series House of Cards Navigating the scandal had to be personally difficult for you?

You know, it’s a tough adjustment, personally and professionally. It was difficult.

There were so many emotions that went into what went down and how it went down and all of that, you know? It’s just a lot to take as an individual. That crew is my family and I love them so much and when they were like, “We’re on hiatus and we don’t know if we’re coming back,” the thought of them being shorted that time, to me, was too much to handle. That’s where my mind went. It wasn’t about the gossip or what was going to happen with a trial.

JOS H T E L LES

How do you feel about how Doug’s story ended?

I do love the way that it ended for Doug because there’s that finality to it, for me as an actor to completely close that chapter of my life. It’s really something about the closure and just being able to say goodbye to that character, who was the greatest gift you could be given as an actor. I was so grateful and I loved every single minute, and I did not take one of them for granted. I look back on it with only the fondest memories.

—Antonia Blyth

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Mahershala ALI

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie True Detective Detective Wayne Hays’ Vietnam backstory brought a compelling new dimension to True Detective.

How did you go about tapping into this important aspect of the character’s past?

I think you have to understand what is underneath something. You have to locate what it is that makes you vulnerable, and then cover it. So for me, it was about really trying to inform myself about his history. You have to give yourself some real things, some real memories, to protect.

M I CH A E L B UCK N E R

You claimed your second Oscar for Best Supporting Actor the night the season finale aired. What was that like for you?

Honestly, I couldn’t watch the finale until about a week ago. I had seen an earlier cut of it as Nic was putting it together, but the more time passed, the more difficult it was for me to watch—because that was my first lead, and I’ve been acting since 1993.

For that to align with Oscar night was a lot to take in. The whole [production] process was really intimate and difficult in the healthiest way possible, so to come to the end like that, I just needed a moment. —Dominic Patten

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Nic PIZZOLATTO Outstanding Main Title Design True Detective

Ali portrays a detective over the course of three chapters in his life. What did you make of his performance?

I’ve worked with a lot of great actors, and I think as far as degree of difficulty, that has to be one of the hardest things I’ve heard of. The level of nuance and control there was really something to see.

—Dominic Patten

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M I CH A E L B UCK N E R

Initially, Season 3’s central character was going to be portrayed by a white actor.

What were your thoughts when Mahershala Ali pitched himself for the role?

I thought right away I would be really lucky to have an artist of his caliber driving this thing. My only insecurity was if the story would be fundamentally changed by changing the race of the lead character.

Mahershala assured me that he didn’t want the story changed, and he didn’t want the character defined by his race, but to be, as he was on the page, something of a broader, more dimensional leading man.

Going back and rewriting those first three episodes, I thought it worked really well, and that actually it helped broaden my work in ways I may have been shy or insecure about exploring.

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Amy POEHLER Outstanding Writing For a Comedy Series Russian Doll

Outstanding Host For a Reality or Competition Program Making It What has it been like to see Russian Doll be so passionately embraced, by critics and Netflix viewers alike?

It’s so great. These things take a really long time to make; you work on them for years and years, and some things come and go, and other things resonate. The fact that [Russian Doll has] is just a testament to the women on whose shoulders [it’s] built, and it’s just a really exciting time in television right now, in general. There’s all these different voices and lenses in which to see shared experience.

M I CH A E L B UCK N E R

How would you describe the vision behind your first reality series, Making It? I have to give a lot of credit to NBC. We kept telling them, “We’re not going to humiliate anybody, or even have that many stakes.

We’re not going to enjoy or fan any conflict, and everyone’s going to feel pretty good, even the people that lost.” And they were up for it. We really wanted this show to feel like an antidote to real life, to be the kind of thing that you watch with your kids that would inspire them, and get them to make something, and could be healing in a cruel world.

—Matt Grobar

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Alex GIBNEY

Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special The Inventor: Out For Blood in Silicon Valley Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes

Holmes managed to recruit staff and convince a lot of wealthy investors that her blood-testing technology was viable.

How did she do that?

She was terribly persuasive. She was pitching a vision that people really wanted to believe in, of doing something good for people, accurate blood testing—people could take better control of their own healthcare. And also, particularly for young women in Silicon Valley, she was pitching a vision that was empowering. You have a woman who’s an inventor who is going to be an entrepreneur and make a lot of money while doing good. It’s a compelling idea. And lastly, I think she was seductive. For those older, white men, they were seduced by her. I think that’s true. —Matthew Carey

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M I CH A E L B UCK N E R

Why do you think The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley resonated so powerfully with viewers?

People have a fascination with frauds, people have a fascination with Silicon Valley and a company led by a woman in male-dominated Silicon Valley; it seemed like a kind of trifecta.

The way it broke through surprised me in the sense that now on Twitter there are things like #TheranosThursdays where people actually dress up as Elizabeth Holmes and then take selfies of themselves.

DEADLINE.COM

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Christina APPLEGATE Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series Dead to Me

What do you think is the driving force of Dead to Me? At the core of this show is this relationship, and at the core of this relationship is something so pure. When someone understands you and allows you to be all facets of yourself, you trust them implicitly forever.

They’re a lifer. So, there’s that.

Everyone’s going to take away what they need to hear, but I think that at the core of this is support, women holding each other up, people holding each other up when we’re down.

RE X /S H U T T ERSTO CK

What was it like going into production, having only met co-star Linda Cardellini once before?

I think from the second we met, we trusted each other. We knew who the other person was at the core by just our first meeting.

We didn’t talk about the show, but because we have to go places that are uncomfortable, you need to feel safe with your partner. I think we felt safe enough to do what we needed to do, together and apart, and know that the other person had their back—in life, and also on camera. —Matt Grobar

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Joey KING

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie The Act Was it shocking to learn that The Act is based on a true story?

Yeah. I think that it’s hard to believe that something like this could actually happen to people, and that people like Dee Dee could actually exist in a world like today. I think the most remarkable part of the story is that Gypsy got out, because Munchausen by proxy is a lot more common than we think, but we don’t really hear about it because the victims don’t usually make it out. They usually die at the hand of their caretaker.

M I CH A E L B UCK N E R

What most intrigued you about Gypsy Rose Blanchard?

What’s really interesting is, if you look at interviews of Gypsy today, there’s never a moment in which she denies loving her mother, even still. She’s like, “I loved my mom, I still love my mom.

My mom was my best friend.” And I think that what you get while watching our show is, you can see the thought process that Gypsy goes through, with all the things that Dee Dee puts her through. But through it all, you don’t ever lose the fact that Gypsy actually does love her mom. —Pete Hammond

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Michael DOUGLAS Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series The Kominsky Method

M I CH A E L B UCK N E R

What was your first impression of The Kominsky Method, reading through Chuck Lorre’s scripts?

When I read the first script when Chuck sent it to me, I said, “This is funny,” and I could relate to a whole lot of the stuff. The quality of writing is so good, it belittles most of the stuff that I get to see in feature films.

It must have been interesting to return to series television, having last worked in this domain in the mid-1970s.

You’re right, it’s been full circle.

I remember when I started my career with Streets of San Francisco, and left it to produce [One Flew Over the] Cuckoo’s Nest, and then tried to get into acting. As an actor, it was impossible to make the transition from television to feature films. They see you for free in television; they had to pay to see you in the movies. I love the fact that it’s come around [with] streaming, without having restrictions on the amount of time. I’ve loved this whole process; it’s just been great.

—Pete Hammond

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EM M Y 2 019 H AN DICAPS / BY P ETE H A M M O N D

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES This year’s Lead Actor in a Drama Series race is as competitive as always, with one past winner, three previous nominees, one first-timer, and one previously nominated for the same role in the supporting category, now taking his first shot at Lead Actor. The nominees don’t have to contend with running against last year’s winner, Matthew Rhys of The Americans, because that show is off the air. Other than Sterling K. Brown, who took the win here in 2017 for the first season of This Is Us, this category promises to be one where a perpetual bridesmaid finally brings it home.

Jason Bateman

Sterling K. Brown

This TV veteran has now received a total of seven Emmy nominations overall, including four for acting. Specifically for Ozark, he’s been recognized once again with nominations in both acting and directing. So it’s possible the odds are increasing that Bateman, who thus far has never won, takes something home this time. He has some momentum behind him, since he’s coming off a SAG Award win earlier this year for the same role.

Brown has been something of an Emmy favorite in recent seasons, not only picking one up for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story in 2016, but also the following year for his leading role in This Is Us. He lost last year to Rhys, but without that kind of competitor this time around, could he return to the winners’ circle? He has already proven that competing against a co-star—Milo Ventimiglia—is not an impediment to a win.

Ozark Netflix

This Is Us NBC

Kit Harington

Bob Odenkirk

Billy Porter

Milo Ventimiglia

Harington has had a checkered career so far with regard to Emmys.

Jon Snow has earned him a nomination only once in Game of Thrones’ run since its 2011 start, and that was as a Supporting Actor in 2016. But now, with voters realizing this is their last chance to honor the iconic character and the actor who plays him, he has his first chance in this lead category. It took six seasons to honor Rhys, so the same fate might await Harington, who represents just one of Game of Thrones’ record 32 nominations.

Overall, Odenkirk is the most decorated in the category this year, with 12 nominations in previous years, and two wins. However, those wins were for writing on Saturday Night Live and The Ben Stiller Show. As Jimmy McGill in this Breaking Bad spinoff, he’s been nominated for each of Better Call Saul’s four eligible seasons, and he is probably the one here with the biggest fan factor. Is this finally his year?

The only first-time Emmy nominee in the category this year, Porter is known for his Broadway work and Tony-winning performance in Kinky Boots. FX’s dazzling early summer 2018 entry was not forgotten by voters, who handed Porter this bid. The actor is always a winner on the red carpet with his outrageous outfits, but can he be a winner inside the Microsoft Theater?

A veteran of several TV series, Ventimiglia receives his third Emmy nomination in a row for the complex portrayal of Jack Pearson on the NBC series This Is Us. And again, for the third time, he must face off against his co-star Sterling K. Brown, who took the prize in their first go-round together two years ago, although last year, both of them lost. So, is it Ventimiglia’s turn this time?

Game of Thrones HBO

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OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Better Call Saul AMC

Pose FX

This Is Us NBC

Peter Dinklage has been nominated for every one of Game of Thrones’ eight seasons, taking home three Emmys along the way.

There may be the feeling he doesn’t need another at this point, especially since he’s competing against two of his co-stars: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau—on his second nom for the series—and Alfie Allen, with his first.

So let’s move on to Better Call Saul and its pair of nominees: Giancarlo Esposito and perennial contender Jonathan Banks, who’s looking at his sixth overall nomination this year. Both actors were previously nominated for these same characters during Breaking Bad’s run, with neither having won, but Banks has four consecutive nods on Saul, which gives him the edge. That leaves single nominees Chris Sullivan from This Is Us, and Michael Kelly with a fourth nod for his House of Cards role, having finally had a killer scene—the kind voters love. This is a tough one, but Emmy does like to repeat.

WINNER: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones

PETE’S

WINNER PICK

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OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES Due to the quirks of the Emmy race, this category’s line-up is almost entirely different from last year’s.

In what may be a first for a major acting category like this, only one 2018 nominee is back for the 2019 go-round. Some of this year’s crop have, however, been nominees in this category before; they simply skipped 2018. On that list we have a previous fivetime nominee whose show was ineligible last year, now returning for its final season; a previous winner in her first season, who’s now looking to get back to victory with three more seasons under her belt, and a past three-time supporting category nominee enjoying her first lead nod for the same role this year.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Emilia Clarke

Jodie Comer

Can Daenerys finally rise to the Emmys throne? After three supporting nominations earlier in the iconic series’ run, Emilia Clarke has graduated to the lead actress category for the show’s final flourish.

It’s a role in which she has excelled and transformed over the course of GoT’s eight seasons and there is no reason to believe she won’t be recognized now for getting through it despite personal and professional turmoil along the way.

As Villanelle on Killing Eve there’s no question Comer’s a scene stealer, and in fact she already beat her co-star Sandra Oh to the BAFTA TV award. Comer gained buzz slowly as the series hit Season 2, and now has her first Emmy nomination.

Unfortunately, she’s competing opposite Oh who made history last year as the first Asian nominee in the category. So can Comer upset, or will they split?

Game of Thrones HBO

Killing Eve BBC America

PETE’S

WINNER PICK

Viola Davis

How to Get Away with Murder ABC In the first season of the ABC mystery series in 2015, Davis took the Emmy—the first African American ever to win in this category. She was nominated again in 2016 and 2017, but oddly, Davis was AWOL here last year, although she was nominated in the Guest Actress Drama Series category for her crossover role on Scandal. This year, she’s the only nominee to boast a previous win in this category. However, the competition is stiff, and a second win four years later might be an uphill climb.

Laura Linney

Mandy Moore

Sandra Oh

Robin Wright

When it comes to Emmys, don’t ever bet against Laura Linney. A past four-time winner, Linney has in fact won for every single role for which she has been nominated, including three wins in the Limited Series/Movie category. This is her first nod for Netflix’s Ozark after having been passed over for a nomination for the show’s first season.

In Season 2 however, her role became increasingly complex and interesting. Don’t count her out.

If ever there was an episode that you thought would guarantee Moore an Emmy nomination, it was the Season 2 Jack Pearson death scenario. But when Emmy time came around, Moore was not on the list, just as she wasn’t for the first season. She has finally got what she deserves this year, earning her first ever Emmy nod. Perhaps she was helped by the fact there were so many open slots this time around, but nevertheless, she has earned her place.

Sandra Oh is on a roll here. Already the winner of a Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice Award, and SAG trophy for this series, she now has her second consecutive Emmy nod for Killing Eve. Oh was previously a five-time supporting nominee for Grey’s Anatomy, so you might say she’s overdue a win. Plus, her SNL hosting gig earned her a guest star nomination this season. Can she overcome the presence of her Eve co-star Jodie Comer though, especially since Comer beat her at BAFTA?

Having been out of the game last year due to the series’ absence, Robin Wright now runs six for six, earning an Emmy nomination for every season of House of Cards in the juicy role of Claire Underwood.

Considering the fact that she and the show had to survive and then thrive after the scandal-laden exit of co-star Kevin Spacey, a win for her here would be well-deserved. She also directed several episodes, including the finale, so that also ought to be worth some admiration from her peers.

Ozark Netflix

This Is Us NBC

Killing Eve BBC America

House of Cards Netflix

This one ought to be easy to predict. With four nominees from the same show—Game of Thrones—the law of averages says they will all cancel each other out, and that is a very possible scenario.

However, with her fifth consecutive nomination in the supporting category for the role of Cersei Lannister, isn’t it just about time they give Lena Headey this thing already? I’m sure her nominated co-stars Sophie Turner, Gwendoline Christie and Maisie Williams would understand.

Of those three, only Williams has even had more than one nomination, and that was three years ago.

Should there be a clean split here, the beneficiary will be one of the two other nominees: Fiona Shaw in Killing Eve, who also has a Guest Actress Comedy nod for Fleabag, and the deliciously talented Julia Garner in Ozark.

Toss a coin.

WINNER: Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve

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OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES This category is filled with veterans, including four past Emmy winners, albeit not necessarily winners in this particular category. Bill Hader is the reigning champ here, having won last year for the first season of Barry, but he has formidable competition from a past two-time Lead Actor Comedy winner, a past four-time nominee here, a current five-time nominee, a two-time Oscar winner who’s now back in a TV series for the first time in nearly 50 years, and a beloved SCTV vet with his first nomination since 1983.

Anthony Anderson

Don Cheadle

Of all the nominees in this year’s Lead Actor Comedy category, Anthony Anderson is the most consistent in terms of nominations. He has gone to bat and been nominated five times for black-ish. He has also consistently lost, so can this finally be his year? He can take solace from a fellow nominee: Ted Danson, who was nominated seven times consistently for Cheers before finally taking an Emmy on his eighth try, so there is always hope, Anthony.

Just don’t lose to Ted this time.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again with a different series.

Cheadle, who has been nominated nine times overall in his career, was up four times for his previous comedy series, House of Lies, but never won (also see Anthony Anderson).

Demonstrating his peers’ love for him, he’s back in the game for the first season of Black Monday, and if enough voters actually see this underdog entry, perhaps he can change his luck this year. He’s always a contender.

black-ish ABC

Black Monday Showtime

Ted Danson

Michael Douglas

Bill Hader

Eugene Levy

Danson won two Emmys for Cheers after losing seven times in a row. He also has another three past noms for the drama series Damages, and was first nominated for NBC’s The Good Place last season, losing to Bill Hader.

There is much love in the industry for this true TV veteran, and if that translates for this penultimate season of the show, then he may well find himself in the winners’ circle once again.

Yes, Douglas is a past two-time Oscar winner, as well as an Emmy winner in the Limited Series/Movie category for his stunning turn as Liberace in Behind the Candelabra, but this nomination for the first season of The Kominsky Method represents his first for a regular role in a TV series in nearly half a century. In the early ’70s he was nominated three times in the Supporting Actor Drama Series category for The Streets of San Francisco. Now in his 50th year in the business, will it be full circle for Douglas, who already won the Golden Globe for this show?

Hader was a surprise winner here last year for Barry, and the talented multi-hyphenate is back again this year, with two additional nominations for his off-camera work on the show too. The fact that he pulled off a win so early for this series about a hitman who’s also trying to be an actor is proof positive that Academy members really liked the character and what Hader did with it. If he follows the Emmy tradition of repeating, he’ll win again this time.

If there’s a sentimental favorite in this category it has to be Levy. He may have nine previous nominations and two wins for writing Second City TV, but this is his first acting nod, and his first Emmy nomination in an incredible 36 years. This was the big surprise of Emmy nomination morning, since Schitt’s Creek had been previously overlooked in other seasons, so it was welcome indeed to see this happen for Levy.

He could be the dark horse winner, so don’t count him out.

The Good Place NBC

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OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

The Kominsky Method Netflix

Barry HBO

PETE’S

WINNER

Schitt’s Creek Pop TV

Beloved TV veteran Henry Winkler finally won his first-ever Emmy last year for his role as the quirky drama teacher in Barry, receiving an instant standing ovation at the ceremony. This year, he’s facing competition from his own show, with two other cast members landing nominations in the same category: Anthony Carrigan and Stephen Root. Neither has the name or backstory in the business that Winkler does, so maybe he doesn’t have to worry about them canceling him out for a second win. The big competition comes from past two-time winner Tony Hale of Veep in his last go-round for the series, as well as from popular veteran Tony Shalhoub, who’s nominated again for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and boasts three past Emmy wins for other shows. However, is it really possible to resist 85-year-old Alan Arkin in The Kominsky Method? Will the Oscar winner finally add an Emmy after four previous tries? Yes.

WINNER: Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method

PICK

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OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES In a somewhat unusual situation, there are two defending champs in the Lead Actress Comedy Series category this year since six-time winner Julie Louis-Dreyfus was not eligible last year, thus enabling Rachel Brosnahan—then a firsttime nominee in this category—to take the prize. Both are now competing against each other, and that is what’s grabbing the headlines among Emmy-predicting pundits. But a dark horse could come through with a win should the frontrunners cancel each other out, and that is what makes this especially intriguing.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Christina Applegate

Rachel Brosnahan

A past four-time nominee, Applegate was last in this category in 2009 for Samantha Who?, which earned her two nominations for its short run. She is also a previous winner in the Guest Actress Comedy category for her role in Friends—a handy feat for that show. Now she’s made an instant splash in the latebreaking Netflix entry, Dead to Me. The show is renewed, so we will probably see her back here again next year, but this doesn’t look a likely win first time out, however darkly funny she is in it.

This show came bursting out of the gate, winning eight Emmys in its first short season. One of those went to Brosnahan, who swept the awards circuit in the title role, finally culminating in an Emmy win. However, last year she didn’t have to compete with Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

In normal Emmy circumstances, a second consecutive win for such an overpowering role would be a given, but not this year. Mrs. Maisel has her work cut out for her this time around.

Dead to Me Netflix

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Amazon Prime Video

This is the most crowded of all Emmy acting categories this season, with a whopping eight nominees, indicating that there’s widespread support for a number of contenders here. They include defending champ Alex Borstein, who’s back for a second round, competing against her Maisel co-star Marin Hinkle. Sian Clifford and Olivia Colman are both up for Fleabag, and with a recent Oscar, Colman could be one to watch.

Anna Chlumsky has been nominated for six out of seven Veep seasons, so you might think she’s due. Kate McKinnon has won twice here for SNL, and GLOW’s Betty Gilpin and Barry’s Sarah Goldberg round out the rich category.

WINNER: Olivia Colman, Fleabag

Julia Louis-Dreyfus Veep HBO

And speaking of the 800-pound gorilla in this race, LouisDreyfus made Emmy history two years ago when she won her sixth consecutive Emmy for this series.

No actor had done that before. The next day she got a cancer diagnosis, which she has happily beaten.

This year, LouisDreyfus is going for seven out of seven, and she is the one over which everyone else has to somehow triumph. Not likely.

PETE’S

WINNER PICK

Natasha Lyonne Russian Doll Netflix

As a creator and star of this very offbeat series, Lyonne has a show and a performance that has created instant buzz, not only for the series, but also for herself. It’s hard to categorize, since it deals with death and other issues that might not be considered the stuff of rollicking comedy, but that difference could actually be a plus if voters don’t expect the typical thing. A long shot.

Catherine O’Hara Schitt’s Creek Pop TV

Like her Schitt’s Creek co-star Eugene Levy, O’Hara is a past winner and multiple Emmy nominee for her writing contributions to SCTV, and although she was also a previous Emmy nominee as Supporting Actress in a Limited Series/Movie for Temple Grandin, this is her first acting nod in any comedy category, making her also something of a sentimental favorite for this little show that finally could. Levy’s chances are better than O’Hara’s, but wouldn’t it be lovely anyway to see her pull off an upset?

Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Fleabag Amazon Prime Video If there is truly to be an upset in this category it will probably be at the hands of this British actress, who not only stars in this much-buzzed series, but also created it and has an additional nomination for writing. After being largely ignored for its first season, it came roaring back with 11 nominations.

Waller-Bridge is also known for her writing contributions to Killing Eve, which earned her a nod last season. But it is Fleabag, which already won her a BAFTA this year, that has people talking.

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EM M Y 2 019 H AN DICAPS / BY P ETE H A M M O N D

OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE Always a prestigious category, actors better known for their big screen work often find a place here, and that’s the case again this year, as half the nominees are past Supporting Actor Oscar winners.

In fact, one of them actually won two Academy Awards. All three have succumbed to the allure of a Limited Series rather than TV movie, and to show just how lopsided this category is, not one of the six nominees comes from a standalone movie this time around. Five are veteran actors, while one made his professional feature acting debut less than three years ago. But still, all have something in common— none of them have ever won an Emmy.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Mahershala Ali

Benicio Del Toro

Rescuing this ongoing limited series in its third season with an arresting performance, Ali is back in the Emmy race for the second time, having first been recognized with a 2016 nomination for Guest Actor in a Drama Series for House of Cards. Two Oscar wins later, the response to his True Detective role may very well be setting him up to take home some more gold come September.

Another past Oscar winner in the race—for 2000’s Traffic—Del Toro took on the role of one of the two notorious prison inmates helped by a female employee in plotting their escape.

As Richard Matt in this strange but true tale, he works powerfully opposite Paul Dano and an almost unrecognizable Patricia Arquette. As usual, Del Toro gets under the skin of his true-life character, and delivers pure authenticity in the role. This is his first Emmy nomination.

True Detective HBO

PETE’S

WINNER

Escape at Dannemora Showtime

PICK

Three actors from Netflix’s Limited Series When They See Us—Asante Blackk, John Leguizamo, and Michael K. Williams—are most likely to cancel themselves out in the final vote in this competitive category.

So that leaves Paul Dano, as one of the two inmates in Escape at Dannemora, veteran Stellan Skarsgård trying to pull off a victory for Chenobyl in the very same category his son Alexander won two years ago, and Ben Whishaw in his Golden Globe-winning role as Norman Scott, the lover of a high-level British politician. Dano could be the ultimate winner here, but I have a feeling that Academy voters will follow the lead of the HFPA and hand this to Whishaw, a superlative actor in everything he does.

WINNER: Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal

Hugh Grant

Jared Harris

Jharrel Jerome

Sam Rockwell

Hard to believe, but this is Grant’s first Emmy nomination ever. In the real-life role of Jeremy Thorpe, Grant is the Liberal Party leader who stood trial for plotting the murder of his gay lover— played

by Ben Whishaw.

This is a very British limited series about a very British scandal, and Grant plays well against the kind of lighter, romantic, big screen roles with which he’s often associated, and this performance suggests a strong dramatic talent that doesn’t always get recognized.

Harris is a veteran of several series, including Mad Men, in which he played the ultimately tragic character of Lane Pryce, winning an Emmy nomination in 2012.

Now he’s gone Russian, and co-stars effectively in this real-life horror story of the 1986 nuclear power plant explosion that became one of the greatest catastrophes mankind has ever known. As Valery Legasov, Harris is a whistleblower in the trial of three men largely responsible for the accident, delivering a powerful testimony in the finale that probably sealed his Emmy nod.

Having played the 16-year-old Kevin in the Oscar-winning Moonlight, Jerome shows he knows how to pick his parts with this Emmy-nominated turn as Korey Wise, perhaps the biggest victim of the Central Park Five case. He just went along to help a friend and got the stiffest sentence of the group. It would be many years before they were rightfully exonerated. In a wrenching role that sets him apart, he could win here if he can get past his Moonlight colleague Mahershala Ali.

As the legendary director Bob Fosse, Rockwell not only masters the look, style and mannerisms of the iconic showman, but also the heart, in every sense of the word. Rockwell transforms himself and once again delivers a brilliant performance, right on the heels of his 2018 Supporting Actor win for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Always an actor’s actor, Rockwell is finally getting the true credit and great roles he deserves.

A Very English Scandal Amazon Prime Video

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Chernobyl HBO

When They See Us Netflix

Fosse/Verdon FX

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OUTSTANDING LEAD ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE Here’s another category in which a pair from Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us will be competing against each other, as well as a formidable field of three veterans with Oscar-worthy careers, and one 20-year-old who has been in the business almost as long as they have. Like Lead Actor in a Limited Series/Movie, all six nominees here come from Limited Series, which is another example of why the traditional TV movie performance that used to dominate these categories is all but dead when it comes to Emmy recognition.

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE

Amy Adams

Patricia Arquette

As a journalist who comes back to her hometown and gets caught up in a murder investigation, this very complex performance in the HBO series marks the first Emmy nomination for Adams; an actress who has spent most of her time in recent years getting nominated for Oscars; six of them, in fact.

She hasn’t won there yet, and might find it just as tough to win at the Emmys. But this performance deserves a shot to be sure.

Arquette has been cleaning up by taking home a Golden Globe and SAG Award for her role as a prison employee lured into helping two inmates escape. Arquette is also a nominee in a supporting role for The Act opposite Joey King, with whom she competes in this category. It all makes for a twisted Emmy night for this past Oscar and Emmywinning star, but she is probably the frontrunner here.

Sharp Objects HBO

Escape at Dannemora Showtime

PETE’S

WINNER PICK

Aunjanue Ellis

Joey King

Niecy Nash

Michelle Williams

As Sharon Salaam, one of the mothers in this true account of the accused group of young men known as the Central Park Five, Ellis had to play a real woman whose life was virtually destroyed by the cruel fate thrown at her son. Like the rest of the cast, she is excellent in the role, but faces an uphill climb for the Emmy win, both due to the level of competition, and because she’s competing against a co-star—never an easy thing to do.

Joey King—just 20, but a showbiz vet since the age of four—may be competing against co-star Patricia Arquette who plays her mother in this tragic true story, but as Arquette is in this category for another project altogether, it’s especially interesting to see how it will play out. King, shaved head and all, is remarkable, taking on the traits of a young daughter driven to murdering her extremely overprotective mother. She nails every aspect of it in this harrowing story.

As the mother of Korey Wise in this true story of five young men accused of a violent crime, Nash is in the same boat as her nominated co-star Ellis, who joins her in this category, as they both play parents of the wrongly convicted boys. So how do you choose, even if Nash’s role is particularly poignant, since her son, unlike the others, got shipped off to Rikers Island prison with the rawest deal of all? It is probably a toss-up between them, and that means likely no Emmy win.

Although her storied career started in television with the series Dawson’s Creek, Williams has since been predominantly recognized for the big screen work that garnered her four Oscar nominations.

However, in her return to TV, with this stunningly good look at the marriage and professional union of Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon, Williams shows incredible versatility in channeling the multitalented singer/dancer/ actress/choreographer Verdon. It is a bravura turn, and worthy of an Emmy in any year.

When They See Us Netflix

The Act Hulu

When They See Us Netflix

Since Patricia Arquette is more likely to win for Lead Actress rather than her supporting turn in The Act, despite being deserving of both, let’s look at the competition. Marsha Stephanie Blake and Vera Farmiga both make impressions in When They See Us, but eight members of that cast got Emmy nods so it just might be too difficult to decide who gets an Emmy when they all have to compete in one way or another. Margaret Qualley is quite fine in Fosse/Verdon, but that’s a series belonging lock, stock and barrel to its title stars. British actress Emily Watson was superb in Chernobyl and has a real shot of winning here, but so does well-liked veteran Patricia Clarkson, who so perfectly played Amy Adams’ patrician mother in Sharp Objects.

WINNER: Patricia Clarkson, Sharp Objects

Fosse/Verdon FX

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