The Nominees Ranked By Which Actor Should Win:
- Cameron Britton for Netflix's Mindhunter - "Episode 2"
- Gerald McRaney for NBC's This Is Us - "The Car"
- Jimmi Simpson for HBO's Westworld - "Reunion"
- Ron Cephas Jones for NBC's This Is Us - "A Father's Advice"
- Matthew Goode for Netflix's The Crown - "Matrimonium"
- F. Murray Abraham for Showtime's Homeland - "All In"
A year ago I said that Gerald McRaney and Ron Cephas Jones were two of the performers from This Is Us who absolutely needed to win Emmys. Their performances were so strong and distinctive. McRaney ultimately did win but Jones lost to John Lithgow in The Crown. And now, I would like Jones to win but it would feel more like a consolation prize because the second season really didn't give him a lot of great material. McRaney was still terrific even though he only appeared in one episode this season. But the true contender in this race has to be Cameron Britton. He came out of complete no where and delivered a terrifying and towering performance as a convicted serial killer. He brought so much nuance to the role in that he was allowed to be simultaneously amusing and feared. That mastery of tone was so spectacular. He's the one who absolutely deserves to win here. Of course, Jimmi Simpson was also wonderful on Westworld even though his role was also diminished in the second season. That allowed him to compete in this race. Plus, he no longer had to deal with the burden of keeping a major secret about his character. As such, that opened him up to be even more mysterious and terrifying.
The Nominees Ranked by Which Actor Will Win:
- Ron Cephas Jones for NBC's This Is Us - "A Father's Advice"
- Gerald McRaney for NBC's This Is Us - "The Car"
- Jimmi Simpson for HBO's Westworld - "Reunion"
- F. Murray Abraham for Showtime's Homeland - "All In"
- Matthew Goode for Netflix's The Crown - "Matrimonium"
- Cameron Britton for Netflix's Mindhunter - "Episode 2"
It really does seem like this could be a race between the This Is Us men. McRaney probably has the better episode submission than Jones. And yet, it's been a long time since the same actor has won in this category in consecutive years. The last time it happened was for Charles S. Dutton in 2002 and 2003. And yet, that was for two different shows - The Practice and Without a Trace. And yet, that shouldn't take McRaney out of the running either. The voters had no problem awarding Margo Martindale in back-to-back years for her performance on The Americans in the guest drama actress field. It just feels like it would be more rewarding for Jones to win that way people can say that he won for playing this character. Sure, it may be a year too late. But it's better to have won at least once instead of never at all. Meanwhile, the odds seem stacked against Cameron Britton because he's still such an unknown as an actor. Plus, Mindhunter really didn't get nominated elsewhere on the ballot. The fellow nominees are just more recognizable or are on higher profile shows. It's still possible that Britton could win because this category does have a history of awarding the best performance. I just think it's a little more daunting for him to emerge victorious given the rest of the nominees.
What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my predictions? Let me know in the comments below!
