Monday, August 20, 2018

Emmy Predictions 2018 - Who Will and Should Win for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series?

The nominations are in for The 70th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. So now, it's time to speculate on who will and should win in each major category. Next up for analysis is Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.






The Nominees Ranked By Which Actor Should Win:
  1. Yvonne Strahovski for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale - "Women's Work"
  2. Thandie Newton for HBO's Westworld - "Akane no Mai"
  3. Alexis Bledel for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale - "Unwomen"
  4. Ann Dowd for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale - "June"
  5. Millie Bobby Brown for Netflix's Stranger Things - "Chapter Three: The Pollywog"
  6. Lena Headey for HBO's Game of Thrones - "The Dragon and the Wolf"
  7. Vanessa Kirby for Netflix's The Crown - "Beryl"

During the first season of The Handmaid's Tale, Elisabeth Moss and Alexis Bledel were the performers who needed to win for their performances. Both of them won and so did Ann Dowd. In the second season, Yvonne Strahovski was the standout performer who deserves as much praise and awards as possible. This was such a nuanced and complicated season for Serena Joy. It teased the possibility of her being sympathetic while never forgetting the role she played in the current world. It was absolutely breathtaking. Dowd and Bledel were still excellent as well. There are many terrific performances on the Hulu drama. Strahovski's is just the one that needs to win here. Elsewhere, it's curious why Thandie Newton is still slotted as a supporting performer when she is very much the co-lead of Westworld alongside Evan Rachel Wood and Jeffrey Wright. It's mostly for awards recognition to ensure they all have an equal chance of winning. But she is easily giving the best performance that viewers can take at face value as she is experiencing everything live alongside the audience instead of hiding behind some massive twist. Meanwhile, Lena Headey is another very deserving performer. She absolutely should have won before now. She was still strong in the recent season even though the writing often only presented Cersei in one way which is hard to do much with as a performer. 

The Nominees Ranked by Which Actor Will Win:
  1. Yvonne Strahovski for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale - "Women's Work"
  2. Ann Dowd for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale - "June"
  3. Alexis Bledel for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale - "Unwomen"
  4. Lena Headey for HBO's Game of Thrones - "The Dragon and the Wolf"
  5. Thandie Newton for HBO's Westworld - "Akane no Mai"
  6. Millie Bobby Brown for Netflix's Stranger Things - "Chapter Three: The Pollywog"
  7. Vanessa Kirby for Netflix's The Crown - "Beryl"

This really could be a battle between The Handmaid's Tale women. With three of them nominated, they are the defining force in this category. It would be truly shocking if someone from a different show managed to pull off a victory. As such, we have to analyze each of their chances of winning. Dowd and Bledel already won for their roles last year. That gives them a proven track record with the voters. Sure, Bledel prevailed as a guest actress and had to go supporting this year. Meanwhile, Dowd won a year ago when Samira Wiley was also nominated for the show. That means there shouldn't be any real concern for vote splitting. The voters may just watch all of the episodes and whomever out of the three women is giving the best performance will earn the award. If that holds true, then Strahovski will be the winner. Again, she's the performer who needs to win for this season. The voters don't always award actors at the right time. Sometimes they make up for it years later. It sure would be nice if Strahovski were to win this year though. Of course, there wouldn't be a bad winner out of these nominees either. They are all giving solid performances that are crucial to their respective series. It's just easy to see that the voters have complete adoration for The Handmaid's Tale. Sure, they love Game of Thrones and Stranger Things too. But that love didn't lead to multiple nominees in this specific category. 


What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my predictions? Let me know in the comments below!