Emmys 2016: Sophie Turner, Melissa McBride, Lindsey Morgan top Drama Supporting Actress picks

Today marks the final edition in our Emmy preview series among dramas, and we certainly have saved one of the most-competitive categories for last in Supporting Actress. There are an almost-endless list of great candidates out there for this particular award, but we’ve managed to narrow down our personal list to just six names who were exemplary in the past year. Some of these may be included on many other lists; however, we also think there are a couple of names in here that may not be that prevalent elsewhere, but these performances are worthy of a nod to us. That excites us, since some of these performers are being tragically overlooked.

To go along with our personal picks below, we’re also including a poll at the bottom of this article for you to pick your own favorite! We’re keeping this poll open until July 13 (the day before the actual Emmys are announced), so you are going to have plenty of time to choose your favorite and we announce the winners among our readers. You can vote as many times as you wish and remember that this poll is just for fun.

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Melissa McBride, “The Walking Dead” (AMC) – One of the challenges that comes with being on such a giant show like “The Walking Dead” is that it’s harder for any one individual performer to shine through; yet, McBride continues to do so time and time again. Through much of season 6, in particular the latter half of it, she managed to match some of the incredible work she did in “The Grove,” an episode that remain still one of our favorites of the entire series. Carol is a woman with so many layers, and capable of so much; McBride plays this character in such a way that you think she is unstoppable at times; then, you see the heart and the vulnerability and you want nothing more than to give her a hug.

Adrienne C. Moore, “Orange is the New Black” (Netflix) – Uzo Aduba usually gets the most recognition for her role as Suzanne (Crazy Eyes), but this last season put the Character of Cindy in the spotlight with a story that started out making us laugh and by the end of the season was making us weep with tears of joy. Moore bought a beautiful vulnerability to this role letting us see that there’s more to Cindy then jokes and snark. We would love to see Moore recognized for what she has done with this character, who started out the series as not much more then comic relief.

Lindsey Morgan, “The 100” (The CW) – You may be surprised to see an actress from The CW on this list, but if you watched “The 100” this season then you know why Lindsey Morgan should be nominated for an Emmy. Raven has always been a character that is guarded, but what’s to do the right thing and this season we saw her body and mind possessed by another entity and this performance rivals some of what we have seen from Eva Green on “Penny Dreadful”. Morgan brought Raven a beautiful vulnerability that we rarely get to see in this character and the pain and physical stress she showed us made us cringe and care for her even more deeply then before. Morgan deserves to be on everyone’s Emmy list this year.

Maggie Siff, “Billions” (Showtime) – Superficially, it may be easy to say that “Billions” is the story of Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and Bobby Axelrod (Damian Lewis), an investigator and the Wall Street titan he is desperate to take down. However, Siff was so strong that we’d argue that this show was just as much about her Wendy, a woman forced to constantly tow the line between being Chuck’s wife and an employee of Axe Capital, having to preserve her own hide while coming across as supportive in the process. Siff brought power, craftiness, and so much nuance into this performance that we would miss her, and wonder what she was up to, when she was not on-camera.

Sophie Turner, “Game of Thrones” (HBO) – “Game of Thrones” is similar to “The Walking Dead” in that it’s hard for any one performer to stand out, but for us this past year has been a breakout one for Turner’s Sansa Stark. She shows the strength of someone who has gone through terrible marriages and abuse, and yet there’s still a lightness that occasionally comes through, and also some wonderful self-reflection. Even though we never saw much of the Sansa – Jon Snow relationship early on the show, the reunion between these two is a scene that will stick with us for quite some time.

Katheryn Winnick, “Vikings” (History) – If you are watching Vikings then you know that Winnick’s portrayal of Lagertha is one that deserves Emmy recognition (and if you’re not watching “Vikings” you really should be, because it’s one of the best shows on TV right now). Lagertha is a hero that everyone wants to root for as she breaks the barriers of women in period pieces on TV right now that seem to want to put women in positions of weakness. This character is a warrior, a mother and a ruler, three very different layers of a woman that Winnick threads together with perfect grace.