Golden Globes 2018: Why Jessica Biel, Jessica Lange, Jodie Comer, Reese Witherspoon, Carrie Coon deserve Limited Series / TV Movie Actress nomination
Welcome to the 2018 Golden Globes CarterMatt preview series! With the popular awards show coming to NBC in January, what better time then now to start looking at possible nominees and favorites? This is the third straight year in which CarterMatt has had our own dedicated preview series, and our goal here is to help highlight the best of the best as voters within the Hollywood Foreign Press start to make their decisions.
On October 31, all official submissions were made to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and on November 24 ballots will begin going out for official nomination voting. The focus of this CarterMatt series is to help identify great shows and performers for the HFPA to consider. We’ll be sharing some of our personal picks in every TV-related category daily throughout the month of November at 1:00 p.m. Pacific time (4:00 p.m. Eastern), and from there, we’ll leave the voting for you to share some of your own favorites!
Voting Rules – Note that this is just for fun and for campaign purposes; you aren’t voting for the actual Golden Globes! Vote however often you want from now until November 30 at 12:00 p.m. Pacific time, when the polls close and will no longer be available. We will announce all of the poll winners at 1:00 p.m. Pacific on November 30, during the heart of campaign season, as a way to help get the word out on some shows and performers worthy of a nomination.
With all of that laid out, let’s get to the first order of business today: Discussing the CarterMatt picks for Actress in a Limited Series / TV Movie. As you are about to see, this may be one of the strongest, most competitive categories out there in TV this year. Just think about some of the great performers who we unfortunately didn’t have room for on our list, whether it be Elisabeth Moss, Susan Sarandon, Nicole Kidman, or Oprah Winfrey. Everyone in this category over the past year was outstanding across the board.
Jessica Biel, The Sinner (USA) – As Cora Tannetti the challenge for Biel was effectively playing two different people — the person Cora was when she murdered Frankie Belmont and the person she was mere minutes after it happened. These two women didn’t have the fullest awareness of one another, even if they were one in the same. She tackled this challenge and delivered a determined, at-times painful performance that was the best of Biel’s career to date. You felt for Cora as the show progressed, given that she was a woman utterly transformed by a series of events years ago and a repressive upbringing. She never meant to be a woman who killed based on an immediate and traumatic impulse.
Jodie Comer, The White Princess (Starz) – This was a head-turning and star-making performance from Comer, who delivered so much power and passion to a woman in history viewers in America may not have been all that familiar with in advance. Elizabeth of York a.k.a. Lizzie wrestled with many a difficult position on this show, and Comer was able to find the relatable qualities of this character in bringing her to screen. You understand how she felt and the impossible circumstances she faced. You felt for her, rooted for her, and saw her seize control of her life in many wonderful ways.
Carrie Coon, Fargo (FX) -In between this show and the final season of The Leftovers, 2017 was an outstanding year for Coon. With this show, she had the challenge of bringing a determined woman in Gloria to life who was headstrong in pursuing justice despite the many obstacles in her way — whether it be roadblocks in the case to some bad luck here and there. The challenge with doing Fargo is finding a way to stand out in the midst of the other great performances from seasons past. Coon found a way to bring her own sense of artistry to Gloria, delivering the trademark Fargo charm with a little steely-eyed resolve.
Jessica Lange, FEUD: Bette & Joan (FX) – Playing a woman with the gravitas of a Joan Crawford is no easy task, even if you are a woman like Lange with plenty of gravitas of your own. Yet, we do certainly think that Lange succeeded in presenting this complicated, success-driven woman as a sympathetic figure. Even if she was loathsome at times to those around her she wanted nothing more than to garner love and respect, something that unfortunately the entertainment industry at that time was not exactly willing to give.
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies (HBO) – As Madeline, Witherspoon was really the engine that made this poignant limited series golden. She showed the pain of her relationship, her desire and drive for something more, and also the capacity for love that she had. She would do anything to protect her children and she would also say anything to anyone who challenges her — Witherspoon was perfect in delivering some of the series’ best quotes, and at times did bring lightness to what was at other points an extremely heavy series.
Now, it’s your turn!
Which one of these performers is worthy of getting a Golden Globe nomination? Vote now in our poll below! If there is a performer not on this list that you want to see with a nod, also let us know that in the comments section below. If you are on mobile and cannot see the poll, scroll to the bottom and click to view the non-AMP version of the page.
Meanwhile, visit the link here to read more Golden Globes coverage or like us on Facebook to get even more news on these shows and many others we cover here at the site. (Photo: HFPA.)