Outlander and the Emmys: How does Game of Thrones change impact acting race?
If you missed it, yesterday it was reported that for the first time, Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke of Game of Thrones were both submitting themselves as leads. This is a big move for them, and as we discussed yesterday it is representative of the larger screen time that the two actors had during the seventh season of the show.
So what does this mean for Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe? Obviously, the superficial interpretation is clear: It’s one more competitor for each one of them in what is set to be two of the more challenging categories this year. Yet, at the same time if you have a strong enough performance (and both Heughan and Balfe do), you should be able to withstand any competition that is thrown in your direction. Personally, we’ve been reasonably optimistic about the their chances of securing at least a possible nomination, though inevitably these two possible nominees crowd the field more — especially since Emmy voters often shy away from naming too many lead actor / actress nominees from the science fiction or fantasy genre.
When you think about Harington and Clarke as significant Emmy contenders, we don’t think that there is necessarily a perception that either one of them is a serious contender to win; however, this show is one of the most recognizable and popular out there, and when you consider this it’s very well possible that the campaigns will be massive. Even though it’s been a good nine or so months since season 7 aired, these two are going to be instantly memorable to voters. They could get nominations, but they’re longshots to win.
When it comes to Balfe and Heughan, we do think they have slightly better winner odds in the event that they get the nomination; of course, getting these nominations from the Emmys (who haven’t been all that kind to them in the past) could be the challenge. In the actress field, Balfe is facing off against Mandy Moore of This Is Us, Elisabeth Moss from The Handmaid’s Tale, Evan Rachel Wood from Westworld, Claire Foy of The Crown, Homeland star Claire Danes, Sandra Oh of Killing Eve, and many more. Meanwhile, over in the Best Actor field you’ve got This Is Us stars Sterling K. Brown and Milo Ventimiglia, Liev Schreiber of Ray Donovan, Matthew Rhys of The Americans, Ozark star Jason Bateman, and many others. This is going to be a super-competitive field this year and we’re certainly interested to see just how it all shakes out.
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Who do you think should be nominated for the acting awards at the Emmys this year, and do you think that the inclusion of Harington and Clarke really changes anything? Share right now in the comments!
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