Emmy Hopefuls: The chances for Absentia star Stana Katic

Stana Katic's Absentia

In today’s edition of our ongoing Emmy Hopefuls series, we’re looking at yet another performer in Stana Katic who has been, unfortunately, long overlooked by her peers in the industry.

Has she been overlooked by Emmy voters yet for her role in Absentia? Not so much, since this is the show’s first year of eligibility. Yet, she was a part of Castle for eight seasons and while she did receive a number of fan-voted awards for her portrayal of Kate Beckett, she didn’t score any nominations from the Emmys or Golden Globes. We like to think that there is a chance to change that with Absentia.

What Katic brought to the role of Emily Byrne was nothing short of outstanding, whether it be in terms of physical commitment or the ability to unearth so many dark, visceral emotions. This is a show that was tormenting, trying, and at times terrible for Emily; she is a woman steeped in suffering and spent most of the first season in desperation. Katic never wavered from her commitment and made Emily someone who, despite her extreme circumstances, still maintained an inner drive and thirst for justice. Nothing about her situation was relatable to the average viewer, but there was a humanity to her struggle that was still appealing and very much present. Emily was a woman wrongfully accused, misunderstood, and often targeted and mistreated because of that. At her core she wanted safety, stability, and a chance to be a mother to Flynn again. In order to do that, she found herself with her back against the wall and her life on the line.

Katic’s performance was the sort that sticks with you, especially when you get to some of the harrowing situations within the final episodes of the season. It builds slowly throughout the ten installment, becoming more powerful over time before getting to its heart-pounding peak. Emily found her light amidst the darkness, but the question now is whether or not it will continue to be present in subsequent seasons (which, hopefully, we are going to have).

What are Stana’s chances?

We do think that she’s a possible darkhorse this year — she’s not on many critics’ Emmy shortlist at the moment, but there is still time to campaign and try to get the Television Academy’s attention. What she has going for her at the moment is that she is starting in a first-year property that streams on a popular, trendy service like Amazon. These are typically the sorts of shows that the Emmys embrace, and given that Katic commands the screen and pours a lot of heart into it, we do think that her work should be extremely appealing. At this point, it’s mostly about getting the word out in a positive, widespread way.

An unfortunate update

We have heard from a rep for the show that Absentia is not eligible for the Emmys. We have asked for clarification why (we’re struggling to fathom a possible reason for it), but once we have more info we’ll be sure to let you know. We do feel like leaving this piece up because we feel like this is still a performance worth recognizing; it’s just unfortunate that the series is not eligible.

Related Check out more editions of our Emmy Hopefuls series

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