Emmy Spotlight - Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Friday, September 16, 2016 at 6:31PM by Eric Blume
We love our actresses, and the Emmy race for Best Actress, Limited Series or Movie on Sunday night is filled with very good ones. Let’s take a look at who’s in the running and who the winner might be.
Kirsten Dunst nabbed her first Emmy nomination in her freshman foray into television for her role as a deluded hairdresser in season two of Fargo. Unlike Nathaniel, I’m not a huge fan of Dunst, but her work here is probably the best thing she’s ever done outside of Melancholia. What she pulls off here is a very tricky blend of naturalism and heightened comedy, a dangerous high-wire act that could have fallen flat quite easily...
There are moments throughout the season when you don’t quite believe what her character is doing, but she sustains a tone that not only keeps you intrigued and carries over those rough spots, but by the end of the season all makes complete sense on the show’s terms. She and co-star Bokeem Woodbine achieve a very high level of acting which elevates the show into a weird, comic sphere that blends effectively with the dramatic work everyone else is doing. It’s a completely unique creation: she’s a trip.
Felicity Huffman and Lili Taylor are both nominated for American Crime, an overly schematic but very provocative and intelligent ten-episode anthology show. Taylor plays the mother of a teenage boy who is (possibly) raped by another boy at his rich, private high school, and Huffman plays the headmaster. Taylor is an excellent actress, but she’s forced to play a very small set of emotions (there’s a point in episode eight where she smiles, and it feels shocking). Her character by design is annoying, much like her character in Six Feet Under, when you keep wishing she would just disappear (and in that show, luckily, she did).
Huffman fares much better with a much more interesting role: she occasionally recalls Tilda Swinton’s character in Michael Clayton, that corporate automaton who exercises power but lives in fear. Of course nobody can match what Tilda does in that movie, but Hoffman creates a fairly complex villain character for the show…everyone knows this woman who carefully protects herself and always knows just the right words to use to make herself look clean during every ugly situation. It’s an unapologetic performance that really aids the show’s overall power.
Theater legend Audra McDonald, who famously has more Tony Awards than any actor alive or dead, is up for recreating her Tony-winning role as singer Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. HBO’s adaptation is a strange cross between televisioin and filmed theater, so McDonald’s work, which was already highly stylized and mannered but worked beautifully onstage, doesn’t translate as well to the screen. Her performance is captured smartly (but unforgivingly) in all its literal and metaphorical sweat. McDonald will always be possibly the single greatest musical actress the stage has ever had, and it’s wonderful to have her marvelous work captured for history, but most voters will have trouble sitting through the entire thing since it’s so stagy. But there is literally nobody who can slay “Strange Fruit” the way McDonald does here, including Billie Holiday. She’s actually infinitely more talented than Holiday, and that’s part of the fun in watching her do the role.
Sarah Paulson is the category’s heavy favorite for bringing prosecutor Marcia Clark to life in The People v OJ Simpson, and that’s as it should be. Paulson is now on her sixth Emmy nomination with zero wins, when she should already at least have two. She’s the definition of Secret Weapon for everything she does. Here she assays a much-maligned public figure and creates enormous sympathy for her, without compromising the rough edges. Clark’s intelligence is always front and center in Paulson’s performance, and her blind spot is her humanity. It’s always 100% clear why Clark makes every decision on the case, and then Paulson fills in the personal relationships with Chris Darden and her family with startling detail. She effortlessly enhances the show’s themes of racism and feminism. Plus she somehow manages to be funny and sexy, too. It’s a ravishing and inspired piece of acting from one of the most thrilling working actors.
Finally, Kerry Washington scores Emmy nomination number three for portraying Anita Hill, who famously brought a case against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas for sexual harassment, in Confirmation. Washington has some nice moments, but wow is her Anita Hill a snooze. Washington takes a very reverent approach towards the character, and in an attempt to make sure we see how intelligent Hill is, she comes across flat and dull (Washington “plays” Hill’s intelligence, whereas Paulson inhabits Clark’s). Washington does a good job capturing Hill’s cool tone and measured way with words, but there’s not a lot of there there. The performance, like the movie itself, feels safe and uncomplicated, especially against how similar characters and themes are portrayed in American Crime and OJ Simpson.
Who will win?
Every prognosticator is saying this is finally Paulson’s year, and it would be shocking if her name isn’t in that envelope. Yet Paulson has been predicted in prior years and didn’t win, so there’s always a crazy chance she won’t. But nobody else in the category can touch what she did on her show this year. Dunst comes the closest, and probably will be the winner IF Paulson loses. But for as skilled as Dunst's performance is, it’s also mostly subtle and she doesn’t have a lot of “big” moments that voters like to see. Washington probably has the next best chance, and she’s a producer on her movie as well. Huffman, Taylor, and McDonald feel out of the running. Many of us here at The Film Experience who are ardent members of Team Paulson will be thrilled to see her finally give a speech for her great work.
Reader Comments (20)
This article has two authors listed.
After Poelher, Scolari & RuPaul, if Paulson wins it will be the best emmy EVER! But emmy voters are a crazy bunch, so you never know....
I know the safe bet is Paulson, but Lily Taylor might surprise playing Mother Courage in American Crime S2. Struggling mothers are awards magnets.
If I had a ballot I would vote for Felicity Huffman. I think she's phenomenal in a role that is diametrically opposite to the one she played in the first season. Can't wait to see what she does in S3
She’s actually infinitely more talented than Holiday, and that’s part of the fun in watching her do the role.
I can't agree. Audra is perhaps more multi-talented, but Billie Holiday was incomparable.
I read that Tina Fey always voted as a writer (only writers can vote for writing categories, only actors can vote for acting categories) and switched this year just so she could vote for Sarah Paulson and Sterling Guy Who Played Chris Darden Whose Name I Can't Remember.
Sterling Guy Who Played Chris Darden Whose Name I Can't Remember.
Sterling K Brown
I must say the nominees in this category are the best I have ever seen
Anyone would be ok with me ... But I must say Paulson should and will win.
Paulson has to win! No other performance comes close to achieving what she did The People vs OJ Simpson. Her work on Marcia Marcia Marcia especially deserves every award out there. One of the best hours of television over the past year for sure!
Kieran Scarlett is tagged as the author below while Eric Blume takes the credit on top.
The reasons for that are complicated and boring, LOL. this great piece is 100% the work of Eric Blume.
poor peggy blumquist - she just wants to be someone
i want kirsten to win this. paulson will eventually get her emmy because of ryan murphy but kirsten's fargo season 2 performance is just a blast.
Which two (prior) performances do you think should've earned Paulsen an Emmy? I'd say American Horror Story: Asylum (definitely) and American Horror Story: Freak Show (maybe). It's hard to tell sometimes, but she certainly has been Emmy-worthy. May she win Sunday!
I'd rank Paulson's nominations like this:
1. (tie) AHS: Freak Show
1. (tie) ACS
3. Game Change
4. AHS: Asylum
5. AHS: Hotel
6. AHS: Coven
I would love for Audra to win for reasons of her being Audra. But I think this is Paulson's for the taking with maybe a Dunst upset.
Paulson is queen, but I feel like her nomination count--and everyone's involved with AHS--is artificially inflated because of that hot campy mess and the usual dearth of competition in the miniseries category.
Have NOT seen Lady Day at Emmerson's Bar and Grill (hadn't even heard of it before actually and I would have with a ridiculous title like that!) nor People vs. OJ.
Of the ones that I have seen, I would rank them as below, but it is hard to as the top three are all truly excellent.
1. Dunst
2. Washington (I don't always like Kerry but she was wonderful in this)
3. Huffman
then BIG gap
4. Taylor
In a less competitive year, this would be Audra's to lose, hers is the definitive portrait of Lady Day (sorry Diana Ross) and one of the most brilliant performances of a music legend.
Paul Outlaw says it best.
"I can't agree. Audra is perhaps more multi-talented, but Billie Holiday was incomparable."
And just imagine the heights BH might have reached had her life not been ruined by addiction.
I think Sarah has been win-worthy on many occasions... I'm not counting her work on OJ because he finally won, and I mean: duh.
1 - AHS: Freak Show - I mean...she played two fucking roles at the same time! And she had already lost for Asylum. The ONLY consolation in her losing this one is that Regina King was a deserving winner, and even Mo'Nique would've been a worthy choice as well.
2 - AHS: Asylum - She had been nominated for strong work in Game Change the year before, did very strong work in Asylum, and lost to fucking Ellen Burstyn in a 15 second role she could've done in her sleep.
3 - AHS: Hotel - Ok. She lost for Asylum. She even lost for Freak Show. And sure, she was probably gonna win for OJ which lessened the need to give it to her. But damn, her work in Hotel is so strong that they should've just doubled up to make up for her previous losses. Regina King is an amazing, underrated actress so I can't be mad at her winning another Emmy. But did I want Sarah to win this one as well? yeah. I only watched a few episodes of Hotel, but I thought she was something else...and really the only reason to watch tbh.
4 - Game Change - It's been a while since I've seen it, but I know she was great. First nomination and she lost in Jessica Lange in the first season of AHS, so that's all fine.
5 - AHS: Coven - Strong, solid work. Worthy of a win, no. Nominated probably because these categories need to be filled every year and AHS is super popular. Her nomination tally could drop this one and lose nothing in the process. She looks lovely as a blonde tho. :)