The Film Experience

Team Experience is taking a look at episode submissions in major Emmy categories.

Anya Taylor-Joy has won every precursor, but can she beat new competition like Kate Winslet and Elizabeth Olsen?By: Christopher James

No category is as stacked as Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. From top to bottom, each of the women nominated in the category give awards-worthy performances in projects as different as prestige dramas, gritty rape stories, biopics and Marvel comedies. Last week, we lamented that the corresponding Lead Actor race lacked variety and a clear frontrunner. The story could not be more different in Lead Actress. Though we do have a frontrunner, each person poses some level of threat that makes this an exciting category to watch.

Let’s take a look at the nominees for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie:

Michaela Coel as Arabella in I May Destroy You (HBO)

Description (from IMDB): The question of sexual consent in contemporary life and how, in the new landscape of dating and relationships, we make the distinction between liberation and exploitation.

Some performances stay with you long after the credits roll. Michaela Coel’s work as Arabella in I May Destroy You certainly fits the bill. There’s a complicated, unrelenting rage bubbling under every scene in Coel’s performance that is impossible to shake. In less talented hands, Arabella’s quest for revenge would have felt aimless or repetitive. Perhaps because Coel has such authorship of the show (she also wrote it), she was the best person to embody the complicated protagonist. As Arabella processes her rape, she spurs into action. Whether it be social media crusading or partnering with an old classmate, Coel perfectly conveys how overwhelmed, yet committed, Arabella is to change societal norms around consent. Taking on a system is exhausting work, which Coel’s performance dramatizes incredibly effectively.

I don’t believe Coel will walk out of this year’s ceremony empty handed. Her show has remained at the top of fans’ minds for over a year at this point. Once more, her work is so raw and personal that one connects to her fraught and horrifying portrait of what goes through a person’s mind after sexual assault. However, that’s more likely to happen in the writing category than in the acting category. As so often happens with multi-hyphenates, they typically stand a better chance in writing categories, particularly if the acting category is competitive like this one.

Cynthia Erivo as Aretha Franklin in Genius: Aretha (Nat Geo)

Description (from IMDB): The life stories of history's greatest minds. From their days as young adults to their final years we see their discoveries, loves, relationships, causes, flaws and genius.

The Queen of Soul is the role of a lifetime. Aretha Franklin is one of the most famous women in the history of modern music. It’s only fitting that Tony winner Cynthia Erivo steps into the larger than life shoes of Aretha for the third installment of the Genius series. Not surprisingly, Erivo commands the screen when she performs many of Franklin’s iconic songs. Still, the performance is more than just singing. Genius: Aretha dramatizes the story of an incredible talent seeking to separate her interests from her male handlers, including her Father (Courtney B. Vance). Erivo highlights Franklin’s political activism and ferocity off stage. It takes more effort to be the Queen off-stage compared to being on-stage. Erivo makes you feel the frustration of Aretha as she claws away control from those around her.

The fellow Aretha Franklin biopic project, Respect starring Jennifer Hudson, may have taken the wind out of Erivo’s sails more than helped it. In such a competitive category, Erivo looks to be the distant fifth place here, as much as the Emmys do love biopic mimicry. Neither Geoffrey Rush nor Anotonio Banderas won acting prizes for their seasons of Genius. That trend is likely to continue.

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch in WandaVision (Disney+)

Description (from IMDB): Blends the style of classic sitcoms with the MCU, in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision - two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives - begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

The greatest trick in the Scarlet Witch’s arsenal is the ability to master six decades worth of sitcom tropes. Elizabeth Olsen shows many new sides to her memorable Marvel character as we retreat into her self-imposed grief chamber. Each episode finds Wanda acting out classic sitcom plots with her dearly departed love, Vision (Paul Bettany). As happy-go-lucky as Wanda appears, Olsen never forgets to convey the wells of sadness lurking beneath the surface. Who would’ve ever thought that Marvel would give us an entry in the Women Who Lie To Themselves™ series that The Film Experience loves? Olsen effectively transitions from sitcom lightness to grieving widow towards the end, with the penultimate episode “Previously On” giving her the best showcase.

Already, WandaVision has won three Creative Arts Emmys. It also carries with it the highest nomination tally of the Limited Series nominees. This level of support would’ve been unheard of for a Marvel series just a few years back. Olsen’s performance is a large reason for why the series works so well and has captured the attention of Emmy voters. If it is going to go the distance and win the top prize, it will likely win this category as well.

Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)

Description (from IMDB): Orphaned at the tender age of nine, prodigious introvert Beth Harmon discovers and masters the game of chess in 1960s USA. But child stardom comes at a price.

Since her debut in 2015’s The Witch, Anya Taylor-Joy has demonstrated that she has the acting goods. There’s an intensity to her work that cannot be ignored. She grabs the audience’s attention, making them hang on every last word she says. This inimitable screen presence was crucial in The Queen Gambit’s success last fall. There’s an impenetrability to Beth, an orphan chess prodigy, that Taylor-Joy completely understands and dramatizes. She knows she’s the smartest, most talented person in the room, which causes her to act out in subtle ways. Her confidence never quite tips into arrogance thanks to the pitch perfect modulation in Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance. At every turn, she keeps you rooting for Beth, all the way to the rousing final episode.

On paper, it seems improbable that anyone but Anya Taylor-Joy takes home the gold. She’s won the Golden Globe, SAG Award and Critics Choice award already. The only issue - she’s only gone head to head against one of her four competitors. Winslet is an Oscar winner in a showy role that has recency bias. Still, The Queen’s Gambit was a clear winner at the Creative Arts Emmys, winning an astounding nine prizes. The once competitive Limited Series field is shaping up to be a sweep for The Queen’s Gambit at this rate.

Kate Winlset as Mare Sheehan in Mare of Easttown (HBO)

Description (from IMDB): A detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigates a local murder while trying to keep her life from falling apart.

Kate Winslet gave the performance of the year in Mare of Easttown. So many projects tackled grief this year, but Winslet best demonstrated the weight that it adds to every day of a person’s life. Mare is haunted by her son’s suicide and constantly keeps herself busy to avoid dealing with it. They smartly were able to use Mare’s grief to make her a more active protagonist. She doesn’t just simply throw herself into the local murder that comes across her desk. She throws herself into the community and into everyone’s business. She latches on to her grandchild, leading her to frame his birth mother for drug possession. Her house is abuzz with family and friends at all moments, as if she can’t spend being alone for a moment. Being active and avoidant is a tricky characterization that Winslet nails. Mare is also far from one note. Her matter-of-factness carries with it a level of comedy that is tricky to play, but feels easy in Winslet’s hand. She doesn’t just step up herself, Winslet steps everyone’s game up and becomes the fulcrum for this vibrant world of Easttown.

Mare of Easttown may have been a water cooler sensation, but it is still an untested awards player. The healthy nomination tally and recency bias definitely favor it against the early front runner, The Queen’s Gambit, which came out last fall. As great as Winslet is as Mare, she already won this category in 2011 for Mildred Pierce. This could be the factor that turns the tide to any one of the newcomers in the category, particularly Anya Taylor-Joy.

All I can say is, we have a real race in this category!

Predictions

Anya Taylor-Joy - The Queen’s Gambit
Kate Winselt - Mare of Easttown
Michaela Coel - I May Destroy You
Elizabeth Olsen - WandaVision
Cynthia Erivo - Genius: Aretha

Personal Ranking

Kate Winselt - Mare of Easttown
Michaela Coel - I May Destroy You
Elizabeth Olsen - WandaVision
Anya Taylor-Joy - The Queen’s Gambit
Cynthia Erivo - Genius: Aretha

Who would you vote for?

ALL CATEGORIES REVIEWED