2022 Emmy Category Analysis: Drama Guest Acting Categories

by Christopher James

"Succession" added an Emmy winner and an Oscar winner to its cast this year. Will it pay off with a Guest Actor Emmy win?

It’s no secret that the Guest Acting categories often reward big names and buzzy actors, rather than actual performances. The awards can often go to beloved actors, even if they only appear in one or two moments of their submission. Take for example wins for Margo Martindale (The Americans) and Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us) for seasons and episodes that are far from their best work. While past years have trended towards the biggest names possible, this year’s crop doesn’t necessarily skew towards major celebrities. Instead, it’s more consolidated around a small number of shows. Only five shows make up all twelve slots (the same number as in the Comedy Guest Acting races).

Succession fever has swept the guest acting drama categories. The HBO drama makes up seven of the twelve possible guest acting slots, or nearly 60% of the honors. Does this mean the show is unbeatable or could this pave the way for an underdog prevailing?

Outstanding Performance by a Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Nominees:

• Hope Davis - Succession - Episode: “Retired Janitors of Idaho” (Season 3, Episode 5)

  • Description: Hope Davis (Sandi Furness) is the daughter of Logan’s long time rival, Sandy Furness. As Sandy’s health further declines, his daughter, Sandi, has stepped in to negotiate the takeover. Eventually, Shiv is able to work with Sandi to make a deal both parties are happy with thus stopping the takeover.

• Marcia Gay Harden - The Morning Show - Episode: “Testimony” (Season 2, Episode 9)

  • Description: Alex and Bradley try to accept change as a new book promises shocking revelations.

• Martha Kelly - Euphoria - Episode: “Stands Still Like a Hummingbird” (Season 2, Episode 5)

  • Description: A teacher turned drug lord, Laurie’s quiet demeanor masks a frightening future for Rue when she fails to deliver on her promises. When Rue finds herself in Laurie’s apartment going through withdrawal, Laurie eases her pain with morphine while calmly threatening to traffick her if she cannot repay her debts.

• Sanaa Latham - Succession - Episode: “What It Takes” (Season 3, Episode 6)

  • Description: Sanaa Lathan (Lisa Arthur) is a high profile, well-connected New York lawyer. Shiv asks for some advice from her old friend, Lisa, who makes it known she will be representing Kendall against Waystar. Lisa tries to keep Kendall in line but in the end, he moves to new legal counsel.

• Harriet Walter - Succession - Episode: “Chiantishire” (Season 3, Episode 8)

  • Description: Harriet Walter (Caroline Collingwood), the ex-wife of Logan and the mother of Kendall, Roman and Shiv, decides to re-marry in Italy. The children worry Caroline is making a mistake marrying again but their worry blinds them from catching their mother’s ultimate betrayal until it’s too late.

• Lee You-mi - Squid Game - Episode: “Gganbu” (Season 1, Episode 6)

  • Description: Ji-yeong joins the game after being released from prison for killing her abusive father, having nowhere to go. Amid fear and betrayal among the players, she shares a special friendship with Sae-byeok.

Analysis: Half of the category is filled with women from Succession. While this could lead to vote splitting, there is a clear frontrunner among them. Harriet Walter (a dual nominee this year) has the strongest submission from the show as the caustic mother of the Roy children. One particularly stellar scene involves her and her daughter Shiv (Sarah Snook) unpacking their difficult relationship. For much of the show, Walter plays Caroline as a cold, sly woman who got out of the Roy circus. Yet, in this scene on her wedding day, we see a peek into the fragility behind the surface. While both of the other Succession women are very talented, neither have material that meaty.

As good as Walter is, she’s up against very stiff competition.

Martha Kelly shows us a new side of talents in "Euphoria."My favorite performance of the bunch belongs to Martha Kelly from Euphoria. The actress is famous for her deadpan comedic readings in shows like Baskets and Hacks. That’s what makes her work in Euphoria so surprising. She employs this same monotone cadence from her comedy and crafts a frightening drug kingpin. In her submission, she walks the line between nurturing and menacing when dealing with a strung out Rue. The purposefully limited range of Kelly’s performance may put some voters off from voting for her, however deserving.

If likeability plays into the category, Lee You-mi could walk away with the win. Squid Game is incredibly well liked and widely watched. Her role is a heartbreaking bit of optimism in a bleak, violent saga. In the submitted episode, Ji-Yeong (Lee You-mi) pairs up with the guarded Kang Sae-byeok (HoYeon Jung) in a marble game with deadly consequences. Ji-Yeong finds respite within the madness, choosing to talk with Kang Sae-byeok for what will be the final moments for one of them. Fans of the show will likely rally around her performance in this category.

The wildest nomination is Marcia Gay Harden, who has very little to do in the horribly bonkers second season of The Morning Show. But she is debatably the most famous of the bunch which can make a difference with Emmy voters. If we’ve learned anything from the 2000 Supporting Actress Oscar Race, you should never count out Marcia Gay Harden.

Will Win: Harriet Walter - Succession
Should Win: Martha Kelly - Euphoria
Spoiler: Lee You-mi - Squid Game

Outstanding Performance by a Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Nominees:

• Adrien Brody - Succession - Episode: “Lion in the Meadow” (Season 3, Episode 4)

  • Description: Adrien Brody (Josh Aaronson) is a billionaire activist investor who becomes pivotal in the battle for the ownership of Waystar. He invites Logan and Kendall to make amends at Josh’s estate, which ends up dividing Logan and Kendall further and pushing Josh to consider joining forces with Waystar’s rivals.

• James Cromwell - Succession - Episode: “Retired Janitors of Idaho” (Season 3, Episode 5)

  • Description: James Cromwell (Ewan Roy), Logan’s older brother and Greg’s grandfather, decides to help Greg distance himself from Logan and Waystar given the now public cruise scandal information. Ultimately, Ewan feels betrayed by Greg because he remains loyal to the Roys, so Ewan donates all of Greg’s inheritance to Greenpeace.

• Colman Domingo - Euphoria - Episode: “Ruminations: Big and Little Bullies” (Season 2, Episode 3)

  • Description: After spending Christmas sharing pancakes with Rue, Ali continues to try and help her beat her addiction, only to be met with the sharp venom of her relapse. Despite Rue’s betrayal, Ali turns his efforts to caring for Rue’s mother and younger sister, eventually forgiving Rue as well.

• Arian Moayed - Succession - Episode: “Retired Janitors of Idaho” (Season 3, Episode 5)

  • Description: Arian Moayed (Stewy Hosseini) is working against Waystar in the takeover bid. Once the takeover is off the table, the two sides are able to come together to make decisions regarding the future of Waystar. Stewy is a savvy businessman and always supports the best decision for the company.

• Tom Pelphry - Ozark - Episode: “You’re the Boss” (Season 4, Episode 10)

  • Description: Wendy’s volatile brother who becomes too involved in the Byrde family’s affairs.

• Alexander Skarsgård - Succession - Episode: “All the Bells Say” (Season 3, Episode 9)

  • Description: Alexander Skarsgård (Lukas Matsson) is GoJoGo’s successful, confrontational tech founder and CEO. Initially, Waystar wants to acquire GoJo but after several chats Matsson prefers a merger of equals. Matsson and Logan meet to discuss, in which Matsson gets Logan to agree this deal is best for both parties.

Analysis: Again, the question of the category is “can Succession win another category?” While we are predicting it to win Guest Actress, it may have a harder time in Guest Actor. As noted in the Comedy Guest Acting piece, having four nominees from a show is more of a hindrance than aid, especially when there isn’t a clear frontrunner. That’s not quite the case here. James Cromwell and Arian Moayed are almost non-factors in their joint episode pick, and they shouldn’t siphon off too much of the Succession votes. The margin between Adrian Brody and Alexander Skarsgård may be too thin for either to prevail. Both are big names with somewhat prominent guest stints. Between the two of them, Skarsgård has the edge since his role is more prominent throughout the back half of the season. Yet, none of them are slam dunk sure things.

So who stands to benefit from their vote splitting?

Can Tom Pelphrey cash a big Emmys IOU this year for the final season of "Ozark"?There’s a trend in the Television Academy honoring key supporting characters once they have left a show and returned for a short cameo. Recently, Claire Foy (The Crown), Ron Cephas Jones (This Is Us) and Samira Wiley (The Handmaid’s Tale) won guest acting Emmys essentially for having their roles diminished. This benefits Tom Pelphry, who was unjustly snubbed for his superb work on Ozark in season three. As Wendy’s (Laura Linney) ne’er do well brother trying to start over, he was the emotional lynchpin for a show that often overdoses on the bleak. He appears in a short flashback that opens episode 10 of the final season. Though short, it may remind voters how much they loved his character and wished they had rewarded him when he was a series regular.

Then there’s Colman Domingo, who routinely turns in great work as Rue’s (Zendaya) sponsor on Euphoria. In particular, the two hander movie that aired between Euphoria seasons was incredible. He and Zendaya were electric, as he radiated tough love and empathy while she careened towards a path of self destruction. Unfortunately, that is not what he is nominated for. His season two episode gives him a lot less to do, though he still manages to wring every bit of emotion he can out of his scene with Rue. The camera loves Domingo, as his penetrating stare conveys disappointment, hurt, love and concern. Rue exists between worlds - the pettiness of high school and the real consequences of adulthood. Domingo's Ali understands her pain, which is why he challenges her to do better.

Either way, this feels like a clear category where vote splitting will lead to a Succession loss.

Will Win: Tom Pelphry - Ozark
Should Win: Colman Domingo - Euphoria
Spoiler: Colman Domingo - Euphoria

See here for a list of all Emmy nominees this year.

Who do you think will win the Drama Guest Acting races? Let us know in the comments below.

MORE ANALYSIS

• Supporting Actress - Limited Series
• Supporting Actress - Drama Series
• Guest Acting - Comedy Series

• Writing/Directing -  Comedy Series
• Writing/Directing - Drama Series

Comments

[Paranoid Android]

If I recall, the Pelphrey appearance was literally like.. 45 seconds? Did he even have dialogue? He definitely deserved it for Season 3, but a win here would be ridiculous.

[Duncan]

Walter, Yoo-mi, and Kelly are all massively deserving in Supporting Actress, and I think Lathan makes a fine nominee (her dressing down of Kendall when his ego gets in the way of the case was great). Gay Harden and Davis are totally bizarre nominees to me beyond name recognition. This category could've been much improved if Veronica Falcon in Ozark, Tanya Cornelisse in Yellowjackets, or Grace van Dien in Stranger Things submitted here (both eligible), otherwise Karen Aldridge in Severance and Jordana Spiro in Ozark made bigger impressions for me than half this category.

Guest Actor I think is mostly solid - Colman Domingo and Tom Pelphrey (even in his brief appearance) are superb, and Domingo especially would be SUCH a deserving winner here. There's a moment in his first episode of this season when Rue uses his history with violence to twist the knife in him for a moment, and the amount of pain and hurt Domingo conveyed with a single reaction shot was astonishing.

With the Succession boys; Cromwell is fine but has been better in other seasons, and Skarsgard feels like he's just playing his hits without much depth or surprise. Moayed is a wonderful recurring presence in the show, and Brody (though an unpopular nominee online) gets a proper guest showcase episode where he gets to be funny and awful. Non-nominee Justin Kirk probably deserved to be here more than any of them.

Beyond them, Richard E. Grant and Jonathan Majors would've each been great nominees for Loki, and non-submitted Michael Mando would've been a hugely deserving winner for his appearance in Better Call Saul. Also quietly deserving but not submitted was Joel Stoffer who was superb as Eddie Munson's dad in Stranger Things.

[Lucky]

Paranoid -- that was exactly Claire Foy's case last year

[Lucky]

Paranoid -- that was exactly Claire Foy's case last year (and yes, it was ridiculous).

[Philip H.]

Definitely rooting for Euphoria in both categories.

[lemonzestysour1]

Okay, Pelphrey had the opening scene and his monologue as he is driven towards his death (spoiler) just reinforced how superb his acting skill at playing someone with mental illness is. Perfect conclusion to a stellar role that made me tear up in his 4 minutes of time on screen is the perfect guest spot nom and make up for missing last season. Rooting for him to win even if I'd take Adrian Brody and Alexander Skarsgard together any day - sorry, not the question?

His work is nothing like Claire Foy's nom and win - let's be clear on that.

Also Harriet Walter deserves the award for that scene with Shiv alone. Her startling icy demeanor with that brutal cut through with Shiv - despite her distance, she knows these kids so well and it hurts us all with the shock of her acid confessions. Really stellar stuff on a subpar season.

[Finbar McBride]

Isn’t it odd how award voting bodies who don’t separate comedy from drama have historically over recognized dramatic efforts? I was prompted by these two TFE columns on guest performances to revisit these 24 featured episodes. I found the Emmy nominated work in comedy to be stronger than the dramatic counterparts.

[ScottC]

Still so weird to me that Succession got 4 Guest Actor slots and none of them went to Justin Kirk. That said, Brody was really good so if it ends up being him I'm fine with it. Really hoping Martha Kelly snags Guest Actress, but I too am curious what fellow actors will make of her style/approach.

[Ben Barton]

Like the SAG awards, the nominators seem to only watch a handful of shows. It's annoying.
Having heard Kelly describe her acting 'process' in several interviews, I can't get root for her.
Walter is always great, but so is Davis.
Pelphrey winning for that would be very Judi Dench-like. Cromwell and Brody did a lot more.

[jules]

Eliminate the Guest Actor category, and award both Harriet Walter and Martha Kelly. None of the men are in their league!