Award shows like the Emmys can
be very snobby and stick their nose up at superhero shows. The ironic thing is
that Jessica Jones isn’t a superhero
show, not really anyways. Jessica Jones
is a drama that smartly deals with tragedy, rape, power, and PTSD. While
it’s true that the show is based upon a Marvel comic book and co-produced by
Marvel Studios, any semblance of superhero-ness is just an excuse to tell the
deeper and more heartfelt story. The lynchpin holding this story together is
Ritter who plays the titular character. Ritter has always been great on
television from her work from Breaking
Bad to Don’t Trust The B in Apt 23,
but she really brings it in this star making role. It’s a shame the show has
even a whiff of Superhero on it, because chances are, that whiff will cause
Emmy voters to take a pass.
2) Justin Theroux (The Leftovers) HBO
While many of you knew of Theroux before The Leftovers as Mr. Jennifer Aniston, I
knew him as a writer with such projects as Tropic
Thunder and Iron Man 2. But
Theroux really won me over as an actor, bringing such gravitas to this heavy
role. Critically, The Leftovers was a
bigger hit in its second season versus its first, and probably a lot of that
had to do by focusing less on Theroux’s Kevin Garvey and focusing more on The
Murphys in Miracle, Texas, but Kevin was still integral to the show’s stellar
second season, and one of the best television episodes of the year (probably of
the past ten years) was solely regarding a journey of Kevin Garvey. I don’t
know how an Emmy voter can watch International Assassin and not give Theroux
All The Emmys. As great as Theroux was throughout the entire second season of The Leftovers, Emmy voters look at individual submission episodes versus entire seasons. That process will make Theroux's inevitable snub that much more baffling.
3) Riley Keough (The Girlfriend Experience) Starz
Not a whole lot of people saw The Girlfriend Experience and even less people seemed to enjoy it. It appears that a lot of people's disdain comes from the coldness of its lead character Christine Reads, played by Keough. As such, I can't imagine that Riley Keough has a snowball's chance in hell in earning a nomination. However, and as you can tell from the title of this article, I vehemently disagree. Christine Reade is icy cold, but the character is written that way, and Keough plays that iciness to perfection. This character needs to be tough in order to make it in the world of being a high end call girl and trying to juggle three things at the same time. The whole point of the show is that this character as a tough exterior and its that toughness that gets her through. Not all hookers can be Julia Roberts, nor should they be.
4) Sam Elliot (The Ranch) Netflix
I full-heartedly support living in a world where Sam Elliot
always gets a nomination for something. The well-renown character actor has been
working a long time and he’s always great at what he does (which is why it’s
not a coincidence he’s been working for a long time). His latest stop is a
mutli-cam sitcom for Netflix from That
70’s Show alums Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson who play brothers
helping out their dad, Elliot, on a cattle ranch in the middle of Colorado. The
show doesn’t scream “prestige television” or “award winning comedy”, but it
does have what Emmy voters want out of a comedy- laughs. (You’d think that
would be obvious, but shows like Louie and
Orange Is The New Black are testing
the boundaries of what is considered a comedy). A lot of those laughs are
generated by Elliot, because he’s Sam God Damn Elliot, and you will bow to him
and his thick mustache.
5) Wagner Moura (Narcos) Netflix
This is more a plea to the Emmy voters more than anything,
because the Golden Globe nominated actor does have a legitimate shot to earn a
nomination- but he’s right on the bubble. Moura played kingpin Pablo Escobar,
and he’s the best incarnation that we’ve seen of the Columbian drug lord since
Vinny Chase in Season 3 of Entourage.
Not only did Moura gain weight for the role and actually learn to speak fluent
Spanish, but he perfectly embodied the duality of Escobar. He was extremely
charming and likable which is why the people of Columbia loved him, but he was
also ruthless and petty which is why the audience loved him. Narcos was one of my favorite guilty
pleasures of 2015 and a lot of that was due Moura.
6) Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul) AMC
Better Call Saul
may have taken a step back creatively, but that certainly wasn’t the fault of
Seehorn and her character Kim Wexler. Kim and her relationship with Jimmy McGill
(Bob Odenkirk) was one of the lone bright spots throughout the uneventful first
half of the show. Vince Gilligan essentially promoted Seehorn and Kim as a
co-lead to the show next to Jimmy McGill and Rhea Seehorn made the most out of
her opportunity. Seehorn was able to subtly make Kim Wexler both strong and
vulnerable while still falling for Jimmy’s charms. Stuck in the dumps of her
law firm thanks to Jimmy, she made her slow, meteoric rise interesting and
compelling. Often times with Breaking Bad,
actors who deserved to get Emmy nominations just depended on how much screen
time the writers gave a character. Everyone was excellent, but once minor
characters received a promotion so to speak, the audience was able to see them
really shine. The same happened for Seehorn’s Kim Wexler in season 2 of Better Call Saul and I hope the Emmy
voters take notice.
WHAT PERFORMANCE DO YOU THINK THE EMMYS SHOULD TAKE NOTICE OF BUT PROBABLY WON'T? LET US KNOW ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE!
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