Latest news with #Janney
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Pedro Pascal, Allison Janney, Steve Carell, Kaitlyn Dever, and the great Emmy category mystery
Studios and campaigners have until May 8 to finalize their 2025 Emmys submissions, and this year in particular, there seems to be more behind-the-scenes strategizing (and last-minute second-guessing) than ever before. After all, deciding whether a performer contends in lead vs. supporting vs. guest can mean the difference between winning a trophy — and being snubbed completely. Two of the most talked-about Emmy category mysteries that still remain involve Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) and Allison Janney (The Diplomat). More from GoldDerby 'The Last of Us' mourns Joel in latest episode, and sets up its new duo: 'Now our 2 people are Dina and Ellie' Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2025 led by Soundgarden, Cyndi Lauper... and surprise inductee Salt-N-Pepa - but no Mariah Carey 'Sinners' hits $100 million milestone as 'Revenge of the Sith' tops 'Accountant 2' Warning: this article contains massive spoilers for both of their shows, so read at your own risk! The show: The Last of Us (Season 2) The character: Joel Miller, an initial survivor of the zombie apocalypse The decision: Pascal previously earned a Best Drama Actor Emmy nomination for Season 1, where he was bested by Kieran Culkin (Succession). The shocking death of Pascal's character in Season 2, Episode 2 means he'll have much less screen time this season, so he will have to decide whether to submit in lead again, or drop down to supporting. (He can't go guest because of a new Emmy rule implemented in 2025 that says performers who have previously been nominated or won in a lead or supporting category are subsequently ineligible to submit as a guest.) Gold Derby's take: Pascal is currently in fourth place for a Best Drama Actor nomination in our odds, and he should stay there. Being seen as a "leading actor" has a cachet for performers, and Pascal may not want to tarnish that image. Two years ago, Brian Cox faced a similar predicament for Succession, and he ended up receiving a nomination in lead, where he had previously competed. We envision Pascal following the same trajectory. The show: The Diplomat (Season 2) The character: Grace Penn, vice president of the United States The decision: Janney only appears in two out of six episodes as the veep who suddenly ascends to the presidency, so it'd make sense for her to go guest. However, she recently earned supporting nominations at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards, plus a bid at the Screen Actors Guild Awards which combines lead, supporting, and guest. In other words, she'll probably receive an Emmy nomination for either category. But what about the all-important win? Janney is already a seven-time Primetime Emmy champion for The West Wing (drama lead twice, drama supporting twice), Masters of Sex (drama guest once), and Mom (comedy supporting twice), and an eighth victory would tie her with Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Gold Derby's take: Janney initially placed first in our predictions for Best Drama Supporting Actress, but she has since dropped to third place behind The White Lotus standouts Carrie Coon and Parker Posey. The guest categories will be added to our predictions center soon, where a respected actor like Janney would have a better chance to prevail — stay tuned. Liane Hentscher/HBO The show: The Last of Us (Season 2) The character: Abby, a survivor hellbent on revenge The decision: While Abby is a main character in the video game, she only appears in two of the first six episodes that have been made available to the press. Even if she does appear in the seventh-episode finale, she would meet the "less than 50 percent of a show's season" criteria that makes performers eligible for the guest category. Of course, HBO could still decide to submit her in supporting, particularly since her character has so much screen time and an oversized impact on the show's narrative. Gold Derby's take: Dever currently sits in fourth place for Best Drama Supporting Actress, behind the aforementioned Coon, Parker, and Janney. Her import in the story may convince her to stay in supporting, but if she were to enter Best Drama Guest Actress, and win, she'd follow in the footsteps of another zombie apocalypse player: Storm Reid from The Last of Us' first season. The shows: The Four Seasons (Season 1); Mountainhead (TV movie) The characters: Nick, the husband of Tina Fey's character; Randall, a billionaire in the midst of a financial crisis The decisions: Carell's impact on these two vastly different projects is still unknown; Netflix's comedy The Four Seasons premieres May 1, and HBO's telefilm Mountainhead drops May 31. Will he go lead for both, supporting for both, or lead for one and supporting for the other? Carell is a 10-time Emmy nominee for The Office and The Morning Show, but he's never taken home a trophy of his own, so strategy is key if he hopes to finally win. Gold Derby's take: In our latest predictions, Carell is in eighth place for The Four Seasons in Best Comedy Actor and 13th place for Mountainhead in Best Limited/Movie Actor. It's still early, though, since voters haven't seen both projects, and critics have yet to weigh in. Sonja Flemming/CBS The show: Matlock (Season 1) The character: Howard "Senior" Markston, the firm's lead partner The decision: Bridges is an Emmy favorite who gets nominated virtually every time he shows up. To date, he has 16 bids and three wins (Without Warning: The James Brady Story, The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, and The Second Civil War). He has a recurring role on Matlock in nine of 19 episodes, making him eligible for guest. But he could go supporting, too, as Senior has plenty of screen time and shares many scenes with Kathy Bates' titular character. Gold Derby's take: We'll be putting him in our predictions center for Best Drama Guest Actor. And if anyone from Matlock deserves to be nominated as a supporting actor, it's Jason Ritter, who plays Senior's scheming son, Julian Markston. The show: Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light (Season 2) The character: King Henry VIII The decision: In 2015, Lewis received a Best Limited/Movie Supporting Actor bid for playing the king in the first installment of Wolf Hall. A decade later, the show is back and better than ever (it has a rare 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes). But will Lewis submit in supporting yet again, or try his luck up in lead? Either way, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light must swap categories from limited to drama because it includes recurring characters and storylines. Gold Derby's take: Lewis, who won a lead Emmy for Homeland in 2012, faces an uphill battle in either category. He is hovering around 30th place for Best Drama Supporting Actor, which isn't ideal. He may want to consider switching over to Best Drama Actor, but in that scenario, he would face off against costar Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell. It's a tough call. Paramount+ The show: MobLand (Season 1) The characters: Conrad Harrigan and Maeve Harrigan, the family's patriarch and matriarch The decision: The hit Paramount+ drama has one of the most star-studded casts on television, with Tom Hardy leading the ensemble as Harry Da Souza, a fixer for the Harrigan family. Brosnan and Mirren could go lead or supporting, but there are asterisks for each scenario. If Hardy and Brosnan are both submitted in Best Drama Actor, that would cause a potential vote-split scenario. And since Mirren is already going lead for 1923, she'd end up vote-splitting herself by going lead for MobLand, too. Gold Derby's take: For Best Drama Actress, Mirren is in 10th place for 1923 and 42nd place for MobLand; we recommend she enter supporting for the latter so she could possibly reap two nominations. For Best Drama Actor, Hardy is in 27th place and comfortably ahead of Brosnan's 55th placement; we think Brosnan should strongly consider campaigning in the latter category, to separate himself from Hardy. Gold Derby is also waiting on final confirmation for the following contenders: Gerald McRaney (Paradise) — supporting or guest? Jeffrey Wright (The Last of Us) — supporting or guest? Merritt Wever (Severance) — supporting or guest? Black Mirror — how many cast members will be submitted, and in which categories? Saturday Night Live — which hosts and special guest stars will be on the ballot? The Studio — which of its dozens of guest stars will be gunning for Emmys? The White Lotus — will everyone submit in supporting like in former seasons? SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby 'Lilia, oh Lilia!' Patti LuPone on her 'Agatha All Along' witch and 'getting in trouble' for spoiling Marvel secrets 'Drama's harder than comedy': Ken Jeong says lead role in 'Accused' was 'beyond a dream come true' How Taylor Dearden made Dr. Mel King your favorite character on 'The Pitt' Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Allison Janney enters Emmy race as a supporting actress for ‘The Diplomat' (exclusive)
An Emmy favorite has made a category decision that could have a huge impact on this year's awards. Gold Derby has exclusively learned that Allison Janney will submit as Best Drama Supporting Actress for the second season of The Diplomat. She is already a seven-time winner in acting categories at the Primetime Emmys, so an eighth win would tie her for the record with TV Hall of Fame inductees Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Janney joined the Netflix series for its second season, which began streaming on Oct. 31. She only appeared in two episodes as U.S. Vice President Grace Penn, giving her the option to submit either as a guest actress or supporting actress. More from GoldDerby Ruth Negga will submit in lead at the Emmys for 'Presumed Innocent' - see the show's entries in 19 categories Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe, and every 'Outlander' Emmy acting submission A 'roller coaster' of perspectives: 'Good American Family' creator on the show's unique structure and breakout star Imogen Faith Reid Her role in The Diplomat previously earned nominations for supporting actress at the 2025 Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. She was also nominated at the SAG Awards against costar Keri Russell despite the Screen Actors Guild only offering one category which combines lead and supporting. The Best Drama Supporting Actress field is expected to be extremely competitive when nominees are announced in July. Gold Derby odds currently have Janney in third place behind The White Lotus costars Carrie Coon and Parker Posey. Others in the top 10 include Kaitlyn Dever and Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Aimee Lou Wood and Natasha Rothwell (The White Lotus), Patricia Arquette (Severance), Taylor Dearden (The Pitt), and Kristin Scott Thomas (Slow Horses). Best of GoldDerby 'I felt my blood boil': Nicholas Alexander Chavez on playing Lyle Menendez in 'Monsters' 'I've gotten a high from the gavel': Melissa Rauch on bringing 'Night Court' back to life and crafting Judge Abby Stone How Tawny Cypress told a 'beautiful story of love' while channeling 'Other Tai' in 'Yellowjackets' Season 3 Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘It just worked out really perfectly': ‘The Diplomat' casting director on landing Allison Janney as the vice president
Allison Janney didn't join The Diplomat until Season 2, but had things worked out differently, she would've been on the Netflix political thriller from the start. "When we started Season 1, Allison Janney was always on the top of the mind, right? Someone for anything," casting director Julie Schubert tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Experts: Casting Directors panel. "[She's] super brilliant, incredible performer, funny, twisted in the right ways, grounded — all of the things. She's been in the forefront of conversation since since the very beginning of this. And it just worked out really perfectly for this one." More from GoldDerby 'The Conjuring: Last Rites' scares up a trailer, Cannes adds last-minute films; the Who plots 'farewell' tour, and more of today's top stories 'I've never been on a show that got this kind of recognition': Katherine LaNasa on 'The Pitt's' success and Dana's 'existential crisis' Why you can't watch Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis' at home Janney plays Vice President Grace Penn and appears in the last two episodes of the six-episode second season. Scheduling the seven-time Emmy winner for those two installments was also a "process." "She was on another series at the time too, so in terms of availability, that was a question," Schubert continues. "Could we make this work? Could we figure it out? And ultimately, thank goodness we did, because, ooh, tell me she's not brilliant in this show." For her performance, Janney has already received Golden Globe, Critics Choice, and Screen Actors Guild nominations. The SAG bid is the most impressive since the group does not differentiate between lead and supporting in its TV categories, and Janney made the cut alongside The Diplomat star Keri Russell. She delivers a firecracker of a monologue in the finale before a big twist in the final moments sets her up for an even bigger third season. President Rayburn (Michael McKean) has died, making Penn the new POTUS. SEE Watch interviews with 2025 Emmy contenders As a fan of the show, Schubert, who won an Emmy for House of Cards, doesn't want to know what's going to happen, but "when you're casting it, obviously you have to." Creator and showrunner Debora Cahn gives her just enough info "to understand what the needs are going to be for the character." "I feel like it's important, especially for her creative process and for the writers' creative process in general to make sure we as casting directors have all the tools we need," Schubert says. "But whoever we cast, they're going to continue to help develop those characters based on the actors that are in those roles. So things evolve as the show goes on, as the story's being told, as things unfold, and that's really exciting. An actor can help guide story sometimes with who they are." Janney, who will submit in supporting at the Emmys, playing a VP-turned-POTUS draws parallels to her seven seasons as press secretary-turned-chief of staff C.J. Cregg on The West Wing, but Schubert sees little in common between the characters besides both of them working at the White House. "I think when you actually look at C.J. and then you look at what she did as Grace, they're very different characters, they're very different approaches. And the same person is playing them, and I think that's pretty cool because you are getting an entirely different feel and a different everything. I'm sure Allison would say the same," she says. "You always have that conversation, like, will those who love The West Wing accept someone playing something very different even though it's in the same sort of genre? But in this case there wasn't that much discussion about it because she's just so good, so there was no hesitation. Everybody was all in, 100 percent. I think Allison saw the first season and she read the scripts and talked to Deborah and had all of that process. I think she was on board as well very quickly." There'll be even more West Wing nostalgia in Season 3. As previously announced, Bradley Whitford will play Penn's husband, Todd Penn. The three-time Emmy winner was another performer the team wanted from the beginning, but he was committed to The Handmaid's Tale. "It's nice when stars align and there's an opportunity for something kind of great," Schubert says. "And again, he's not playing what he played on The West Wing. And wait till you see it. It's absolutely brilliant." This article and video are sponsored content by Netflix. Best of GoldDerby 'I've never been on a show that got this kind of recognition': Katherine LaNasa on 'The Pitt's' success and Dana's 'existential crisis' How Charlie Cox characterizes Matt Murdock through action scenes in 'Daredevil: Born Again' 'Agatha All Along' star Joe Locke on learning from Kathryn Hahn, musical theater goals, and the 'Heartstopper' movie with Kit Connor Click here to read the full article.
