Grownups Grab 51 Emmy Nominations
TV actors with experience got far more honors in 2019 than 2018
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Ken Jeong, left, and D’Arcy Carden speak at the 71st Primetime Emmy Nominations Announcements at the Television Academy's Saban Media Center on Tuesday, July 16, 2019, in Los Angeles.
Actors over 50 earned 51 Emmy nominations on Tuesday — up 37 percent from last year's batch of nominees, and an impressive 48 percent of the total performer nominations.
There were some delightful surprises: How to Get Away With Murder guest actress Cicely Tyson, 94, got her 14th Emmy nomination and star Viola Davis, 53, her fifth. In its fifth and final season, the under-the-radar comedy Schitt's Creek earned its first nominations for both of its Second City Television alumni stars, Catherine O'Hara, 65, and Eugene Levy, 72, each overdue for more awards limelight, and also for its costumes and for the show itself. And it's encouraging that the brilliant Patricia Arquette, 51, who dares to play her age and once said, “I need space to grow and get old and be a human being — I don't want to be trapped in your ingenue bubble,” got nominated twice, for The Act and Escape at Dannemora.
The TV Academy disappointingly snubbed a few candidates that many had predicted to earn kudos — Homecoming's Julia Roberts, 51; Catch-22's George Clooney, 58; One Day at a Time's Rita Moreno, 87; and both stars of Grace and Frankie, which Hollywood pundit Dominic Patten calls “the show that seemingly everyone watches.” Patten complained, “When you overlook Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, you need to get your prescription fixed, all I'm sayin'!”
The 2019 Emmy Award winners will be announced on Fox Sept. 22 at 8 p.m. ET. Here are the main nominees (grownups in bold):
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, 50, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Kit Harington, Game of Thrones
Bob Odenkirk, 56, Better Call Saul
Billy Porter, Pose
Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Viola Davis, 53, How to Get Away With Murder
Laura Linney, 55, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Mandy Moore, This Is Us
Robin Wright, 53, House of Cards
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Mahershala Ali, True Detective
Benicio Del Toro, 52, Escape at Dannemora
Hugh Grant, 58, A Very English Scandal
Jared Harris, 57, Chernobyl
Jharrel Jerome, When They See Us
Sam Rockwell, 50, Fosse/Verdon
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie
Amy Adams, Sharp Objects
Patricia Arquette, 51, Escape at Dannemora
Michelle Williams, Fosse/Verdon
Joey King, The Act
Aunjanue Ellis, 50, When They See Us
Niecy Nash, When They See Us
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Anderson, black-ish
Don Cheadle, 54, Black Monday
Ted Danson, 71, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, 74, The Kominsky Method
Bill Hader, Barry
Eugene Levy, 72, Schitt's Creek
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, 58, Veep
Natasha Lyonne, Russian Doll
Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fleabag
Catherine O'Hara, 65, Schitt's Creek
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Anthony Carrigan, Barry
Alan Arkin, 85, The Kominsky Method
Stephen Root, 67, Barry
Tony Hale, Veep
Tony Shalhoub, 65, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Henry Winkler, 73, Barry
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Jonathan Banks, 72, Better Call Saul
Giancarlo Esposito, 61, Better Call Saul
Alfie Allen, Game of Thrones
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage, 50, Game of Thrones
Michael Kelly, 50, House of Cards
Chris Sullivan, This Is Us
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Sarah Goldberg, Barry
Sian Clifford, Fleabag
Olivia Colman, Fleabag
Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
Marin Hinkle, 53, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Anna Chlumsky, Veep
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
Gwendoline Christie, Game of Thrones
Julia Garner, Ozark
Lena Headey, Game of Thrones
Fiona Shaw, 61, Killing Eve
Sophie Turner, Game of Thrones
Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
Ron Cephas Jones, 62, This Is Us
Michael McKean, 71, Better Call Saul
Glynn Turman, 72, How to Get Away With Murder
Michael Angarano, This Is Us
Kumail Nanjiani, The Comedian
Bradley Whitford, 59, The Handmaid's Tale
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Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
Matt Damon, Saturday Night Live
Luke Kirby, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Peter MacNicol, 65, Veep
John Mulaney, Saturday Night Live
Robert De Niro, 75, Saturday Night Live
Adam Sandler, 52, Saturday Night Live
Rufus Sewell, 51, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
Fiona Shaw, 61, Fleabag
Kristin Scott Thomas, 59, Fleabag
Jane Lynch, 59, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Sandra Oh, Saturday Night Live
Maya Rudolph, The Good Place
Emma Thompson, 60, Saturday Night Live
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie
Ben Whishaw, A Very English Scandal
Asante Blackk, When They See Us
Paul Dano, Escape at Dannemora
Stellan Skarsgard, 68, Chernobyl
John Leguizamo, 54, When They See Us
Michael Kenneth Williams, 52, When They See Us
Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
Cherry Jones, 62, The Handmaid's Tale
Jessica Lange, 70, American Horror Story: Apocalypse
Phylicia Rashad, 71, This Is Us
Laverne Cox, Orange Is the New Black
Cicely Tyson, 94, How to Get Away With Murder
Carice van Houten, Game of Thrones
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie
Patricia Arquette, 51, The Act
Margaret Qualley, Fosse/Verdon
Patricia Clarkson, 59, Sharp Objects
Marsha Stephanie Blake, When They See Us
Vera Farmiga, When They See Us
Emily Watson, 52, Chernobyl
Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program
Ellen DeGeneres, 61, Ellen's Game of Games
Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, Making It
RuPaul, 58, RuPaul's Drag Race
Marie Kondo, Tidying Up With Marie Kondo
James Corden, The World's Best