Dream Nominees- Lead Actor
- Bryan Cranston- Breaking Bad
- Hugh Dancy- Hannibal
- Jeff Daniels- The Newsroom
- Jon Hamm- Mad Men
- Damian Lewis- Homeland
- Matthew Rhys- The Americans
This particular wishlist of mine isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility. Of the six, I think only Dancy and Rhys are the longshots, but both were outstanding in the debut seasons of their shows. Hugh Dancy in particular had to play a man whose mental state was deteriorating all season long, and he was entirely believable and never once over the top in his portrayal. I think it was an even more impressive "crazy" performance than his wife, Claire Danes, in her similar situation over on Homeland. And Matthew Rhys played a low key, serious yet sensitive spy husband on The Americans, and he was likeable and effective from the first episode. The rest of the guys are probably all locks to make it in, and they're all terrific and have been for years, so I see no reason to toss them out. Jeff Daniels might not make the cut, but despite the fact that he plays kind of a pompous windbag on The Newsroom, he's really good at it and deserves a nod hopefully on merit and not just name recognition. Kevin Spacey is very likely going to replace one of these guys, probably Dancy or Rhys, and that is based on name/Oscar winning status, etc. He's good on House of Cards, but he's done that kind of performance before. A lot. As for the winner, any one of these guys could win and deserve it, so I just picked Jon Hamm because he's WAY overdue and it would really be a shame for him to never win an Emmy for Don Draper.
Dream Nominees- Lead Actress
- Claire Danes- Homeland
- Julianna Margulies- The Good Wife
- Tatiana Maslany- Orphan Black
- Elisabeth Moss- Mad Men
- Keri Russell- The Americans
- Glenn Close- Damages
I've said this before, but if Tatiana Maslany can possibly get in, she could win because the voters would be forced to watch her play all these clones and she shows off a ton of range that the others don't have. She plays broad comedy, action, drama, and with different accents to boot. But she's still a major, major longshot for a nomination. Glenn Close has always been fantastic and I think she's deserving of another nomination, but nobody remembers Damages and if she makes it in, it's only because she's Glenn Close and her name was on the ballot. Sad, but true. Last year's winner Claire Danes will be back and I'm a little bit iffy on Margulies and Moss being here, but I couldn't think who to replace them with. Elisabeth Moss in particular got a lot less to do than usual on Mad Men this season, but someone like past nominee Michelle Dockery of Downton Abbey is certainly no better than her or Margulies. I would love to see Keri Russell get in, as she was surprisingly good at playing such a cold-hearted spy on The Americans, and is the much less sympathetic figure next to Matthew Rhys, but she pulled it off with nuance and subtlety (despite the outlandish wig situation going on with that show, the performances keep everything grounded in reality). Other contenders include Kerry Washington of Scandal and Robin Wright of House of Cards, but I wasn't too impressed with either of them. It's Tatiana all the way for me, but the likely winner is probably Claire Danes again.
