Who will win the Emmy for Leading Actor in a Drama?
Monday, September 3, 2018 at 1:30PM By Spencer Coile
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If you were to go back and evaluate the Lead Actor in a Drama Series race from the past decade, you may expect to find a lot of Bryan Cranston for his performance as Walter White on Breaking Bad. Yet, intriguingly, while Cranston won his fair share of Emmy’s, this category is more unpredictable than you might expect.
With winners including Kyle Chandler for Friday Night Lights, Jeff Daniels for The Newsroom, Rami Malek for Mr. Robot, and of course Cranston and Jon Hamm for Mad Men, Lead Actor is often changing hands. In fact, Cranston is most recent consecutive repeat winner (back in 2010). Will last year’s winner Sterling K. Brown break this new one-off trend, or will a new winner emerge...
Best Leading Actor in a Drama Series Nominees:
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Jason Bateman as “Marty Byrde” on Ozark: “The Toll”
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Sterling K. Brown as “Randall Pearson” on This Is Us: “Number Three”
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Ed Harris as “The Man in Black/ William” on Westworld: “Vanishing Point”
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Matthew Rhys as “Philip Jennings” on The Americans: “START”
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Milo Ventimiglia as “Jack Pearson” on This Is Us: “The Car”
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Jeffrey Wright as “Bernard Lowe” on Westworld: “The Passenger”
Will Win: The Westworld men are lucky to be nominated – particularly Harris, whose one dimensional character didn’t really do much in the show’s second season. Same goes for Bateman. Ventimiglia seems to be sitting right in the middle of the pack. He’s competitive, but will likely still not win.
This comes down to a two-man race between Brown and Rhys. Brown continued to add nuance to his performance as Randall Pearson. Between This Is Us and The People v. O.J. Simpson, we know that Emmy voters love him. Meanwhile, Rhys gave his best performance ever in “START” and could likely go the Kyle Chandler route – winning for the series finale of a beloved, yet under-awarded show. I’ll give the edge to Brown, but it feels neck-and-neck, doesn't it?
Should Win: The Americans requires a heavy amount of patience to finish. It is slow, methodical, and sometimes cold. That said, if you stick it out and get to that series finale, you’d be hard-pressed to deny the towering work of Matthew Rhys. As solid as this lineup is, he should win this hands down.
Could Spoil: If Ventimiglia was ever going to win, it’d be for his work on this season of This Is Us. Not only does he play an insanely likeable character, but he is the catalyst for the entire series. Everything revolves around him, and perhaps the Emmy’s will want to reward that?
Your turn! Is Brown the one to beat, or will Rhys clinch it at just the right time?
Reader Comments (19)
I think Brown takes it. The Ventimiglia and Rhys camps will be passionate, but I think Brown still takes it.
I never quite understood the hype surounding Brown's performance, and as much as i like him in the show, i think Ventimiglia is the real standout in The Is Us.
Anyway, they both deserve Emmy glory and i think if Ventimiglia doesn't win for this season, he never will.
But the only actor deserving the statue in 2018, not only for a season but for an entire show (exactly like Jon Hamm for Mad Men) is the amazing Matthew Rhys who consistently surpassed himself in The Americans until the beautiful finale.
It'd be lovely if Rhys and Russell both won for the final season of this beautiful series.
Will Win: Sterling K. Brown
Should Win: Matthew Rhys.
I hate that Emmy rewards the same actors over and over, so please not Brown.
This Is Us would have been so much better with good actors in the Ventimiglia and Moore roles.
Bateman's performance was one-dimensional? GTFOH Imperfect as "Ozark" is, Bateman absolutely deserves plaudits for his turn as Marty.
That said, I'm not sure who I'd cast a vote for here (given I haven't seen a single episode of Westworld or The Americans).
But I think Brown wins because Emmy's.
Matthew Rhys MUST win. M.U.S.T.
Matthew Rhys. The rest are just boring.
Ed Harris shouldn’t have been nominated. And he should be in supporting.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks Brown is overrated. I find his character to be extremely annoying.
Wright was solid as always.
I really liked Jason Bateman. I wouldn’t mind him winning.
But it should definitely be between Milo and Matthew. I really hope Rhys gets the win. But it’ll be Brown.
Well, I don't watch THIS IS US, and despite that I do loves me some Sterling K. Brown...but I'm rooting hard for Rhys. He should have won several Emmys by now, and it would be so wonderful if he could pull a Kyle Chandler-type nod. Not getting my hopes up, though!
I'm partial to Rhys and Ventimiglia. I suspect, however, (sigh) Brown again triumphs.
Cash --if the Ventimiglia crowd is passionate maybe that's how Rhys actually wins (Brown is more likely to have his base siphoned off by a fellow castmate than someone in another show). That said, I also think Brown is going to repeat. I think he's a great actor but Emmy really needs to learn to move along after a win unless the person is truly extraordinary and above and beyond the other nominees, which isn't the case here.
I agree with the general consensus that Rhys is the best of the lineup and deserves it for the tremendous work he's done for the series.
I'm surprised there's some people who dislike Sterling. I'm not a fan of the show but he's great and has always been the best performance on there. His awards success makes sense in that it's a way to reward the show without having to actually reward ~the show~.
Also Spencer put some respect on Jeffrey Wright's name. That show is a mess but he's always a fascinating watch and for how convoluted it is, he gives 100% in trying to hold it together. He more than enough earned his nomination for S2.
I also happen to find Sterling K. Brown's character really annoying , he IS a good actor but also way overrated; Season 2 of This is Us gave Milo and the underappreciated Justin Hartley much stronger material to work with, Hartley should have been in Harris spot.
Ozark is brilliant, Laura Linney is terrific, as usual, Julia Garner is a scene stealer, Bateman does his best Walter White antihero and is effective.
Westworld is a show that works best because of its ladies, Thandie Newton is a force of nature and Evan Rachel-Wood delivers her best performance since....ever.
Should-Will Win: Milo or Rhys.
Wright is being underestimated.
My fingers are crossed for Matthew Rhys, he's outstanding in The Americans and the series deserves at least a major award at the Emmys
Rhys is the deserving winner here. Whoever thinks otherwise has not watched The Americans. His performance is well above anyone else in this category,
Rhys should win. But it's the Emmys. And those voters are l-a-z-y.
Matthew Rhys should be winning this hands down. I’m fact, he should already have an Emmy for the brilliant second season episode, MARTIAL EAGLE