Emmy Review: Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie

By Juan Carlos Ojano

Herewith a strange category in that all of the nominees have considerable hurdles to overcome to win this Emmy. As it stands, this group is an eclectic mixture of the young (Mescal, Pope), the old (Irons), and the superheroes in between (Jackman, Ruffalo). Do note that this category as well as Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie do not have episode submissions. Instead, the performance from the entire series will be considered...

Jeremy Irons as Adrian Veidt in Watchmen (HBO)
Irons comes to this race as the only nominee from a Limited Series contender and from the overwhelming frontrunner no less. However, his performance in this series actually straddles the line between leading and supporting. Truth be told, Adrian Veidt functions in the show more as an enigma than a well-rounded character. His storyline is intentionally detached from the main narrative involving Angela Abar (Regina King) and even the scenes in his subplot are cryptically written to maintain the sense of mystery. Irons is left with two significant tasks: to commit to the jarring absurdity of his character in the series’ more bizarre moments and to effectively establish the gradual unraveling of his character until it reaches the finale where his character is tied up to the main plot. Irons aces this role with aplomb, obviously taking pleasure in the character’s bizarre antics. He has delicious command in his scenes that is a treat to watch if the viewer looks closely, but might be taken for granted if taken by episode.

Hugh Jackman as Frank Tassone in Bad Education (HBO)
Being the only nominee from a TV movie, Jackman portrays the charismatic school superintendent who becomes the central figure in the largest public school embezzlement in American history. The film’s biting dark humor and deliberate plotting works in favor of Jackman in building his character. Jackman expertly plays with our expectations of the character and the characters within the milieu of the narrative. Starting with the carefree charm that compels everyone to see him with utmost admiration, the film slowly peels off the dubious façade of the character with shocking precision. It is stunning to see him play those notes, crafting the character’s multi-faceted nature and the conflicting sides that make his character extremely fascinating. His performance even gets better as he fights harder to keep some semblance of authority while he is on the verge of being exposed as the nefarious con artist that he actually is. By the end, Jackman makes us feel conflicted: we are enamored by his seeming golden heart at the beginning, only to be decimated by justice. This is truly one of his best works.

Paul Mescal as Connell Waldron in Normal People (Hulu)
This breakout Irish actor enters this race for the surprise Hulu hit. In this series, Mescal plays the half of a young couple who traverses the path to maturity from high school to college years through a passionate affair. With this being only his second credited television work, Mescal astounds with complete understanding of the character’s complexities and nuances. He benefits from impeccable writing, intimate direction, and palpable chemistry with co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones, but Mescal himself is revelatory. The key aspect of his performance is raw emotional vulnerability. It is mindblowing to see the level of unflinching emotional nakedness he achieves, baring his soul in this performance of immense gravitas and truth. His work is incredibly delicate throughout the series, never hitting a false note as his character deals with the different aspects of growing up. His performance is crafted with masterful precision while making it completely organic. His work in Episode 10 alone is a towering achievement, but he is absorbing throughout the show. Hands down, this is the performance of this TV season.

 

Jeremy Pope as Archie Coleman in Hollywood (Netflix)
The surprise nominee of the group and in his first television role (after two Tony nominations on Broadway), Pope stars as an aspiring screenwriter trying to make his mark in Hollywood while navigating sex work and racial prejudice. While that sounds like extremely baity material, the series unfortunately deals with these issues either on a very shallow level (race) or just distastefully (sex work). The series also operates like a true ensemble piece, with each episode trying to balance several narrative threads and disparate tones. That is why this mention is so surprising, not only because the Academy did pick Pope out of this field, but he was able to survive the trainwreck of patchy characterization with effortless charisma that finds him easily fitting in the world of the story. He fares fine despite his character being relegated to a more reactive nature. It is good work but remains to be a curious inclusion because of how thin his material is. If anything else, I will take this performance (and nomination) as a sign of a more promising career ahead of Pope.

 

Mark Ruffalo as Dominick and Thomas Birdsey in I Know This Much is True (HBO)
Coming back to the Emmy race is Mark Ruffalo playing twins in this drama about a brother taking care of his mentally unstable brother while uncovering the dark history of his family. Let me talk about his two performances one at a time. As Dominick, Ruffalo embodies the matter-of-fact handling of his brother’s condition. His intense desire to get what is best for his brother is deeply felt without feeling precious about it. As someone who also has a brother with special needs, I am struck by Ruffalo’s take on the character’s relentless necessity to manage the situation and knowing that he knows his brother better than anyone else, or at least he thinks. As Thomas, Ruffalo does the high-wire act of balancing uncontrollable tantrums with the small moments of rational judgement. It is heart-wrenching to see him go through the powerless back and forth in him. Taken together, Ruffalo gives skillfully calibrated performances that never degenerate to unbearable histrionics and steer the show away from its miserabilist tendencies.

Personal Ranking:

1. Paul Mescal - Normal People

2. Hugh Jackman - Bad Education

3. Mark Ruffalo - I Know This Much is True

4. Jeremy Irons - Watchmen

5. Jeremy Pope - Hollywood

Predicted Winner: Paul Mescal - Normal People

Predicted Spoiler: Hugh Jackman - Bad Education

While the winner usually comes from a Limited Series contender, preferably a frontrunner (previous winners include Jharrel Jerome, Darren Criss, and Riz Ahmed), I do not think that rule applies this year. Irons is the only nominee from a Best Limited Series nominee, but even if I'm predicting a near-sweep for Watchmen, it is hard to see Irons getting this. Mark Ruffalo has a traditionally baity role, but the fact that he is the only nomination from his series shows lack of support. Hugh Jackman received a lot of career-best notices, and I do predict him as a spoiler, but the aforementioned reasons give me a pause.

Going back to the recent winners, another trend emerges: the young actor. This benefits Pope and Mescal. Pope would really benefit from the desire to reward people of color in different categories, especially with the current political climate. However, the limited size of his role, Hollywood’s lack of a Series nomination (despite its 11 nominations) when it could have easily gotten that, and the show’s divisiveness counts as underperformance. Meanwhile, Paul Mescal is the most-buzzed nominee in this category, starring in the surprise hit from Hulu. Normal People’s four nominations in crucial categories (Directing, Writing, and Casting) counts as overperformance.

I therefore conclude that Paul Mescal will win this category. I’m going all in with that prediction.

DRAMA
Actress | Actor | Supp Actress | Supp Actor | Guest Actress | Guest Actor 
COMEDY
 Actress | Actor | Supp. Actress | Supp Actor | Guest Actress | Guest Actor 
MOVIE / LIMITED SERIES
TV Movie | Supp Actor | Supp Actress
MISC
Costumes, Fantasy  | Costumes, Period | Animated Program

Comments

[Peggy Sue]

Bad Education not making it in Supporting Actress and screenplay makes me worry. Hugh Jackman should be winning by a landslide.

[f]

You know they love double performances, so this is Ruffalo's, though I do root for Jackman.

[Brittani]

I can't imagine anyone but Ruffalo winning this. He was so damn good in that show.

[Michael R]

I thought Ruffalo had this in the bag until the disastrous showing of IKTMIT on Emmy nomination morning. I predict Mescal as well but Jackman was amazing.

[thefilmjunkie]

Hugh Jackman gave maybe his best performance ever in Bad Education. I'd love for him to win here.

[Reggy Lou]

"Hollywood" was a terrible, ludicrous mini-series; surprised it got nominated for anything - so bad.

[B]

I remember watching I Know This Much is True and thinking it was going to clean up at the Emmys. Nominations for everything/everyone. Winning everything. Nope. I was the only one that liked it lol

[Andrew]

I really wish Bad Education got a theatrical release. Jackman and Janney were truly excellent. I do hope Mescal take this.

[ben1283]

It's almost that Hugh Jackman gave what many (including myself) consider to be his best ever performance, only to find himself up against an all-timer of a performance in Paul Mescal. I agree that Mescal is in the lead here, but I wonder if there will be people who don't see the difficulty in what Jackman is doing whereas Ruffalo's role is VERY showy...

[Sally W]

I was so disappointed by the poor showing for I Know This Much Is True which I thought was exceptional on all levels. Ruffalo’s performance is for me the outstanding work of the year in any medium. I really felt like I was watching two completely different actors, each giving a masterclass. He’d deserve the Emmy even if only playing one of those roles! However, IKTMIT is so unremittingly bleak and heavy that it’s a hard watch whilst living through the trauma of a pandemic, so I’m not sure how many voters would have made it through the whole thing or even felt inclined to start watching. Unfortunately, this and the lack of other nominations for the series will count against him, which may result in the travesty of a loss on Emmy night.

[CharlieG]

Hugh Jackman should win. He's outstanding in Bad Education.

[Andrew Carden]

Mescal should win but I suspect Irons rides the WATCHMEN wave to victory.

[jules]

I've never thought Jackman was all that impressive an actor before, but he was brilliant here. I wish the movie could be an Oscar nominee; it's conceivable he could win if it were.

[Seggy Poo]

Hugh Jackman will win on this his first acting Emmy nomination.

[Raul]

Mescal would get my vote in a landslide, but Jackman was also terrific.

[Wes]

Ruffalo wins this one with the dual performance.

[Mike Johnson]

Mescal: "Hands down, this is the the performance of this TV season." Mic drop.

[Philip H.]

I haven't seen any of these, but I'm now VERY invested in how this category shakes out just from reading this and all the comments.

Seems like a tight race.