Mark your calendars, ladies and gentlemen: July 16, 11:30 am EST.
We had fun with James Bond rumors and bets for a while, but hey, let’s not miss on the real thing coming our way very soon! Prime Time Emmy Awards nominations will be announced next week on July 16, and Gold Derby predicts Wolf Hall is likely to be a strong contender for several awards in the Mini-Series/Movie category with Damian Lewis as a possible nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series/Movie.
As much as I second a certain someone who says “I don’t believe in judging art” I also find awards predictions exciting and fun! So… why not take a quick look?
The Gold Derby guy told Damian Lewis in their recent interview:
Well, I buy that, too!
Wolf Hall is one of these gems that rarely happens to TV — a dark, political and witty drama at its BEST with its wonderful writing, perfect directing, incredible acting, authentic costumes and gripping score. I think The Atlantic put it into the best words possible: “With Wolf Hall, PBS finds a drama worth of the word “Masterpiece.”
Hilary Mantel’s writing and Peter Straughan’s wonderfully condensed script open a beautiful window to the intrigue and manipulation in the court of Henry VIII in the 16th century. It helps us understand history through a contemporary perspective, and does it through its politics and in particular, through the contemporary conversations its characters have all the time. As I have already said it a million times, Wolf Hall is timeless. And, that’s why this masterpiece should sweep the Emmy nominations in Mini-Series/Movie category (note that, until recently, these two used to be two separate categories)!
So, how do the Gold Derby predictions work?
The website provides four sets of Emmy predictions for comparison and analysis: Experts (journalists from Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, etc.), Gold Derby’s Editors, Top 24 Users (who scored best predicting the same awards last year) and all site Users. Since I think the experts’ opinion matter the most, I am focusing on their chart here. And, since we are keeping our fingers crossed for a certain ginger to receive a nomination, I am particularly focusing on the supporting actor in a Mini-series/Movie category 🙂
This list shows the top ten actors that are predicted by the Gold Derby experts to receive a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series/Movie. When we look at the chart, it seems that the first five actors have a serious chance to become a nominee with the odds falling dramatically in the sixth place. We saw Damian Lewis in the second place tied with Stephen Rea (Honorable Woman) two weeks ago. Damian still keeps his second place this week while Rea is now in third place tied with Jonathan Pryce and Michael Chiklis.
Another chart that is helpful shows how the actors’ standing in the list have changed over time. In this chart, every actor is represented by a different color… Damian is, well, RED 🙂
Follow the RED in the chart below. Damian was in the fourth place mid-May but then he started his upward trajectory and made it to second place…
And he has kept his second place ever since…
It’s not only Gold Derby that has Damian Lewis as a strong contender for an Emmy nomination. The Hollywood Reporter also has him as one of the front-runners.
Indiewire Awards Editor Peter Knegt and TV Critic Ben Travers are also on the same page:
UPDATE 07/15/2015: A day before the Emmy nominations are announced, Daily Beast presents their predictions as foolproof 🙂
So… how does the nomination process work?
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) has more than 19,000 members divided into 29 peer groups (writing, acting, directing, etc). To be a member of the Academy, you apply and pay a membership fee but also you have to be endorsed by two members of the peer group you’re asking to be put into. Each peer group decides the individual nominees for the categories that recognize their respective talents — in other words, writers nominate writers, actors nominate actors, and so on. The Emmy Awards website says the first round of voting is now open. You can see a copy of the ballot and mark our favorite guy as number 928 on page 159!
Now… I am moving to a recent favorite topic of mine — why Damian Lewis should be nominated for an Emmy!
In Wolf Hall, Damian gives us a Henry of a million moods with his magic touch. His Henry is HUMAN. He could be tender. He could be caring. Boyish. Cheerful. He could be depressed. Desperate. Insecure. Needy. And, he could go from needy to overconfident in the blink of an eye. Then he can throw a curve ball and become a big bad wolf, too — well, do you remember THAT last smile? I now know why Damian Lewis said “it’s been quite fun having that range” in playing Henry. THAT’s quite a huge range and Damian Lewis’ delivery is seamless.
Wolf Hall is overall an ensemble piece, and each actor has an opportunity to particularly shine in a certain episode. I have blogged on Henry’s most memorable Wolf Hall moments across all episodes here; however, in my humble opinion, the episode in which Damian Lewis shines the most as Henry is Episode 5 Crows.
Damian Lewis absolutely steals the show in Crows and gives some acting feast for all of us! The Independent, in its review of the episode, says “Damian Lewis is so good as the capricious king that you want to slap him.” So true…Henry is restless. He is capricious. He is bitter. He is claustrophobic in a marriage that cannot give him a son. His being very conscious of his mortality after the jousting accident does not help, either. We see Henry as a hopeless romantic about Jane in a couple of moments but such moments do nothing but contribute to the inevitable storm coming… With Henry in this episode, you are constantly at the edge of your seat thinking:… “Those claws”… Rings a bell? 🙂 Henry is like a trapped lion. First, desperate and in pain with some real fury simmering inside… Then he turns sinister in the blink of an eye, goes in a crescendo with claws OUT and we finally witness the PERFECT STORM. Standing ovation! If I were Damian and scored a nomination, I would submit that episode for consideration.
BEST OF LUCK!
