Will Oscar Winners Dominate Emmys Too?

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit.

Ballots are safely in the laptops of eligible Television Academy members as of yesterday (due back June 24th by 10 pm pt), and that means all the months of campaigning for nominations is now in the hands of Emmy voters.

Actually, this season has been a litte weird due to the strike-related delay of last year’s 75th Emmys to January 15, as FYCs and other related events to the 76th Emmy awards season were just beginning. On top of that, the 96th Oscar season was still going full-force until that big show took place in mid-March. It could all get very confusing as a number of people up for Oscars actually turn out to be in the thick of the Emmys this year as well, meaning they have been in essentially non-stop campaign mode, for some even as far back as Cannes 2023, and for others since the Fall festivals kicked off the Oscar season officially.

EXCLUSIVE CLUB FOR MIRREN, HUNT, SCOTT

No one to date has ever done the quadruple EGOT crown of EmmyGrammyOscarTony in the same calendar year. That is probably a bridge too far for anyone to achieve, but it is rare to even actually win an Oscar and an Emmy in the same calendar year. Among actresses only the Helens have done it so far. Helen Hunt won an Oscar for As Good As It Gets, as well as one of her four Emmys for Mad About You both in 1998. Helen Mirren won her Oscar for The Queen and one of her (4) Emmys for Prime Suspect 7: Final Act both in 2007.

Among actors, George C. Scott won his infamous Oscar which he turned down for Patton in 1971, and later the same spring won his only Emmy for Outstanding Single Performance in The Price. For this he did not formally turn it down, but didn’t show up at the ceremony. In fact, Oscar presenter Goldie Hawn opened the envelope and said, “Oh my God, it’s George C. Scott!” At the Emmys, presenter Suzanne Pleshette followed suit in opening the envelope and exclaiming “Oh my God it’s George C. Scott!”

IS ROBERT DOWNEY JR. ADDING EMMY TO OSCAR?

So who could join this elite club when the Emmys are handed out in September? Well, first they have to see their names listed among the nominees when they are announced on July 17, but chief among those who might be able to do it is this year’s Oppenheimer Best Supporting Actor winner Robert Downey Jr. for his multi-faceted role(s) in The Sympathizer. Our colleagues at Gold Derby list him as the current leading candidate for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series, Movie or Anthology, no doubt because of the heat coming off that Oscar win.

The attention that the Oscar wins give can simply boost someone’s Emmy chances almost instantly even if they might not be as deserving as others in the category. Wins it seems beget more wins. It can be a real boost when voters in the actors branch see that name on their ballot. In fact, Downey Jr.has already benefited from it by the win last week at the Daytime Emmys for his Lifestyle Program, Downey’s Dream Cars in which he was listed as one of 20 producers sharing that honor, technically his first Emmy win. But in the Primetime Emmys where recognition would really put him in the club of winning major acting triumphs at Oscars and Emmys the same year, well, that is what really counts in this game. Downey Jr. has only once been previously nominated for an acting Emmy, and that was in 2001 for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Ally McBeal.

So who else, among newly crowned Oscar winners might pull a double? Best Actress winner Emma Stone could do it if she seizes victory as Best Actress in a Drama Series for The Curse. Gold Derby has her odds currently at 11/2, enough for a nomination at the very least, and then the prospect of propelling her to a double Oscar/Emmy win could be irresistible.

And don’t count out this year’s The Holdovers Supporting Actress Oscar winner, Da’Vine Joy Randolph who could well turn up in the Guest Actress In A Comedy Series category for her role in the very popular Only Murders In The Building. GD has her at 28/1, very much in the game and certainly her chances are not hurt by winning that Oscar (and 60 other awards during the movie season). However a win that would put her in the same Oscar/Emmy calendar year victory club is a taller mountain to climb since the category is chock full of potential nominees who are also past Oscar winners, just not from this year. Front runner for her searing turn on The Bear is 2023 Supporting Actress Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis. Also in the mix from the same series is past Best Actress Oscar winner Olivia Colman, and one of the OG’s in the Oscar/Emmy calendar year club, Helen Hunt for her memorable turn on Hacks. In fact if everything falls into place, this particular category could have at least four nominees who are all past Oscar winners. And if Emma Stone somehow gets recognized for her SNL hosting gig here (GD has her at 100/1) , that would be five, count ’em, five!

Incredibly three of the four acting Oscar winners this year could well turn up in the Emmy race. Only Oppenheimer Best Actor winner Cillian Murphy is not in the mix for any possible nomination. But among those recent Oscar nominees also on the Emmy ballot this year are Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, both nominated for respective lead and supporting Academy Awards for Nyad, but potentially going head to head in Lead Actress In A Limited Series, Movie, or Anthology where Bening is hoping for her first Emmy recognition for Apples Never Fall, and Foster, a two-time Oscar winner, is going for her first Emmy in True Detective: Night Country.

Bradley Cooper is on the ballot as Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for Abbott Elementary, which ABC ironically aired immediately in the slot after the Oscar ceremony where he was nominated three times for Maestro. Ryan Gosling, an Oscar nominee for Barbie could be in the mix for his SNL hosting gig. Lily Gladstone, a Best Actress Oscar nominee and SAG/Golden Globe winner for Killers Of The Flower Moon has a decent chance of landing in the Limited/Movie/Anthology Actress race for Under The Bridge. Could Paul Giamatti, a Lead Actor Oscar nominee for The Holdovers, finally get much deserved Emmy recognition for Lead Actor Drama Series in the last season of Billions? And there is also Supporting Actor Oscar nominee Mark Ruffalo in Emmy contention in the corresponding Supporting category for Limited Series for All The Light We Cannot See. The Emmy Voiceover category could even see the likes of 2024 Oscar nominees Sterling K. Brown (Invincible) and Jeffrey Wright (What If).

So in these endless dueling awards seasons there is plenty of room for crossovers between Oscar and Emmy. And time will tell if Helens Hunt and Mirren and George C. Scott have to make room in their very exclusive club. As I said, the ballots are in front of you right now, voters. You will make the choice.

TONYS COULD ADD EXCITEMENT FOR EMMY CONTENDERS

By the way this is a big weekend awards-wise with the Tonys happening Sunday night. Oscar/Emmy/Tony winner Jessica Lange is up for Actress in a Play for Mother Play, and she is a cinch to be Emmy-nominated for her stunning performance as a woman suffering from dementia in HBO’s The Great Lillian Hall. Sarah Paulson is her big competition at the Tonys for her sensational turn in Appropriate, and guess what? Paulson is also on the Comedy Guest Actress Emmy ballot for that same episode of The Bear with Jamie Lee Curtis. An Emmy/Tony win in the same calendar year??? Yes, it has been done, but there is only one person who has won an Oscar, Emmy, and Tony in the same calendar year. Director Bob Fosse holds that record all to himself for Cabaret (Oscar), Liza With A Z (3 Emmys), and Pippin (2 Tonys) all in 1973.

Until the next Notes next Friday…….