2023 Emmy Predictions: Best Drama Series Casting

Among the dozen Emmy Awards “Game of Thrones” collected in 2019 for its final season was one for casting, which made it the first drama program to achieve a third victory in that category. Each time it was honored there, it also won Best Drama Series, setting a precedent that “Succession” could emulate this year after having taken both prizes in 2020 and 2022. Although it is heavily favored to clinch the top honor again, its potential casting win might not come as easily or at all, given the remarkably stiff competition it faces from “The White Lotus.”

After winning 10 Emmys in 2022 while classified as a limited series, “The White Lotus” is now competing in seven specific drama series categories, including casting. Its genre shift was triggered by its second season’s incorporation of previously established characters. As it goes against “Succession” in this race, it will also have to fend off two-time winner “The Crown,” returning nominee “Yellowjackets,” and new shows “Bad Sisters” and “The Last of Us.”

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In order to make sense of this tight race, let’s take a closer look at each nominee. Be sure to make your predictions in this and 29 other Creative Arts Emmy categories by September 9.

“Bad Sisters” — Lucy Amos and Nina Gold
This Apple TV+ series in which five Irish sisters plot to murder one of their husbands could score Gold her fifth win in this category. She previously triumphed on three of her eight nominations for “Game of Thrones” (2015-2016, 2019) and on her second of three mentions for “The Crown” (2018). She also has five limited series casting bids under her belt, including a successful one for “John Adams” (2008). Amos is a first-time Emmy contender who has previously worked on feature films such as “1917” and “Cyrano.”

“The Crown” — Robert Sterne
If he is honored for this Netflix series’ fifth season, which focuses on the British royal family’s lives in the 1990s, Sterne will tie the record for most wins in this category (six). He previously achieved victories for this show in 2018 and 2021, the first of which was shared with Gold, as were his three wins for “Game of Thrones.” The pair were also recognized together for casting the limited series “Wolf Hall” (2015) and “Chernobyl” (2019).

“The Last of Us” — Corinne Clark, Jennifer Page, and Victoria Thomas
This HBO series, which is based on the PlayStation game of the same name, racked up 24 nominations for its first season, making it the most-recognized new drama program in Emmys history. Clark and Page, who were first nominated here for “The Killing” in 2011, are also currently on their second consecutive joint bid for “Yellowjackets.” Thomas, who is new to this category, won the 2020 limited series casting award for “Watchmen” and competed for the same year’s comedy prize with “Insecure.”

“Succession” — Avy Kaufman
Kaufman presently has a perfect record in this category following her 2008 triumph for “Damages” and 2020 and 2022 wins for “Succession.” She has also been nominated for her work on the limited series “Empire Falls” (2005), “The Night Of” (2017), “The Looming Tower” (2018), “Mare of Easttown” (2021), and “Dopesick” (2022) but has yet to prevail there.

“The White Lotus” — Barbara Giordani, Meredith Tucker, and Francesco Vedovati
Tucker, who defeated Kaufman in last year’s limited series contest, previously won the 2011 drama casting award on her first of two “Boardwalk Empire” bids. She has also earned recognition for the comedy series “Entourage,” “Veep,” “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” winning for “Veep” in 2015 and “Maisel” in 2018. Giordani and Vedovati are Emmy newcomers who have worked on many productions in Italy, where the second “White Lotus” season takes place.

“Yellowjackets” — Corinne Clark, Libby Goldstein, Junie Lowry-Johnson, and Jennifer Page
Lowry-Johnson is seeking her record-increasing seventh win in this category for this time-jumping Showtime series after being honored for “NYPD Blue” (1994-1995), “Six Feet Under” (2002-2003), “True Blood” (2009), and “Homeland” (2012). She has also won twice on the comedy side for “Desperate Housewives” (2005) and “Ugly Betty” (2007). Goldstein has shared in all of said victories except the first two and has previously been nominated alongside Lowry-Johnson an additional nine times.

So, what will win the 2023 Emmy for Best Drama Series Casting? Since this contest clearly comes down to “Succession” and “The White Lotus,” predicting an upset win would be particularly unwise. As this year’s best-reviewed drama program and Emmy nominations leader, “Succession” is bound to amass quite a haul of farewell wins and can feasibly count on the series-casting combination precedent, which has worked out every year since 2019.

In this case, it’s hard to point to limited-to-drama nominee “Downton Abbey” in support of “The White Lotus” due to the fact that it never won either casting award and lost on its first drama outing to 2012 series winner “Homeland.” However, unlike “Downton Abbey,” “The White Lotus” did win for limited series casting and almost completely overhauled its cast between seasons. Whether or not voters will be swayed by the fresher option remains to be seen, but it says a lot that a clear majority of Gold Derby’s Emmy predictors think they will.

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