2024 Emmy nomination predictions: All the main acting categories

Our picks for who will earn nods for best lead and supporting actor and actress in comedy, drama, and limited series.

Who needs a break from the Emmy race? (Don't answer that.) The 2023 ceremony (which aired in 2024) is barely behind us, but it's already time for the 2024 Emmy season — so it's time to get those prediction juices flowing.

Here are our picks for which performers (in series and TV movies airing between June 1, 2023 and May 31, 2024) have a good shot at landing on the ballot when nominations are announced in July.

Lead Actress in a Drama

Imelda Staunton, The Crown (Netflix)
Carrie Coon, The Gilded Age (HBO)
Emma Stone, The Curse (Showtime)
Maya Erskine, Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Prime Video)
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show (Apple TV+)
Juliette Binoche, The New Look (Apple TV+)

With The Crown and The Morning Show as the only repeat contenders, the acting race here and in all other drama categories will be refreshingly unpredictable. Oh, and let’s hope Emma Stone took a nice long nap after Oscar season because she’s about to hit the circuit again as a frontrunner for Showtime’s inexplicable (and unforgettable) The Curse.

Also in the mix: Reese Witherspoon (The Morning Show), Rosario Dawson (Ahsoka)

Deserving dark horses: Carrie Preston, Elsbeth (CBS); Ella Purnell, Fallout (Prime Video). The two shows couldn’t be more different — one’s a broadcast TV spin-off-slash-whodunnit of the week; the other’s a big-budget, streaming adaptation of a blockbuster video game franchise. Both, however, draw us in through female characters who remain chipper and in control even when facing trying circumstances (murder investigations, nuclear apocalypse).

Lead Actor in a Drama

Gary Oldman, Slow Horses (Apple TV+)
Dominic West, The Crown
Donald Glover, Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Tom Hiddleston, Loki (Disney+)
Idris Elba, Hijack (Apple TV+)
Walton Goggins, Fallout

It may have taken three seasons, but word-of-mouth on Slow Horses finally reached U.S. awards voters this year. You can expect Gary Oldman to follow his Golden Globe nomination with a nod in this category. Even more exciting: This could (will!) be the year Walton Goggins gets his long overdue second Emmy nomination — and maybe even a third (see below).

Also in the mix: Colin Farrell, Sugar (Apple TV+), Nathan Fielder (The Curse), Ben Mendelsohn (The New Look), Morgan Spector (The Gilded Age), Timothy Olyphant (Justified: City Primeval), Adrien Brody (Winning Time: Rise of the Lakers Dynasty)

Deserving dark horse: Zahn McClarnon, Dark Winds (AMC). If the world were a just place, the always-excellent McClarnon would be top of mind in this category and as a supporting actor in a comedy for Reservation Dogs.

Supporting Actress in a Drama

Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
Lesley Manville, The Crown
Christine Baranski, The Gilded Age
Cynthia Nixon, The Gilded Age
Kristin Scott Thomas, Slow Horses
Greta Lee, The Morning Show
Nicole Beharie, The Morning Show
Holland Taylor, The Morning Show

Attention, sprawling ensembles of The Morning Show and The Gilded Age! The White Lotus is on Emmy hiatus, which means your time has come.

Also in the mix: Audra McDonald (The Gilded Age), Celia Rose Gooding (Star Trek: Strange New Worlds)

Deserving dark horse: Amy Ryan, Sugar. Hey voters, remember how you never nominated Ryan for her impeccable work in The Wire, or The Office, or In Treatment? Welp, she’s about to kill it again as a missing woman’s alcoholic stepmom in Sugar — so it’s not too late to right those past wrongs.

Supporting Actor in a Drama

Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Jonathan Pryce, The Crown
Khalid Abdalla, The Crown
Jon Hamm, The Morning Show
Mark Duplass, The Morning Show
Benny Safdie, The Curse
Ke Huy Quan, Loki
Nathan Lane, The Gilded Age

Another wide-open category, thanks to the absence of The White Lotus (for now) and Succession (for good). Like Walton Goggins, Nearly a decade after his (only) Emmy win for Mad Men, Jon Hamm has a real shot at two nominations this season, both here and in the Limited Series category.

Also in the mix: Jack Lowden (Slow Horses), Ken Watanabe (Tokyo Vice)

Deserving dark horse: Chris Bauer, Heels (Starz). Truly just screaming into the void here, but boy, did Chris Bauer do Emmy-worthy work as Wild Bill Hancock, an abrasive and (mostly) reformed sleazeball wrestler turned scout in this underrated (and now-canceled) drama.  

Lead Actress in a Comedy

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear (FX on Hulu)
Jean Smart, Hacks (Max)
Devery Jacobs, Reservation Dogs (FX on Hulu)
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building (Hulu)
Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary (ABC)

The Bear’s Edebiri just won a few months ago in the Supporting Actress category, but for season 2, she’s graduating to Lead Actress — where she’ll likely join the Perennial Nominees Club with Brunson and Smart.

Also in the mix: Kristen Wiig (Palm Royale), Maya Rudolph (Loot), Sarah Lancashire (Julia)

Deserving dark horse: Natasia Demetriou, What We Do in the Shadows (FX). Though the vampire mockumentary has been nominated before in 2020 and 2022, the players in its excellently eccentric ensemble have yet to break through in the acting categories. And there’s no better place to start than with Demetriou’s batty brilliance as Nadja of Antipaxos.

Lead Actor in a Comedy

Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Jharrel Jerome, I’m a Virgo (Prime Video)
Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO)

Compared to other races this Emmy season, the comedy actor category almost feels stagnant. But Jharrel Jerome, adorably naive and dorky as I’m a Virgo’s 13-foot-tall teenager, will be a welcome infusion of fresh blood.

Also in the mix: Kelsey Grammer (Frasier), D’Pharaoh Woon-a-Tai (Reservation Dogs), Theo James (The Gentlemen)

Deserving dark horses: Matt Berry, Kayvan Novak (What We Do in the Shadows). Nominate all the vampires, dang it!

Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Meryl Streep, Only Murders in the Building
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary
Janelle James, Abbott Elementary
Lisa Ann Walter, Abbott Elementary
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Abby Elliott, The Bear
Liza Colón-Zayas, The Bear

There are a few open spaces on the ballot this time around, given the end of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (which earned Alex Borstein five nominations in this category) and Ted Lasso (co-starring three-time nominees Juno Temple and Hannah Waddingham). That will be good news for Abbott’s Lisa Ann Walter (no eating her feelings this year) and The Bear’s Liza Colón-Zayas.

Also in the mix: Carol Burnett (Palm Royale), Paulina Alexis (Reservation Dogs), Molly Gordon (The Bear)

Deserving dark horse: Megan Stalter, Hacks. Our sole wish for season 3: More of Stalter’s chaotic energy as Hollywood’s best (at being the worst) assistant, Kayla.

Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear
Lionel Boyce, The Bear
Oliver Platt, The Bear
Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary
Bowen Yang, Saturday Night Live
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live
Paul Rudd, Only Murders in the Building

The Bear is the new Ted Lasso — and we’re not mad about it. If Matty Matheson edges his way onto the ballot, we’ll be okay with that, too.

Also in the mix: Matty Matheson (The Bear), Harvey Guillen (What We Do in the Shadows), Carl Clemons-Hopkins (Hacks), Paul W. Downs (Hacks), Chris Perfetti (Abbott Elementary), Marcello Hernandez (SNL)

Deserving dark horse: Walton Goggins (I’m a Virgo). In Fallout, he plays a gunslinging abomination called The Ghoul. In Virgo, he’s something even scarier: A domineering billionaire who takes it upon himself to police the streets.  

Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Jodie Foster, True Detective: Night Country (HBO)
Juno Temple, Fargo (FX)
Anna Sawai, Shōgun (FX)
Brie Larson, Lessons in Chemistry (Apple TV+)
Naomi Watts, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans (FX)
Kate Winslet, The Regime (HBO)

Pay no attention to The Regime’s negative reviews! Voters love Kate Winslet. (And to be fair, she’s not the reason the series doesn’t work.)

Also in the mix: Sofia Vergara (Griselda), Awkwafina (Quiz Lady), Aria Mia Loberti (All the Light We Cannot See), Sinclair Daniel (The Other Black Girl)

Deserving dark horse: Joey King (We Were the Lucky Ones). Allow myself to quote myself: “As the feisty and quick-witted Halina, King is the emotional engine of the series,” about a Polish family forced to scatter during World War II.

Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

Tom Hollander, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans (FX)
Hiroyuki Sanada, Shōgun
Jon Hamm, Fargo
Andrew Scott, Ripley (Netflix)
Tony Shalhoub, Mr. Monk’s Last Case (Peacock)
Matt Bomer, Fellow Travelers (Showtime)

This category is in a state of flux due to a rush of male-heavy spring entries (Franklin, Eric, The Sympathizer, Ripley, Baby Reindeer), but Hollander, Sanada, and Hamm will hold down the fort until voters get the rest sorted.

Also in the mix: Michael Douglas (Franklin), David Oyelowo (Lawmen: Bass Reeves), Tobias Menzies (Manhunt), Hoa Xuande (The Sympathizer), Benedict Cumberbatch (Eric), Richard Gadd (Baby Reindeer)

Deserving dark horse: Logan Lerman (We Were the Lucky Ones). The former child actor brings an endearing warmth to his role as a Polish composer fighting to reunite with his family during World War II.

Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Kali Reis, True Detective: Night Country
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Fargo
Chloë Sevigny, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans
Diane Lane, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans
Aja Naomi King, Lessons in Chemistry
Sandra Oh, The Sympathizer (HBO)
Lily Gladstone, Under the Bridge

The first season of Feud earned 19 Emmy nominations back in 2017, and the starry sophomore season will likely do just as well.

Also in the mix: Calista Flockhart (Feud: Capote vs. the Swans), Andrea Riseborough (The Regime), Dakota Fanning (Ripley), Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer)

Deserving dark horse: Sarayu Blue (Expats). Known for her comedic roles, the actress gives a standout dramatic performance in Prime Video’s adaptation of Janice Y. K. Lee’s novel.

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Robert Downey Jr., The Sympathizer
Joe Keery, Fargo
Jonathan Bailey, Fellow Travelers
Lewis Pullman, Lessons in Chemistry
John Hawkes, True Detective: Night Country
Treat Williams, Feud: Capote vs. the Swans
Tadonobu Asano, Shōgun

The late Treat Williams was only nominated once before, for his turn as superagent Michael Ovitz in the 1996 TV movie The Late Shift.

Also in the mix: Barry Keoghan, (Masters of the Air), Hugh Grant (The Regime), Christopher Eccelston, Finn Bennett (True Detective: Night Country), Lamorne Morris (Fargo)

Deserving dark horse: Dave Foley (Fargo). The comedian and character actor brought just the right amount of unflappable pomposity to his eyepatch-wearing lawyer/fixer, Danish Graves.

Nominations for the 76th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced on Wednesday, July 17. The ceremony will air live on Sunday, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on ABC.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content:

• 2024 Emmy nomination predictions: Outstanding drama, comedy, and limited series

• 2024 Emmy nomination predictions: Reality TV contenders

• 2023 Emmy awards: See the complete winners list

• TV shows with the most Emmy nominations ever

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.