Aubrey Plaza and Nick Offerman will find new life at Emmys after being perennially snubbed for ‘Parks and Recreation’

Fans of “Parks and Recreation” know a thing or two about patience. For seven seasons, they waited for the Emmy Awards to nominate supporting players Aubrey Plaza and Nick Offerman for their stand-out roles of April Ludgate and Ron Swanson, respectively. It never happened. Overall, NBC’s cult mockumentary nabbed 14 bids, including two for Best Comedy Series and six for lead actress Amy Poehler. Meanwhile, Plaza and Offerman were forced to endure years of countless “snubs” lists.

Flash-forward to 2023 and, if early buzz is any indication, both stars will have smiles on their faces on Emmy nominations morning (and it won’t be because of Li’l Sebastian). Plaza delivered the performance of her career in Season 2 of “The White Lotus,” and now places in our Top 5 to win Best Drama Supporting Actress. And Offerman had everyone crying during his guest stint on “The Last of Us” and should easily pop up in Best Drama Guest Actor (which will be added to our predictions center at a later date).

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SEE‘The White Lotus’: What are its Emmy chances now that it’s competing as a drama series?

During the Sicily-set installment of HBO’s “The White Lotus,” Plaza takes on the role of Harper Spiller, a newly wealthy woman whose husband Ethan (Will Sharpe) has just found professional success. They decide to embark on a week-long trip to Italy with Ethan’s college roommate Cameron (Theo James) and Cameron’s wife Daphne (Meghann Fahy). It doesn’t take long, though, for the Spillers’ marriage to unravel (and for Plaza to get her Emmy reel) after Harper suspects Ethan of cheating on her. Cue the ocean waves crashing against the rocks.

Plaza recently won a SAG Award as part of “The White Lotus” cast, and she was also singled out at the Golden Globes with a nomination (where she lost to co-star Jennifer Coolidge). According to Gold Derby’s Emmy predictions, the eight nominees for Best Drama Supporting Actress will be Plaza, Coolidge, Sarah Snook (“Succession”), Rhea Seehorn (“Better Call Saul”), Elizabeth Debicki (“The Crown”), Christina Ricci (“Yellowjackets”), Meghann Fahy (“The White Lotus”) and J. Smith-Cameron (“Succession”).

SEEJennifer Coolidge (‘The White Lotus: Sicily’): My life right now ‘doesn’t feel real’ [Complete Interview Transcript]

Offerman is a three-time Emmy nominee for hosting the reality show “Making It” with Poehler, however he’s never been recognized for his acting abilities. Until now? From the moment his “The Last of Us” episode, titled “Long, Long Time,” aired on January 29, people have been clamoring for Offerman to get his due at the Emmy Awards. (Even his wife, two-time winner Megan Mullally, has joined the chorus.)

On the HBO horror show, Offerman takes on the role of Bill, a curmudgeonly survivalist who meets Frank (Murray Bartlett) near the onset of a zombie apocalypse and soon falls in love with him. Viewers then see how their lives evolve over the next several years of living together, including a tearful wedding and their eventual deaths. In lesser hands, the character of Bill would have been a one-note caricature, but Offerman imbues him with so much heart and warmth that you just want to reach through the screen and give him a teddybear hug.

PREDICT the 2023 Emmy nominees through July 12

Do you think Aubrey Plaza and Nick Offerman are Emmy-bound after so many years “Parks and Recreation” snubs?

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