‘The Curse’ will bring Benny Safdie good Emmy luck

“The Curse” has become one of the most talked-about shows this year with its idiosyncratic mix of cringe comedy, weird horror, marital drama, and sentiment proving to be a recipe for brilliance. The acclaimed Showtime drama series follows Nathan Fielder and Oscar winner Emma Stone as a newly married couple who host an HGTV show. They try to conceive a child as they navigate the effects of a curse.

Fielder and Stone’s performances propel the show to greatness and they are ably supported by Benny Safdie, who co-created the show with Fielder. He plays a desperate producer and while the role is scenery-chewing enough, it’s also a great role for filmmaker Safdie to once again show his acting chops, as noted by critics.

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Nick Schager (The Daily Beast) proclaimed: “Safdie makes him a behind-the-scenes sorta-psycho who’s as compelling as his on-air compatriots, inhabiting Dougie with a brand of gauche smiling-yet-scheming creepiness that perfectly fits the rest of the action.”

Ben Travers (Indie Wire) observed: “Safdie, hot off this summer’s big-screen turns in ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret,’ keeps the streak going with a devilish yet soulful turn as Dougie. A reality TV producer unafraid to employ every trick in the book, Dougie’s desperation stems from a deeper place than Whitney and Asher’s, and Safdie draws out his interiority with long, lingering scenes that patiently wait for the truth to come out.”

Kristen Baldwin (Entertainment Weekly) noted: “Dougie — whose incredibly tasteless dating show pilot provides one of the biggest laughs of the series — is truly ‘The Curse”s most honest character, in that he’s openly awful. But Safdie eschews the sleazy reality TV producer stereotype, creating a man who is both pitiful and venal. Decimated by his wife’s accidental death, Dougie alternates between sublimating and wallowing in his gnawing, all-consuming guilt.”

As a result, Safdie is now a serious competitor for Best Drama Supporting Actor. Currently, we are predicting Billy Crudup (“The Morning Show”), Jon Hamm (“The Morning Show”), Jonathan Pryce (“The Crown”), Khalid Abdalla (“The Crown”), Nathan Lane (“The Gilded Age”), Ke Huy Quan (“Loki”), Jack Lowden (“Slow Horses”), and Mark Duplass (“The Morning Show”) will make the cut. Safdie is right on the precipice of breaking into our predicted eight nominee.

There are several reasons to predict Safdie to get in.

Firstly, he not only stars in this show but he also writes and co-creates it. There have been a slew of previous Emmy nominees who worked behind-the-scenes as well including winners Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Best Comedy Actress for “Fleabag”), Quinta Brunson (Best Comedy Actress for “Abbott Elementary”), Jason Sudeikis (Best Comedy Actor for “Ted Lasso”) and Bill Hader (Best Comedy Actor for “Barry”).

Safdie also plays a bombastic character. This type of role is always popular with Emmy voters in the Best Drama Supporting Actor category. Previous such nominees include Alexander Skarsgård (“Succession”), O Yeong-su (“Squid Games”), Giancarlo Esposito (“The Mandalorian”), Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (“Game of Thrones”), and Joseph Fiennes (“The Handmaid’s Tale”).

Safdie also has a lot of currency right now. He’s directed the acclaimed films “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems,” starred in the Emmy-nominated “Star Wars” show “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and had key roles in “Licorice Pizza” and “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.” And, to top it all off, he featured in a key supporting role in this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner, “Oppenheimer.”

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