Emmy nominee profile: Nathan Lane (‘Only Murders in the Building’) looks to repeat for his chillingly good performance

David Buchanan
·5 min read
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Last year, Nathan Lane won his first Primetime Emmy Award for his guest-starring role as Teddy Dimas in the first season of the Hulu series “Only Murders in the Building.” After Teddy and his son Theo (James Caverly) landed in prison at the end of last season, Lane’s character returns to the Arconia apartment building where the series is set and unknowingly sparks trouble as his former friend Oliver (Emmy nominee Martin Short) questions the paternity of his son Will (Ryan Broussard). For his consequential return, Lane has earned another bid in the Best Comedy Guest Actor category and looks to defend his title.

Only one of last year’s contenders is back with him, namely, Sam Richardson for “Ted Lasso.” The rest of the category is rounded out by first-time nominees, past nominees and a returning champ. “The Bear” scored two bids for Jon Bernthal, his first, and Oliver Platt, a five-time Emmy nominee. Pedro Pascal nabbed one of his three nominations this year for hosting “Saturday Night Live,” while Luke Kirby rounds out the list for the final season of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” for which he won the trophy in this category back in 2019.

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SEE After finally winning an Emmy for ‘Only Murders in the Building,’ Nathan Lane is poised for rare repeat

Lane certainly has an advantage in this race as the reigning champion, although he faces an almost entirely new slate of challengers. While “The Bear” is surging in support right now because of the timing of its second season, supporters of the show might be split between Bernthal and frequent nominee Platt for the win. Pascal has had a banner year on television, while the actors certainly still love “Ted Lasso” and “Maisel,” which could work in the favor of Kirby and Richardson. “Murders,” meanwhile, did miss out on key acting bids this year with the lack of nominations for leads Steve Martin and Selena Gomez, and though the show will be airing new episodes during the final round of voting, Lane will not appear in the third season; his performance schedule for the Broadway play “Pictures From Home” did not allow him enough time to return for the third season.

The actor submitted the episode “Here’s Looking at You” on the Emmy ballot, in which he has two standout scenes. He first appears when Oliver — one of the trio of characters responsible for sending him and his son Theo to prison — joins him in their apartment building’s elevator. Despite Oliver’s nervousness at seeing Teddy, Teddy seems magnanimous, saying that prison was “transformative” for him and has helped him learn not to act on his impulses like “wringing” Oliver’s neck. His calm demeanor quickly turns threatening, though, when Teddy steps off the elevator and tells Oliver that he is going to “f— him” and he will soon realize that he’s “choking on a big, heaping bowl of f—.” Lane performs the entire three-minute scene even-keeled and gives a simultaneously chilling and hilarious performance.

SEE Martin Short (‘Only Murders in the Building’): Emmys 2023 episode submission revealed

We see Teddy one more time in the episode, after Oliver, Mabel (Gomez), Charles (Martin) and Charles’ daughter Lucy (Zoe Colletti) explore the hidden tunnels and passageways throughout the Arconia. Oliver finds his way to Teddy’s apartment and is able to peep in through an air vent. He sees and overhears Teddy arguing with Theo. The father and son are both awaiting trial, and Theo has just told his dad that he has chosen his own lawyer, separate from Teddy’s. Teddy is furious and tries to convince Theo that he’s trying to protect him, but Theo pushes his father down. Even though Teddy apologizes and tells him that he is “all I care about in this world,” Theo rejects him once again, and Oliver sees Teddy break down, sobbing alone in the apartment.

The relationship between Teddy and Theo was at the heart of Lane’s Emmy-winning episode submission “The Boy from 6B” last year, and this heartbreaking scene will remind voters of that performance. It is also a fantastic one for Lane, who gets to bring his three-time Tony Award-winning gravitas to his character as Teddy pleads for his son’s forgiveness and weeps when he doesn’t receive it. The actor once again transforms a menacing and even villainous character into one of tremendous pathos, and Emmy voters will likely marvel at his range.

Lane has a career total of eight Primetime Emmy nominations, a whopping seven of them in the Comedy Guest Actor category. His first two were for “Frasier” and “Mad About You” in 1995 and 1998, respectively, and he earned three for “Modern Family” in 2011, 2013, and 2014. He earned a second bid in 2013 in Drama Guest Actor for his turn on “The Good Wife.” He won his first last year for “Only Murders.” He also has three Daytime Emmy nominations for animated programs and won on two of those occasions for “Timon & Pumbaa” in 1996 and “Teacher’s Pet” in 2001.

This article is part of Gold Derby’s “Emmy nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2023 acting contenders.

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