Emmy nominee profile: Oliver Platt (‘The Bear’) could finally win on 5th bid

Christopher Tsang
·4 min read
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“The Bear” cooked up a storm for its freshman season at the Emmy Awards, gaining a total of 13 nominations across the board with bids in acting, writing, directing, editing, casting, sound and of course Best Comedy Series. Having debuted way early in the Emmy eligibility period, it has sustained its buzz throughout the year with various award wins at the Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild, Writers Guild of America and Producers Guild of America. Included as part of their showcase is Oliver Platt for Best Comedy Guest Actor for his performance as Jimmy “Cicero” Kalinowski, his fifth nomination overall. Can he finally win an Emmy?

This is Platt’s first Emmy bid in a comedy category, having previously been mentioned for three dramas: “The West Wing” in 2001 and “Nip/Tuck” in 2008 for Best Drama Guest Actor, and “Huff” from 2005-2006 for Best Drama Supporting Actor. Other credits he has had in his long television career include his starring roles in “The Big C,” “Chicago Med” and the first season of the anthology series “Fargo.” He first made his debut in the 1988 film “Married to the Mob” and has appeared in “Working Girl,” “Pieces of April” and “Frost/Nixon,” as well as receiving a Tony nomination for his leading role in the Conor McPherson play “Shining City.”

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This year for “The Bear,” Platt is nominated for his performance in the episode “Dogs,” in which Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) and Richie cater Cicero’s son’s birthday party. The backstory behind this is Jimmy is the best friend of Carmy’s father and is an investor for the beef sandwich restaurant that Carmy was left to run after his brother’s suicide. Cicero previously loaned $300,000 to Carmy’s brother, Mikey, before he passed and the birthday party is the start of Carmy’s reimbursement of the debt, which he insists to recompense rather than sell the shop to him.

This episode is a wild one for Platt as he gets to express a range of comedic emotions as the cranky Uncle Jimmy, from going toe to toe with Richie when they arrive at his house, to expressing apathy and lack of concern after Carmy tells him that Richie accidentally spilled a bottle of Xanax in the cooler, causing all the children to fall asleep, to sharing a sincere earnest conversation with him about remembering Carmy’s late father. It’s an impressive display for Platt, who has been working in the industry for 35 years, and the Emmys do tend to reward long-lasting character actors in the guest categories like Margo Martindale and Ron Cephas Jones.

SEE Watch dozens of interviews with 2023 Emmy nominees

Those competing with Platt in the Best Comedy Guest Actor race are his fellow cast-mate Jon Bernthal (“The Bear”), Luke Kirby (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Nathan Lane (“Only Murders In The Building”), Sam Richardson (“Ted Lasso”) and Pedro Pascal (“Saturday Night Live”). Lane won his first Primetime Emmy Award in this category last year after seven nominations, while Kirby prevailed in 2019, for their respective shows. Richardson was noticed last year for “Ted Lasso” and Bernthal and Pascal are first-time nominees this year, with the latter also recognized in two other categories.

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

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