Emmys rewind: ‘Succession’ actors aren’t the only ones who switched categories

It has been confirmed that “Succession” actors Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook – who play Roman and Siobhan “Shiv” Roy – will make the move up to the lead acting categories after both previously contending in supporting. There was much uncertainty where certain main actors from the HBO satirical family drama would submit after specific events that occurred in the show’s final season, but now Culkin and Snook will reportedly join their fellow Roy family members Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong in the top races. Will the strategy prove successful with Emmy voters? Let’s take a look back at previous Emmy contenders who switched categories between supporting and lead.

When looking at history, most of the category transitions have been to enhance from supporting to lead. One of the earliest mentions was Michael J. Fox for “Family Ties,” who began with a lone featured bid in 1985 before making a successful jump to lead and snagging three consecutive wins the following years. Michael Tucker made the same move for “L.A. Law,” getting a supporting nomination for the first season before upgrading for the next two. Julianna Margulies in her early days on “ER” nabbed a supporting trophy for the series’ debut season and upgraded in the third season, where she continued to have lead nomination recognition until she left in the sixth season.

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However, sometimes actors can go the other way with the categories. Piper Laurie was first nominated in lead for the first season of “Twin Peaks” before trading to supporting for the next and final season. The same happened with Rachel Griffiths for “Six Feet Under,” though specifically her sole lead nomination was for the first two seasons combined, whilst in the third (where she garnered her supporting citation), she had a more limited screen presence as she didn’t appear much in the first half of the season. Lorraine Bracco also took the same step in “The Sopranos,” where she was noticed as a lead for the first three seasons, but became less involved with Tony Soprano outside of his therapist as the seasons went on, and received a featured nomination for the second half of the final year.

And then there are those rare instances where actors can easily glide back and forth between categories over the course of their shows. Jeffrey Wright is the perfect example for “Westworld,” as he went from supporting to lead, and then back again within the first three seasons of the series; an impressive feat given that his castmates Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris did not achieve that result when they did the same thing, only getting lead recognition for their respective seasons. Many may also forget that Elisabeth Moss did get a supporting notice for the third season of “Mad Men” throughout her leading run on the show, and her cast member January Jones took the slot that year.

SEEKieran Culkin (‘Succession’) poised to make Emmys history

But how many of these category turnarounds were successful in winning the award? Along with Fox, Jennifer Aniston was also able to triumph in the lead category for “Friends” in 2002 after the entire ensemble made the decision to submit there in the eighth season. She was previously nominated in supporting the prior two years and is the only cast member to be recognized in both. There are additionally many instances where actors were able to conquer both categories like Patricia Wettig (“thirtysomething”) and Carol Kane (“Taxi”), both undefeated in their category mentions (though Kane won her lead trophy in a guest appearing role). Most recent winners include Allison Janney (“The West Wing”), who nabbed two trophies in each category (she also used the same strategy for “Mom”), and Jon Cryer (“Two and a Half Men”), who won one of his six featured bids and snagged the lead statue on his only attempt.

While this will be Culkin’s first attempt to break into lead, Snook actually previously submitted for the category in the show’s first season, thus swapping when none of the actors of “Succession” garnered a bid. It proves that while these changeovers do happen with regards to the quality of material for the season, it is also a factor of timing. Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington (“Game of Thrones”) received lead nominations for the final season after both competing in supporting, but they actually submitted in those categories in the penultimate season to no avail. With the final episodes of “Succession” upon us and the series being the defending champion for Best Drama Series, the switch could benefit both actors the same way it did recently for Tobias Menzies (“The Crown”) when he collected the supporting actor prize after being snubbed in lead the year before.

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