Emmys spotlight: Annette Bening shines bright in ‘Apples Never Fall’

Annette Bening is a five-time Oscar nominee, having recently garnered a bid for her leading turn in Netflix’s biographical drama “Nyad.” Bening is clearly having a great year as she also features in Peacock’s limited series “Apples Never Fall,” which could bring her back to the Emmys for the first time since 2006.

The limited series, adapted from the novel of “Big Little Lies” author Liane Moriarty, depicts four adult children trying to piece together the mystery behind the disappearance of their mother, played by Bening. Sam Neil, Jake Lacy, and Allison Brie all turn in fabulous supporting performances but this is Bening’s show, with the veteran actress performing at the peak of her powers.

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Bening always has a commanding screen presence and, in truth, she could play most roles in her sleep, such as is the might of her talent. With “Apples Never Fall,” she is afforded a rare opportunity to display her skills on the small screen, as noted by critics.

Cristina Escobar (Roger Ebert) explained: “Bening never lets Joy fade. She is powerful when she needs to be, vulnerable and pensive all at once. In her, we see a portrayal of a flawed and dynamic woman who’s happy with her choices if not her current stage in life. The recent Oscar nominee for ‘Nyad’ is such an extraordinary star that here she’s able to portray a warmth that allows others to skip over her accomplishments and edge, even as it does them all a disservice. It’s an arresting portrayal that insists on Joy’s humanity even when her story is being told by those who would negate it.”

Kelly Lawler (USA Today) opined: “The star is Bening, who has the overworked, overwrought and underappreciated Joy down pat from her first appearance. Her complaints about marriage and motherhood are universal but no less urgent or valid for their ubiquity. That her children only start to appreciate her when she’s gone is no coincidence.”

Peter Travers (ABC News) observed: “Fresh from her fifth Oscar nomination (still no wins, darn it) as champion swimmer Diana Nyad in ‘Nyad,’ Annette Bening sets her sights on the Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy as the family matriarch… No excuses need to be made for Bening. She is sublime in every detail as Joy Delaney, a recently retired tennis coach with four adult children, all of whom have failed to make it as tennis pros.”

Bening is on track to earn the second Emmy nomination of her career. Her first bid was way back in 2006. That was for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress for “Mrs. Harris.” So, even though she’s only had one nomination, it was for the very category she hopes to compete in this year, so we know that Emmy voters like her here.

Emmy voters will also want to take this chance to nominate one of the most respected actors of her generation. Beside those five Oscar nominations, she has racked up 10 Golden Globe citations (with two wins), four BAFTA nominations (and one win), seven SAG bids (with two wins), and two Tony Award nominations. Now that she is starring in a major TV show eligible for the Emmys, voters will want to take this chance to nominate her.

Plenty of veteran actresses have earned nominations in this category, including “Feud: Bette and Joan” stars Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon, Emma Thompson (“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”), Frances McDormand (“Olive Kitteridge”), Sigourney Weaver (“Political Animals”), and Helen Mirren (“Phil Spector”).

Lange, Sarandon, Thompson, McDormand, and Mirren are all movie stars who have won Oscars while Weaver is an Oscar-nominated movie star like Bening. Emmy voters like this profile of A-lister with an Oscar history in this profile, with other recent such nominees including Jessica Chastain (“George & Tammy”), Kate Winslet (“Mare of Easttown”), Regina King (“Watchmen”), Octavia Spencer (“Self Made”), and Cate Blanchett (“Mrs. America”).

Bening also produced “Apples Never Fall” and we know that voters appreciate women in this category who put in work off-camera as well as in front of it. Kathryn Hahn (“Tiny Beautiful Things”), Ali Wong (“Beef”), Chastain (“George and Tammy”), Winslet (“Mare of Easttown”), Spencer (“Self Made”), and Kerry Washington (“Little Fires Everywhere”).

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