‘The Last of Us’ hoping to pull a ‘Handmaid’s Tale’ by winning both drama guest acting Emmys

Marcus James Dixon
·4 min read
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In 2019, Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” pulled off a rare Emmy feat by winning both of the drama guest acting categories in the same night, for Cherry Jones and Bradley Whitford. Four years later, HBO’s “The Last of Us” is hoping to achieve that stat by claiming the same two trophies, and Gold Derby’s Emmy odds suggest it could happen. Currently, Melanie Lynskey is a favorite to win Best Drama Guest Actress and Nick Offerman leads Best Drama Guest Actor for their roles on the zombie apocalypse video game adaptation.

Besides “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the only other drama series in recent memory to claim both guest races in the same night was “The Practice,” and it did so twice. Sharon Stone and William Shatner both prevailed in 2004, while Beah Richards and James Whitmore each triumphed in 2000. Can Lynskey and Offerman now follow in their footsteps for “The Last of Us”?

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Lynskey plays Kathleen Coghlan, the revolutionary leader in Kansas City, in the episodes “Please Hold to My Hand” and “Endure and Survive.” On the surface, she appears to be a quiet woman with a sweet personality, but in reality she’s a savvy and ruthless leader. After Kathleen’s brother is killed by Henry (Lamar Johnson), she makes it her mission to track him down and kill him, and she believes newcomers Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are working with him.

Thanks to this guest role and her regular gig on “Yellowjackets,” Lynskey is at the top of her game right now. For Showtime’s plane crash thriller, she won the Critics Choice Award last year and also scored a Best Drama Actress Emmy nomination (ultimately losing to Zendaya from “Euphoria”). If would be somewhat surprising if Lynskey didn’t receive two Emmy bids this year.

Gold Derby currently predicts that Lynskey’s five fellow competitors in Best Drama Guest Actress will be Harriet Walter (“Succession”), Cherry Jones (“Succession”), Fiona Shaw (“Andor”), Hope Davis (“Succession”) and Anna Torv (“The Last of Us”).

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Offerman is a three-time Emmy nominee for hosting the reality show “Making It” with Amy Poehler, however he has yet to be recognized for his acting abilities. From the moment his “The Last of Us” episode, titled “Long, Long Time,” aired on January 29, people have been clamoring for Offerman to get his due at the Emmy Awards. (Even his wife, two-time winner Megan Mullally, has joined the chorus.)

On the HBO horror show, Offerman takes on the role of Bill, a curmudgeonly survivalist who meets Frank (Murray Bartlett) near the onset of a zombie apocalypse and soon falls in love with him. Viewers then see how their lives evolve over the next several years of living together, including a tearful wedding and their eventual deaths. In lesser hands, the character of Bill would have been a one-note caricature, but Offerman imbues him with so much heart and warmth that you just want to reach through the screen and give him a teddybear hug.

Gold Derby’s current odds say Offerman’s five likely co-nominees in Best Drama Guest Actor will be Bartlett, Bryan Cranston (“Better Call Saul”), James Cromwell (“Succession”), Andy Serkis (“Andor”) and Arian Moayed (“Succession”).

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