Oscar nominee Hong Chau was aces on ‘Poker Face’

Jacob Sarkisian
·6 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Hong Chau will be looking to round off a pretty good year by snagging her first-ever Emmy nomination. This would come after she claimed her first Oscar bid, which came in Best Supporting Actress for “The Whale.” That was for her moving performance opposite Brendan Fraser in Darren Aronofsky‘s film. But, now, on the TV side of things, she will be competing for Best Comedy Guest Actress for Rian Johnson‘s “Poker Face.”

The Peacock episodic murder-mystery show follows Natasha Lyonne as Charlie, a young woman who goes on the run from a casino following a suspicious death. On her journey, she encounters various, mysterious new cases and uses her unbelievable ability to figure out if somebody is lying to help solve the murder. The show follows a case-of-the-week format and introduces new characters and guest actors every week, who are all a treat to watch. And none more so than Chau.

More from GoldDerby

Chau plays Marge, a reclusive trucker who befriends Charlie in episode two — “Night Shift.” Marge is used to life on the road by herself, so is thrilled to make a new friend in Charlie — and Chau delivers the right mix of forlorn loneliness mixed in with brilliant comedic timing to play someone framed for murder. It’s a joyous performance, critics agree.

Max Covill (Roger Ebert) explained: “Each episode, out of the six screened for review, had at least one standout performance — ‘The Night Shift,’ for instance, has an appearance by actress Hong Chau, and she makes an outstanding impression in her limited screentime as a trucker framed for the murder of a local.”

Dave Nemetz (TV Line) applauded the show for its revolving door of talented actors, and name-checked Chau as one of the series’ very beast: “The guest stars are always a treat: Hong Chau as a street-smart trucker.”

Daniel Fienberg (The Hollywood Reporter) appreciated the show as a “delight” and also said that every episode is a great one, thanks, in part, to the fantastic guest stars, including Chau. He wrote: “There isn’t a straight-up dud in these half-dozen episodes. I liked guest stars Megan Suri and Colton Ryan — plus a hilarious Hong Chau — in the second episode, which involves an ill-fated love triangle on a remote stretch of New Mexico road.”

And Kambole Campbell (Polygon) claimed that the show gave “classic detective a fresh twist” with this smart comedy, and singled out Chau for particular praise as one of the standout characters in the show: “Hong Chau plays (with hilarious, awkward forthrightness) a strange, lonely trucker mistaken for a murderer.”

However, this critical support has not quite translated into a predicted nomination for Chau. Currently, she sits outside of our six predicted nominees for Best Comedy Guest Actress: Harriet Walter (“Ted Lasso”), Cherry Jones (“Poker Face”), Judith Light (“Poker Face”), Shirley MacLaine (“Only Murders in the Building”), Quinta Brunson (“Saturday Night Live”), and Taraji P. Henson (“Abbott Elementary”). However, don’t count out Chau just yet. We know that awards bodies like her — she was nominated for an Oscar earlier this year, for Best Supporting Actress for “The Whale” (losing to Jamie Lee Curtis for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”).

Oscar nominees do well in this category. Laurie Metcalf won here for “Hacks” last year, while Angela Bassett was nominated in 2020 for “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” and Emma Thompson was nominated the year before that for “Saturday Night Live.” And there have been a number of cases where an actress earns an Oscar nomination or even wins and then, in the same year, is given an Emmy bid. It’s a case of the Oscars after-glow.

Olivia Colman did this twice. First, she won Best Actress for “The Favourite” in 2019 and then was Emmy-nominated for Best Comedy Supporting Actress for “Fleabag.” Then, in 2021, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for “The Father” and then won Best Drama Actress for “The Crown.” Similarly, Laura Dern won Best Supporting Actress for “Marriage Story” in 2020 and then was nominated for Best Drama Supporting Actress for “Big Little Lies” that same year. And Viola Davis won Best Supporting Actress for “Fences” in 2017 before going on to claim a Best Drama Actress nomination for “How to Get Away With Murder.” An Oscar nomination not only puts you on the map, but it keeps your name fresh in the mind of voters and associates you with the sort of acting and awards excellence needed to earn an Emmy bid. Chau could be the latest beneficiary of this trend.

And don’t worry about the fact that Chau will be up against her co-stars Jones and Light. Emmy voters aren’t afraid to nominate three or more actresses from the same show in this particular category. Last year, Kaitlin Olson, Harriet Sansom Harris, Jane Adams, and, the winner, Metcalf, were all nominated for “Hacks.” In 2016, Tina Fey & Amy Poehler won for “Saturday Night Live” while Melissa McCarthy and Amy Schumer were both nominated for the same show. And in 2014, Uzo Aduba won for “Orange is the New Black” while her co-stars Laverne Cox and, coincidentally, “Poker Face” star herself Lyonne, were also nominated. There is precedence here for Chau, Jones, and Light to all receive bids.

And that chance is made all the more likely by the fantastic critical reception “Poker Face” has received. The inaugural season scored a near-perfect 98%, which is better than the majority of the seasons that Chau’s co-stars received. Only “Abbott Elementary” season two scored better — with 100% — while season two of “Only Murders in the Building” matched that 98% score. Meanwhile, season 48 of “Saturday Night Live” received a middling 70%, and season three of “Ted Lasso” fell to an all-time series-low score of 79%. This could give Chau and “Poker Face” that little bit of edge in this category.

If it did, Chau would receive her first-ever Emmy bid in the same year that she earned her first-ever Oscar and BAFTA nominations (both for “The Whale”). Meanwhile, she’s also been nominated for two Best Supporting Actress SAG awards (for “Downsizing” in 2018 and “The Whale” this year). Add to that a Critics Choice Award bid and a Golden Globe nomination (both for “Downsizing”) and Chau has a decent awards history that shows that awards bodies do indeed like her and can get behind her for an acclaimed performance. Emmys could be next. What a year that would be for Chau.

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Best of GoldDerby

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.