SAG Awards nominee profile: Niecy Nash-Betts (‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’) would be first Black actress to win for a miniseries

After Cicely Tyson’s performance in the two-part CBS drama “Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All” earned her a spot in the very first Best TV Movie/Miniseries Actress SAG Award lineup, it took 26 years for another Black woman to be recognized by the organization for an actual miniseries. The subset started by Tyson in 1995 now includes five actresses, with the latest entrant being “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” cast member Niecy Nash-Betts. If she takes this year’s prize, Nash-Betts will be the fifth Black woman to ever prevail in this category and the first to be honored for a multi-part limited program.

Besides Tyson and Nash-Betts, the remaining three Black actresses who have been nominated by the Screen Actors Guild for their work on miniseries are Michaela Coel (“I May Destroy You,” 2021), Kerry Washington (“Little Fires Everywhere,” 2021), and Cynthia Erivo (“Genius: Aretha,” 2022). These five performances account for 24% of the 21 Black female ones ever recognized in this category, the rest of which were in one-off telefilms.

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The four Black TV movie stars who will have preceded Nash-Betts in winning this award are Alfre Woodard (“The Piano Lesson,” 1996; “Miss Evers’ Boys,” 1998), Halle Berry (“Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,” 2000), S. Epatha Merkerson (“Lackawanna Blues,” 2006) and Queen Latifah (“Life Support,” 2008; “Bessie,” 2016). Others who have been nominated for telefilm performances in recent years include Audra McDonald (“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill,” 2017), Washington (“Confirmation,” 2017), Tyson (“The Trip to Bountiful,” 2015), and Angela Bassett (“Betty and Coretta,” 2014).

On the first iteration of Netflix’s “Monster,” Nash-Betts plays Glenda Cleveland, an unassuming Milwaukee resident who gained unfortunate notoriety in the early 1990s when her suspicions surrounding her neighbor, Jeffrey Dahmer, led to his arrest and conviction as a serial killer. Evan Peters has also received a Best TV Movie/Miniseries Actor nomination for his chilling portrayal of Dahmer. Their two bids contribute to Netflix’s total of 12 in this year’s TV SAG Awards categories, which is higher than that of any other streamer or network.

Although Nash-Betts is the only general first-time SAG Award contender in her lineup, nearly all of her competitors had never been nominated by the guild for TV work until now. The odd one out in that regard is Julia Garner, who is now on her third drama actress and ensemble bids for “Ozark” as well as her first limited series one for “Inventing Anna.” Also in the mix are past film SAG Award winners Emily Blunt (supporting, “A Quiet Place,” 2019) and Jessica Chastain (ensemble, “The Help,” 2012; lead, “The Eyes of Tammy Faye,” 2022), who are now nominated for “The English” and “George and Tammy,” respectively. Rounding out the group is Amanda Seyfried (“The Dropout”), who has one film cast bid to her name for 2012’s “Les Misérables.”

This article is a part of Gold Derby’s “SAG Awards nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2023 contenders in film and TV.

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