‘White House Plumbers’ could finally bag Woody Harrelson that Emmy bookend after 34 years

Jacob Sarkisian
·6 min read
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Woody Harrelson is on the hunt for an Emmys comeback almost 10 years after his last nomination as he stars in the political satire “White House Plumbers.” The acclaimed HBO limited series is based on the book by Egil and Matthew Krogh and tells the tale of the duo behind Watergate — E. Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy, who were President Nixon‘s operatives and were part of a team known as the White House Plumbers. They were the ones responsible for plugging press leaks and preventing news stories by any means necessary — but things went awry for them as they ended up mistakenly overturning Nixon’s Presidency, the thing they were entrusted to protect.

Justin Theroux stars as Liddy while Harrelson takes on the role of Hunt. Hunt was later convicted for his role in the team and served 33 months in prison for conspiracy, burglary, and wiretapping. Harrelson is a natural choice for a bumbling man who is shown up in every area of his life — both at home and at work. He is something of a fool and Harrelson delivers this as well as you’d expect him to. But what bolsters this performance into something more is the fact that Harrelson shoulders the dramatic responsibilities of the show, too. He is the one you route for, scold, pity, and feel the most about it. Harrelson himself is the one who elevates this show from satirical comedy to something more well-rounded, as critics have noted.

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Vicky Jessop (Evening Standard) explained: “Is it funny? How could it not be? Harrelson and Theroux have pitch-perfect chemistry, playing the odd couple to perfection. They rapidly alternate between falling out, and hugging it out. Shouting is their preferred method of communication; they are beta males aspiring to be alphas.”

David Bianculli (NPR) observed: “The dialogue is rich throughout ‘White House Plumbers,’ and so are the performances and characters. Harrelson is wonderful — exploding like Ralph Kramden one minute, simmering like Macbeth the next — and the supporting cast is a very deep bench, serving up unexpected treasures every episode.”

Keith Phipps (TV Guide) proclaimed: “It’s Harrelson and Theroux’s show, however, and both skillfully perform the tightrope act needed to keep the series funny without ignoring the gravity of the events it depicts. Slipping into breathless rage with little warning, Harrelson plays Howard as a man driven by grievance and ideals he hasn’t reexamined in decades. He feels cheated of the spotlight and his place in the world, and it’s not clear where his true belief that the Democrats threaten the future of America ends and his own soul-deep need for validation begins. Harrelson’s terrific. He’s also been this good before.”

As such, Harrelson finds himself right on the precipice of an Emmy nomination for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actor. However, he is just outside of our lineup of six predicted nominees: Steve Carell (“The Patient”), Michael Shannon (“George and Tammy”), Daniel Radcliffe (“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”), Steven Yeun (“Beef”), Taron Egerton (“Black Bird”), and Evan Peters (“Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”). But don’t count out Harrelson just yet — he is right on the heels of Carell and co, and he checks a lot of the boxes that you typically need to in order to earn a nomination in this category.

First, Harrelson is a big-name film star. He may have started out as Woody Boyd on “Cheers,” but he’s now become an internationally-recognized A-list movie star who has been in some major projects, including “Now You See Me,” “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” “Zombieland,” and “The Hunger Games” film series. That helps in this category — they like nominating movie stars here.

Last year, “Batman” actor Michael Keaton won for “Dopesick” while Colin Firth (“The Staircase”), Oscar Isaac (“Scenes From a Marriage”), Sebastian Stan (“Pam and Tommy”), and Spider-Man himself, Andrew Garfield (“Under the Banner of Heaven”), were all also nominated. The year before that, Hugh Grant (“The Undoing”) and Paul Bettany (“WandaVision”) were nominated while Ewan McGregor (“Halston”) won. And, in 2020, Wolverine was a nominee (Hugh Jackman, for “Bad Education”) and the Hulk was the victor (Mark Ruffalo, for “I Know This Much is True”). Of those actors, Keaton, Garfield, Jackman, and Ruffalo are all previous Oscar-nominees while Firth won Best Actor for “The King’s Speech” in 2011. Voters love an Oscar nominee in this category, and Harrelson is exactly that.

He earned a Best Actor nomination in 1997 for “The People vs. Larry Flynt” and then reaped two Supporting Actor bids in 2010 and 2018 for “The Messenger” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” respectively. He’d be one of a many Oscar-nominated movie stars to feel the love of the Emmys in this category. In fact, he  has already felt that love. He was nominated here in 2012 for playing Steve Schmidt in “Game Change.”

That was another limited series telling a true story of a political nature. True story shows are always loved in these categories. Keaton won for “Dopesick,” Firth was nominated for “The Staircase,” Jackman was nominated for “Bad Education,” Grant was nominated for “A Very English Scandal,” and McGregor was nominated for “Halston.” That’s just five examples of actors who were nominated for limited series based on true stories. Harrelson and “White House Plumbers,” then, are right up voters’ streets in this category, like Harrelson and “Game Change” was.

But that “Game Change” bid is just one of many Emmy nominations for Harrelson. He was nominated for Best Drama Actor and Best Drama Series for “True Detective” in 2014 while he reaped a Best Comedy Guest Actor bid for “Frasier” in 1999. His first lot of nominations all came for Best Comedy Supporting Actor for “Cheers” — in 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1990. He won in 1989. He is clearly very well liked by voters and that could continue this year. Watch out for Harrelson.

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