2024 Emmy Predictions: Best Drama Guest Actress
In 2021, “The Crown” performer Claire Foy made Emmys history as the first winner of lead and guest acting trophies for a single role. With that monumental achievement on her resume, she naturally appears unstoppable as she seeks the 2024 Best Drama Guest Actress prize for her work on the farewell season of the same series.
Foy would follow Patricia Clarkson (“Six Feet Under”) and Margo Martindale (“The Americans”) as the third woman to win two guest Emmys for one drama program and would be the only two-time guest victor overall with a regular win for the same show. Those hoping to give her a run for her money are veteran contender Marcia Gay Harden (“The Morning Show”) and category newcomers Michaela Coel, Sarah Paulson, and Parker Posey, all three of whom represent “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.”
In order to determine whether Foy’s path to victory could possibly be blocked, let’s take a closer look at each nominee. Be sure to make your predictions in this and 30 other Creative Arts Emmy categories by September 7.
Michaela Coel as Bev (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”)
Episode: “Infidelity”
Coel’s fifth Emmy nomination in as many categories comes three years after she was recognized as a writer, director, producer, and star of the limited series “I May Destroy You.” She shows up in the penultimate episode of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith’s” first season as an enigmatic spy whose working relationship with lead character John Smith (Donald Glover) is exposed as duplicitous by his estranged partner, Jane (Maya Erskine).
Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II (“The Crown”)
Episode: “Sleep, Dearie Sleep”
Foy’s appearance in the series finale of “The Crown” is her fourth since handing over the lead role of Elizabeth II to Olivia Colman after season two. As her son and heir prepares to enter his second marriage, the nearly 80-year-old queen (Imelda Staunton) converses with two imagined versions of her younger self about her future on the throne. While the elder makes a strong case for her abdication, the younger ultimately succeeds in convincing her to see her duty through to the end.
Marcia Gay Harden as Maggie Brener (“The Morning Show”)
Episode: “Update Your Priors”
2022 contender Harden now joins Foy and 21 other women who received multiple nominations in this category for a single role. In her sole “Morning Show” appearance of the season and 10th overall, her character briefly reconnects with Jennifer Aniston’s Alex Levy and ends up assuaging her worries about actively contributing to the downfall of the UBA television network.
Sarah Paulson as The Therapist (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”)
Episode: “Couples Therapy (Naked & Afraid)”
Despite previously amassing eight acting Emmy nominations and a 2016 win for “American Crime Story,” Paulson had never been recognized for a guest or continuing series role until now. In her single “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” episode, she plays an unnamed and intentionally oblivious marriage counselor who coaxes the titular spy duo to open up about their shifting relationship dynamics before encouraging them to try working apart.
Parker Posey as Other Jane (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”)
Episode: “Double Date”
Posey’s first career Emmy bid comes for her first of two appearances in this romantic thriller’s inaugural season. As “super high risk” level spies, she and her partner (Wagner Moura) garner the lead characters’ intense admiration and indirectly make them realize their true love for one another by sending them on a life-threatening mission.
So, who will win the 2024 Emmy for Best Drama Guest Actress? Bearing in mind that Foy was ranked by Gold Derby users as the third likeliest winner in this category’s 2021 race, it speaks volumes that nearly 70% of our current predictors are backing her victory this time. Although her farewell win isn’t expected to precede one for “The Crown” itself, she should still prevail based on the fact that “The Morning Show” and “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” probably won’t win Best Drama Series either.
Foy’s competitors are not evenly matched in the eyes of our readers, as our racetrack odds significantly favor Coel over the others. As she faces the challenge of overcoming three-way vote-splitting, she can take comfort in the fact that Storm Reid (“The Last of Us”) had no trouble doing so just last year. However, the perpetual esteem voters hold for Foy in her regal role is already on full display and makes the idea of betting against her seem foolish.
PREDICT the Creative Arts Emmy winners through September 7
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