Meet the Most Exciting Contenders of Emmy Season
I’m David Canfield, and we here at Vanity Fair take our TV issue seriously. This year is no exception: Inside our splashy June issue, covered by an expansive Star Wars exclusive, we’ve got a jam-packed Emmys preview as the season kicks into gear. Already, you can meet the dozens of top contenders for nominations and wins featured in our gorgeous portfolio, from A-listers Anne Hathaway and Michael Keaton to breakouts Quinta Brunson and Angus Cloud. Joy Pressprofiles the magnetic Matthew Macfadyen, of Succession,gunning for his second straight nod (and maybe first win). And in our inside cover story on Squid Game, writer R.O. Kwondigs deep into the most unlikely—and electrifying—awards juggernaut of the season.
There’s plenty more to come, as my colleague Rebecca Fordand I dig into some of the biggest trends of the cycle, from an eerie, post-COVID focus on the return to offices to the rise of the “traum-com” in the half-hour auteur space. With every player at last unveiling themselves as May comes to a close, the big story lines and breakthroughs of a massive TV year are coming into focus.
One area that’s looking intriguingly messy is drama—Squid Game may be leading the pack with Succession, but beyond those two front-runners, an endless supply of worthy returning and new shows are battling for a handful of slots. This could actually help familiar faces like Rhea Seehorn; as I wrote in an analysis of the supporting-actress field that doubles as a heartfelt plea, the Better Call Saul alum is ridiculously overdue for her first nomination, and she’s got the built-in audience on her side. (Saul has been nominated for 39 Emmys over five seasons.) But then you look at a race like drama actress, where this week’s Little Gold Men guest Elisabeth Moss is among the many with a new role to campaign for (in her case, Apple TV+’s Shining Girls), and you wonder what can really go the distance.
The real muddle here, perhaps, is that in a spring with a ton of good-to-great TV streaming and on the air, nothing feels like a watercooler hit of the size of, say, last year’s breakout Mare of Easttown. This makes the campaigns that much fiercer, with less certainty and—they hope—more room to play.
And if all that weren’t enough, specialty film season gets its unofficial kickoff this week in Cannes, where Rebecca and Richard Lawson are soaking up South of France glamour and cinema. They’ve got reports on Tom Cruise’s blockbuster red-carpet entrance, James Gray’s lyrical new film (starring, to keep the TV thread strong, WeCrashed’s Hathaway and Succession’s Jeremy Strong), and more. The festival continues into this weekend, so stay tuned for more coverage there.
Here at home, though, it’s full steam ahead. In the past week alone, I’ve spoken with several Television Academy members around town, from Amazon’s Prime Experience in the canyons of Beverly Hills, to a hot FYC season destination in the Pacific Design Center, learning about what they are loving and what they are, yes, missing. We’re all racing around, trying to catch as much as we can. Take a break with our coverage, and we’ll try pointing you in the right direction.
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