Emmys 2019: Supporting Actress, Comedy — Dream Nominees
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ALEX BORSTEIN, THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL
WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: Her primary Season 2 scene partner was a toilet plunger, and the two of them had amazing chemistry. But for our money, the moment that made defending Emmy champ Borstein one of our Dream nominees arrived in Episode 9 when the gruff Susie laid bare her affection for No. 1 client Midge during a rousing confrontation with their mutual archenemy Sophie Lennon. Borstein deftly infused Susie's trademark bravado with heart-tugging vulnerability, and we've never loved the character more.
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BETTY GILPIN, GLOW
WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: May we direct your attention to Season 2's "Mother of All Matches" episode, in which Gilpin hilariously steered a manic Debbie through rollercoaster highs and lows — including a serene, a capella rendition of "Home on the Range"? Or how about "Nothing Shattered," in which the virtuosic actress gave us Debbie at her most raw during that fight with Ruth? Gilpin deserves a nomination even more than Liberty Belle deserved the G.L.O.W. crown (no offense, Welfare Queen).
The Good Place - Season 3
D'ARCY CARDEN, THE GOOD PLACE
WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: We would've been fine with another season of typical Janet hi-jinks from Carden, and we did get those, from confessing to her long-standing crush on Jason to beating up demons in a free-wheeling bar fight. But Carden blew us away in a showcase episode that saw her play all of her co-stars at once when each character temporarily became a Janet. It was such an impressive display of versatility that even a single Emmy nomination doesn't seem like enough.
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MOLLY SHANNON, THE OTHER TWO
WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: In some ways, The Other Two's Pat Dubek is like any mom — so focused on holding her family together that she doesn't notice herself slowly unraveling. And Shannon contributes even more layers to her complicated character, balancing the innate hilarity of an overzealous mother of a viral teen sensation with the (mostly) unspoken heartbreak of a frustrated widow who's finally ready to seize her moment. And we support her.
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NATASHA ROTHWELL, INSECURE
WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: The Emmys have previously recognized series star Issa Rae; now it's (past) time they acknowledged supporting player Rothwell, who never met a scene she couldn't steal. In Season 3 of the HBO dramedy, she reminded us over and over how she made Kelli the show's breakout character, whether she was mischievously suggesting that Issa was "concubining" to live rent-free with Daniel or putting on a show at Coachella that deserved a standing ovation, not a tasing.
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OLIVIA COLMAN, FLEABAG
WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: One of many reasons Fleabag Season 2 improved on the sterling first season was that it gave Colman more to do. As the evil Godmother to Phoebe Waller-Bridge's titular anti-heroine, the Oscar winner laced every one of her increasingly cruel zingers with such warm, sugary earnestness that it sometimes took a moment for her verbal stealth bombs to fully detonate. But her real gift was how she managed to make her psychotic-adjacent alter ego feel like a real human being, one with whom we sympathized — and even rooted for.
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SIAN CLIFFORD, FLEABAG
WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: As Fleabag's terminally uptight sister Claire, Clifford was the neurotic yin to the free-spirit yang of Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and the two balanced each other out so perfectly, you'd almost swear they really were sisters. But as Claire flirted with infidelity and contemplated a divorce, Clifford poignantly revealed that Fleabag's sister doesn't have it all figured out after all — and that Fleabag isn't the only fascinatingly complicated woman on this show.