Emmys 2020: Lead Actress, Drama — Our Dream Nominees

The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards will be airing (in some form!) on Sept. 20. Before the real nominees are unveiled on July 28, we at TVLine have come up with our own dream nominations in 15 major categories. Scroll down to see our ideal contenders for Lead Actress in a Drama Series, then give us your thoughts!

CAITRIONA BALFE, OUTLANDER

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: Balfe is always inherently captivating, as time-traveler Claire Fraser navigates the 1700s in fiery, familiar form. But Season 5 of the Starz series teed up a huge challenge — Claire's gang rape and the aftermath — and Balfe was amazing in it. She took Claire through a whirlwind of incandescent indignation, bereft sobbing and angry fragility, all in the space of an hour and all with the throughline that the violent attack would not be the end of her. Absolutely gutting, gorgeous work.

ELISABETH MOSS, THE HANDMAID'S TALE

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: An empowered June is a highly watchable June, and when the handmaid got her groove back and started fomenting revolution in Season 3, we couldn't tear ourselves away from what Moss would do next. There'll be a lot of awards talk about Episode 9, in which June almost loses her mind in near-solitary confinement — but don't sleep on all of Moss' shrewd work in June's many complicated tangles with Serena, or her worth-a-thousand-words facial expression as the plane of kiddos took off for Canada.

JENNIFER ANISTON, THE MORNING SHOW

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: The Friends vet was an absolute revelation as embattled co-anchor Alex Levy. We knew Aniston had comedy chops to spare. And courtesy of her indie film work (see: The Good Girl, Cake), she's proven herself to be no dramatic slouch either. But the Apple TV+ series has afforded the A-list actress the rare opportunity to regularly play comedy and drama (and even camp) simultaneously and, at times, unsympathetically. And she has more than risen to the occasion.

JODIE COMER, KILLING EVE

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: We already know Villanelle for her stylish kills (and her killer style), but in the BBC America thriller's third season, Comer dug deeper and showed us an achingly human side to the seemingly invincible assassin. Villanelle's trip home to Russia to reconnect with her roots was maybe Comer's finest hour yet, as the killer discovered a happiness she'd never known before confronting some long-lurking demons, with Comer revealing a childlike vulnerability. Villanelle has always been fun to watch, but Comer expertly added depth and dimension to make her more compelling than ever.

KIRSTEN DUNST, ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: Showtime's Southern-fried dramedy is chock-full of eccentrics and oddballs, but Dunst's fascinatingly layered lead performance as widowed mom Krystal Stubbs helped turn the quirkfest into something real and affecting. In Dunst's capable hands, Krystal was smart enough to plot her way up the ladder at her late husband's pyramid scheme... and tough enough to exact revenge on the alligator that killed said husband. Dunst made Krystal into a relentlessly resourceful force of nature — and that's earned her another shot at the Emmy she should've won for Season 2 of Fargo.

MANDY MOORE, THIS IS US

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: Year after year, the NBC drama reveals more about Pearson matriarch Rebecca — and we can't get enough of Moore as she plays each newly uncovered facet of her character. Season 4 served up moments both highly charged (that sublime kitchen tirade aimed at the teens) and deeply painful (Rebecca's Alzheimer's diagnosis), and Moore nailed all of them. As always, her biggest triumph was blending Rebecca's inherent wonder, sadness and hope into poignant portraits of a woman at several milestones along her lifespan.

ZENDAYA, EUPHORIA

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: With her dispassionate voiceovers and heavy-lidded, moody expression, it might seem at first like Euphoria's Rue doesn't care about anything. But throughout the HBO drama's eight-episode run, Zendaya found subtle, heartbreaking ways to show us that her recovering drug addict cares about everything, particularly her relationship with best friend and crush Jules. Underneath that angsty-teen exterior was a young woman trying to grasp her own identity, and we watched in awe every week as Zendaya presented new layers of Rue's heartache and uncertainty.