Emmys Diversity
FX/HBO

Emmys Could Make History With Diversity In Every Acting Category

Emmy voters are in the position to break a huge record for the 2017 ceremony by having at least one non-white nominee in every single acting race.

Television has made huge strides in presenting stories about people of color, over the last five years especially. Shows from a different perspective, like Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black, Fox’s Empire, The CW’s Jane the Virgin, and ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat, have all shown that there is an audience out there craving for their stories to be told. This has led to even more diversity of content than ever before, and it’s growing exponentially, which is a good thing even if it can be maddeningly difficult to keep up with everything, as a TV fan.

Like the Oscars, the Emmys do not have a great track record when it comes to rewarding non-white actors. In fact, only 13 black actresses have ever been nominated for either Best Comedy Lead Actress or Best Drama Lead Actress, with just two winning. As one of those winners, Viola Davis, said during her 2015 acceptance speech, though, “You cannot win an Emmy for roles that are simply not there.” It’s even worse off for Latino actors and actresses, and for those of East Asian, South Asian, Middle Eastern, and Native American descent, representation is unspeakably low.

The Emmys have turned things around over the past several years, especially in 2016 when 21 non-white actors were nominated in acting categories, a record high. It was the first time the six lead acting categories had at least one person of color, with some having as many as three. There were four victories for non-white actors, including black actors Courtney B. Vance, Sterling K. Brown, and Regina King, and Egyptian American Rami Malek.

For 2017, the Emmys could very easily make history again by nominating at least one person of color in each acting category. Here is a list of the viable non-white acting contenders for each category, ranked in order of general likelihood of nomination:

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson – black-ish (nominated in 2015, 2016)

Aziz Ansari – Master of None (nominated in 2016)

Donald Glover – Atlanta

Dwayne Johnson – Ballers

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Tracee Ellis Ross – black-ish (nominated in 2016)

Issa Rae – Insecure

Gina Rodriguez – Jane the Virgin

Constance Wu – Fresh Off the Boat

Maya Rudolph – Maya & Marty

America Ferrera – Superstore

Rashida Jones – Angie Tribeca

Logan Browning – Dear White People

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Rami Malek – Mr. Robot (winner in 2016)

Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us (winner in 2016 for The People v. O.J. Simpson)

Ricky Whittle – American Gods

Wagner Moura – Narcos

Aldis Hodge – Underground

Mike Colter – Luke Cage

Terrence Howard – Empire

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Viola Davis – How to Get Away with Murder (winner in 2015, nominated in 2016)

Taraji P. Henson – Empire (nominated in 2015, 2016)

Rutina Wesley – Queen Sugar

Kerry Washington – Scandal

Jennifer Lopez – Shades of Blue

Ruth Negga – Preacher

Jurnee Smollett-Bell – Underground

Lead Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Riz Ahmed – The Night Of

Laurence Fishburne – Madiba

Babou Ceesay – Guerrilla

Lead Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Oprah Winfrey – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Sanaa Lathan – Shots Fired

Freida Pinto – Guerrilla

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Tituss Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (nominated in 2015, 2016)

Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine (nominated in 2014, 2015, 2016)

Brian Tyree Henry – Atlanta

Laurence Fishburne – black-ish

Lakeith Stanfield – Atlanta

Fred Armisen – Documentary Now!

Bobby Cannavale – Master of None

Kenan Thompson – Saturday Night Live

William Jackson Harper – The Good Place

Jaime Camil – Jane the Virgin

Kumail Nanjiani – Silicon Valley

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Rita Moreno – One Day at a Time

Jenifer Lewis – black-ish

Leslie Jones – Saturday Night Live

Zazie Beetz – Atlanta

Sofía Vergara – Modern Family

Lena Waithe – Master of None

Yvonne Orji – Insecure

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Jeffrey Wright – Westworld

Ron Cephas Jones – This Is Us

Giancarlo Esposito – Better Call Saul

F. Murray Abraham – Homeland

Kevin Carroll – The Leftovers

Jimmy Smits – 24: Legacy

Pedro Pascal – Narcos

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Thandie Newton – Westworld

Uzo Aduba – Orange Is the New Black (winner in 2014 and 2015)

Samira Wiley – The Handmaid’s Tale

Samira Wiley – Orange Is the New Black

Aisha Hinds – Underground

Alfre Woodard – Luke Cage

Danielle Brooks – Orange Is the New Black

Amirah Vann – Underground

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Reg E. Cathey – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Idris Elba – Guerrilla

Benito Martinez – American Crime

Michael Kenneth Williams – The Night Of

Richard Cabral – American Crime

Cuba Gooding Jr. – American Horror Story: Roanoke

Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Regina King – American Crime (winner in 2015 and 2016)

Viola Davis – Custody

Zoë Kravitz – Big Little Lies

Gugu Mbatha-Raw – Black Mirror: San Junipero

Jennifer Hudson – Hairspray Live!

Adina Porter – American Horror Story: Roanoke

Renée Elise Goldsberry – The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Angela Bassett – American Horror Story: Roanoke

***

That’s not even counting the guest acting categories, where any number of contenders could get nominated, like Riz Ahmed, Aziz Ansari, Dave Chappelle, Daveed Diggs, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Angela Bassett, Maya Rudolph, Alfre Woodard, Orlando Jones, Ron Cephas Jones, John Legend, Glynn Turman, BD Wong, Khandi Alexander, Laverne Cox, Rihanna, and Cicely Tyson.

The Emmy nominations for 2017 will be announced July 13.

Which actors would you like to see get nominated this year? Let me know in this comments section below.