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
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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.