Emmy host Andy Samberg joked in his monologue that if Uzo Aduba won Best Drama Supporting Actress for “Orange is the New Black,” she would be “the new Ed Asner” because he was previously the only star to win for the same role in both Comedy and Drama. Well, it happened.
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with Christina Hendricks, Uzo Aduba, and Joanne Froggatt
Aduba plays Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren in the Netflix prison series “Orange is the New Black.” She won Best Comedy Guest Actress last year, but moved to this race after the TV academy deemed the series a drama. She got 3/1 odds to prevail, good enough for third place in our rankings. She submitted the episode “Hugs Can Be Deceiving,” in which we learn Crazy Eyes’ backstory as an adopted child and an outcast.
Gold Derby predicted that Lena Headey would go along for the “Game of Thrones” sweep for her performance as Cersei Lannister. Our exclusive Gold Derby odds placed her out front at 9/5 to prevail on her second straight nomination for HBO’s epic fantasy series.
Headey faced a tough challenge from Christina Hendricks, nominated for the sixth year in a row for playing Joan Harris in “Mad Men.” She had 27/20 odds to finally prevail. She submitted the episode “Lost Horizon,” also nominated for Best Drama Writing, in which Joan walks out of McCann Erickson after experiencing the rampant sexism of her new colleagues.
Ranked fourth with 12/1 odds was this category’s only other past champ, Christine Baranski (“The Good Wife“), whose previous win was for Best Comedy Supporting Actress for “Cybil” back in 1995. In all, she has been nominated 14 times. She submitted the episode “Loser Edit,” in which her character, attorney Diane Lockhart, stages a mock trial for a conservative client in an anti-gay discrimination case.
Trailing with 25/1 odds was Joanne Froggatt, nominated for the third time for playing maid Anna Bates in “Downton Abbey.” She won the Golden Globe for her performance back in January, but she has yet to win an Emmy. The TV academy considered her in “Episode 508,” in which Anna is arrested for the murder of the man who raped her.
Ranked last with 100/1 odds was Headey’s “Game of Thrones” co-star Emilia Clarke. She plays Daenerys Targaryen, who is in the midst of a long campaign to take the iron throne and rule Westeros. This is her second nomination for the role, following a bid in 2013, and in her episode submission, “The Dance of Dragons,” a blood-sport battle is interrupted by an insurrectionist attack; hope seems lost, but Daenerys is rescued by one of her dragons and flees the city.
