Michelle Williams (“Fosse/Verdon”) and Amy Adams (“Sharp Objects”) are both Emmy contenders this year for Best Movie/Limited Series Actress. Despite their long careers on the big and small screens, this would be the first Emmy nomination for both. But this wouldn’t be the only time they celebrate a career-first together. They also received their very first Oscar nominations in the same category.
In 2005 Williams co-starred in “Brokeback Mountain” as Alma, whose husband (Heath Ledger) was secretly in love with another man (Jake Gyllenhaal). The same year Adams gave a breakthrough performance in “Junebug” as Ashley, a pregnant North Carolina woman with an unfailingly optimistic attitude. Both women earned Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actress for their roles, though they ended up losing to Rachel Weisz (“The Constant Gardener”).
It turned out those were the first of many nominations for both actresses. Williams followed up “Brokeback Mountain” with Best Actress bids for “Blue Valentine” (2010) and “My Week with Marilyn” (2011), and then another Best Supporting Actress nom for “Manchester by the Sea” (2016). And Adams got subsequent Best Supporting Actress nominations for “Doubt” (2008), “The Fighter” (2010), “The Master” (2012) and “Vice” (2018), along with one Best Actress bid for “American Hustle” (2013). But neither of them has won.
Could they have better luck on TV? Adams earned raves last summer for her role as a traumatized reporter trying to solve a mystery in her hometown in “Sharp Objects.” And Williams will soon be seen in “Fosse/Verdon” as real-life dancer and actress Gwen Verdon, the wife of famed choreographer Bob Fosse (played by Sam Rockwell). A few years ago such high-profile roles might seem indomitable at the Emmys, but these days the race for Best Movie/Limited Series Actress is often as tough as the Oscar race for Best Actress.
According to our early Emmy predictions, both Adams and Williams trail front-runner Patricia Arquette (“Escape at Dannemora”), who recently won Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice and SAG Awards for her role as a prison worker who helps two convicts break out. Arquette already has an Emmy (“Medium”) and an Oscar (“Boyhood”). Can she thwart Adams and Williams in their pursuit of long-awaited hardware?
Be sure to make your Emmy predictions today so that Hollywood insiders can see how their TV shows and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions as often as you like until just before nominations are announced on July 16. And join in the fun debate over the 2019 Emmy taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our television forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
