A month ago our Emmy Experts thought Best Drama Actor was a two-way race between Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”) and Jason Bateman (“Ozark”), while only one was betting on an upset by Richard Madden (“Bodyguard”). Then a couple of weeks ago two Experts were predicting Madden. Well, the Scottish actor is still gaining ground as we get closer and closer to the Emmy nominations, which will be announced on July 16. Now four of those elite journalists think he will prevail.
As of this writing, Thelma Adams (Gold Derby), Mary Murphy (Gold Derby), Robert Rorke (New York Post) and Peter Travers (Rolling Stone) think Madden will win for his title role as battle-scarred soldier David Budd, who is tasked with protecting a controversial politician (Keeley Hawes) after preventing a suicide bombing on a train. He won a Golden Globe earlier this year for his performance, and he was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award.
When you combine the predictions of more than 3,000 total users to date, Madden still ranks third in the race with 5/1 odds, while Odenkirk and Bateman are tied at the top with 9/2 odds. But the Experts have actually moved Madden ahead of Bateman, who now only has support from three of them. Billy Porter (“Pose”) is also on the rise with support from four top journos, while Odenkirk maintains his lead with eight backing him to prevail.
Traumatized soldiers have done better in this category than you might think. A win for Madden would be the most reminiscent of Damian Lewis‘s victory for playing a brainwashed soldier in “Homeland” in 2012, but Kiefer Sutherland also won this race in 2006 for playing army man-turned-government agent Jack Bauer in “24.” And don’t forget Jon Hamm. The “Mad Men” star’s ad exec character Don Draper, whom he won for playing in 2015, was actually Korean War soldier Dick Whitman with an assumed identity.
Odenkirk and Bateman have already been nominated by the Emmys for their roles, so we already know the television academy likes them, but perhaps the tide is turning towards the Emmy rookie.
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.
