Emmy Awards: The lowdown on winners, including big night for 'Shogun' and 'Baby Reindeer'
Shogun had historic wins in an epic 18-Emmy first season, Hacks scored an upset for best comedy on what was still a four-trophy night for The Bear, and Baby Reindeer also took home four awards.
Shogun, the FX series about power struggles in feudal Japan, won best drama series, Hiroyuki Sanada won best actor in a drama, and Anna Sawai won best actress. Sanada was the first Japanese actor to win an Emmy; Sawai became the second just moments later.
“Shogun taught me when we work together, we can make miracles,” Sanada said in his acceptance speech from the stage of the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Sanada is a 63-year-old longtime screen star whose name is little known outside Japan, even if his face is through Hollywood films like The Last Samurai and John Wick Chapter 4.
Sawai, 32, who was born in New Zealand and moved to Japan as a child, is significantly less known in the US.
Along with 14 Emmys it claimed at the precursor Creative Arts Emmys, it had an unmatched performance with 18 overall for one season. Indeed, Shogun shattered the record for Emmys for one season previously held by the limited series John Adams in 2008.
Hacks was the surprise winner of its first best comedy series award, topping The Bear, which most had expected to take it after big wins earlier in the evening.
Jean Smart won her third best actress in a comedy award for the third season of Hacks, in which her stand-up comic character Deborah Vance tries to make it in late-night TV. Smart has six Emmys overall.
Despite losing out on the night's biggest comedy prize after winning it for its first season at January's strike-delayed ceremony, FX's The Bear star Jeremy Allen White won best actor in a comedy for the second straight year, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach repeated as best supporting actor.
The Bear would finish second with 11 overall Emmys, including guest acting wins at the Creative Arts ceremony for Jamie Lee Curtis and Jon Bernthal.
Liza Colón-Zayas was the surprise best supporting actor winner over competition that included Meryl Streep, becoming the first Latina to win in the category.
“To all the Latinas who are looking at me,” she said, her eyes welling with tears, “keep believing, and vote.”
Netflix’s darkly quirky Baby Reindeer won best limited series. Creator and star Richard Gadd won for his lead acting and his writing and Jessica Gunning, who plays his tormentor, won best supporting actress. Accepting the series award, Gadd urged the makers of television to take chances.
“The only constant across any success in television is good storytelling," he said. "Good storytelling that speaks to our times. So take risks, push boundaries. Explore the uncomfortable. Dare to fail in order to achieve.”
Baby Reindeer is based on a one man-stage show in which Gadd describes being sexually abused along with other emotional struggles.
Accepting that award, he said, “no matter how bad it gets, it always gets better.”
Jodie Foster won her first Emmy to go with her two Oscars when she took best actress in a limited series for True Detective: Night Country. In the HBO show, Foster played a police chief investigating a mass killing in the round-the-clock dark of an Alaskan winter. While her castmate Kali Reis missed out on becoming the first Indigenous actor to win an Emmy in the supporting category, Foster praised her, and the show's collaboration with Indigenous contributors.
“The Inupiaq and Inuit people of northern Alaska who told us their stories, and they allowed us to listen," Foster said. "That was just a blessing. It was love, love, love, and when you feel that, something amazing happens.”
Greg Berlanti, a producer and writer on shows including Dawson's Creek and Everwood, received the Television Academy's Governors Award for his career-long contributions to improving LGBTQ visibility on television. He talked about a childhood when there was little such visibility.
“There wasn’t a lot of gay characters on television back then, and I was a closeted gay kid," Berlanti said. "It’s hard to describe how lonely that was at the time.”
The long decline of traditional broadcast TV at the Emmys continued, with zero wins between the four broadcast networks.
In the monologue that opened the ABC telecast, Dan Levy, who hosted with his father and Schitt's Creek co-star Eugene Levy, called the Emmys “broadcast TV’s biggest night for honoring movie stars on streaming services.”
Other than Foster, movie stars didn't fare too well. Her fellow Oscar winners Streep and Robert Downey Jr. had been among the favorites, but came up empty.
“Robert Downey Jr. I have a poster of you in my house!” said Lamorne Morris, who beat Downey for best supporting actor in a limited series, said from the stage as he accepted his first Emmy.
The evening managed to meet many expectations but included several swerves like the win for Hacks.
“We were really shocked,” Hacks co-creator Jen Statsky, who also won for writing, said after the show. ”We were truly, really surprised."
Elsewhere, Elizabeth Debicki took best supporting actress in a drama for playing Princess Diana at the end of her life in the sixth and final season of The Crown.
“Playing this part, based on this unparalleled, incredible human being, has been my great privilege," Debicki said in her acceptance. "It’s been a gift.”
Here is the full list of winners (in bold)
Outstanding drama series
Shogun
The Crown
Fallout
The Gilded Age
The Morning Show
Mr & Mrs Smith
Slow Horses
3 Body Problem
Outstanding comedy series
Hacks
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Only Murders in the Building
Palm Royale
Reservation Dogs
What We Do in the Shadows
Outstanding limited or anthology series
Baby Reindeer
Fargo
Lessons in Chemistry
Ripley
True Detective: Night Country
Outstanding lead actor in a drama series
Hiroyuki Sanada - Shogun
Idris Elba - Hijack
Donald Glover - Mr & Mrs Smith
Walton Goggins - Fallout
Gary Oldman - Slow Horses
Dominic West - The Crown
Outstanding lead actress in a drama series
Anna Sawai - Shogun
Jennifer Aniston - The Morning Show
Carrie Coon - The Gilded Age
Maya Erskine - Mr & Mrs Smith
Imelda Staunton - The Crown
Reese Witherspoon - The Morning Show
Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series
Jeremy Allen White - The Bear
Matt Berry - What We Do in the Shadows
Larry David - Curb Your Enthusiasm
Steve Martin - Only Murders in the Building
Martin Short - Only Murders in the Building
D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai - Reservation Dogs
Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series
Jean Smart - Hacks
Quinta Brunson - Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri - The Bear
Selena Gomez - Only Murders in the Building
Maya Rudolph - Loot
Kristen Wiig - Palm Royale
Outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie
Richard Gadd - Baby Reindeer
Matt Bomer - Fellow Travelers
Jon Hamm - Fargo
Tom Hollander - Feud: Capote vs The Swans
Andrew Scott - Ripley
Outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie
Jodie Foster - True Detective: Night Country
Brie Larson - Lessons in Chemistry
Juno Temple - Fargo
Sofía Vergara - Griselda
Naomi Watts - Feud: Capote vs The Swans
Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series
Billy Crudup - The Morning Show
Tadanobu Asano - Shogun
Mark Duplass - The Morning Show
Jon Hamm - The Morning Show
Takehiro Hira - Shogun
Jack Lowden - Slow Horses
Jonathan Pryce - The Crown
Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series
Elizabeth Debicki - The Crown
Christine Baranski - The Gilded Age
Nicole Beharie - The Morning Show
Greta Lee - The Morning Show
Lesley Manville - The Crown
Karen Pittman - The Morning Show
Holland Taylor - The Morning Show
Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series
Ebon Moss-Bachrach - The Bear
Lionel Boyce - The Bear
Paul W Downs - Hacks
Paul Rudd - Only Murders In The Building
Tyler James Williams - Abbott Elementary
Bowen Yang - Saturday Night Live
Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series
Liza Colon-Zayas - The Bear
Carol Burnett - Palm Royale
Hannah Einbinder - Hacks
Janelle James - Abbott Elementary
Sheryl Lee Ralph - Abbott Elementary
Meryl Streep - Only Murders In The Building
Outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie
Lamorne Morris - Fargo
Jonathan Bailey - Fellow Travellers
Robert Downey Jr - The Sympathizer
Tom Goodman-Hill - Baby Reindeer
John Hawkes - True Detective: Night Country
Lewis Pullman - Lessons In Chemistry
Treat Williams - Feud: Capote vs The Swans
Outstanding supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie
Jessica Gunning - Baby Reindeer
Dakota Fanning - Ripley
Lily Gladstone - Under the Bridge
Aja Naomi King - Lessons in Chemistry
Diane Lane - Feud: Capote vs The Swans
Nava Mau - Baby Reindeer
Kali Reis - True Detective: Night Country
Outstanding reality competition program
The Traitors
The Amazing Race
RuPauls Drag Race
Top Chef
The Voice
Outstanding scripted variety series
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver
Saturday Night Live
Outstanding talk series
The Daily Show
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Late Night With Seth Meyers
The Late Show With Stephen Colbert
Outstanding writing for a drama series
Slow Horses, Negotiating With Tigers - Will Smith
The Crown, Ritz - Peter Morgan & Meriel Sheibani-Clare
Fallout, The End - Geneva Robertson-Dworet & Graham Wagner
Mr & Mrs Smith, First Date - Francesca Sloane & Donald Glover
Shogun, Anjin - Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks
Shogun, Crimson Sky - Rachel Kondo & Caillin Puente
Outstanding writing for a comedy series
Hacks, Bulletproof - Lucia Aniello, Paul W Downs & Jen Statsky
Abbott Elementary, Career Day - Quinta Brunson
The Bear, Fishes - Christopher Storer & Joanna Calo
Girls5eva, Orlando - Meredith Scardino & Sam Means
The Other Two, Brooke Hosts A Night Of Undeniable Good - Chris Kelly & Sarah Schneider
What We Do In The Shadows, Pride Parade - Jake Bender & Zach Dunn
Outstanding writing for a limited or anthology series or movie
Baby Reindeer - Richard Gadd
Black Mirror, Joan Is Awful - Charlie Brooker
Fargo, The Tragedy of the Commons - Noah Hawley
Fellow Travelers, You're Wonderful - Ron Nyswaner
Ripley - Steven Zaillian
True Detective: Night Country, Part 6 - Issa Lopez
Outstanding writing for a variety special
Alex Edelman: Just For Us
Jacqueline Novak: Get On Your Knees
John Early: Now More Than Ever
Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man And The Pool
The Oscars
Outstanding directing for a drama series
Shogun, Crimson Sky - Frederick EO Toye
The Crown, Sleep - Stephen Daldry
The Morning Show, The Overview Effect - Mimi Leder
Mr & Mrs Smith, First Date - Hiro Murai
Slow Horses, Strange Games - Saul Metzstein
Winning Time: The Rise Of The Lakers Dynasty, Beat LA - Salli Richardson-Whitfield
Outstanding directing for a comedy series
The Bear, Fishes - Christopher Storer
Abbott Elementary, Party - Randall Einhorn
The Gentlemen, Refined Aggression - Guy Ritchie
Hacks, Bulletproof - Lucia Aniello
The Ms Pat Show, I’m The Pappy - Mary Lou Belli
Outstanding directing for a limited or anthology series or movie
Ripley - Steven Zaillian
Baby Reindeer, Episode 4 - Weronika Tofilska
Fargo, The Tragedy of the Commons - Noah Hawley
Feud: Capote vs The Swans, Pilot - Gus Van Sant
Lessons In Chemistry, Poirot - Millicent Shelton
True Detective: Night Country - Issa Lopez
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