2023 Emmy Predictions: Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress
Although her competitors include multi-Emmy-winning actresses Claire Danes (“Fleishman is in Trouble”) and Merritt Wever (“Tiny Beautiful Things”), Niecy Nash-Betts is widely expected to finally triumph on her fourth TV academy acting notice, which has come for her supporting turn on the limited series “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” Over three quarters of Gold Derby’s Emmy predictors are backing her potential victory, which would follow her 2023 Critics Choice Award win for the same performance.
Aside from Danes and Wever, the only other returning Emmy nominee in this year’s Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress lineup is Juliette Lewis (“Welcome to Chippendales”). Lewis’s cast mate, Annaleigh Ashford, takes up another slot, while the remaining two are filled by first-timers Maria Bello (“Beef”) and Camila Morrone (“Daisy Jones & the Six”).
More from GoldDerby
'Ted Lasso' looking for first Emmy goal in comedy writing category
Audiences call 'Gran Turismo' a 'must-watch movie' for racing fans and gamers [Review Round-Up]
In order to determine the true likelihood of Nash-Betts’s probable win, let’s take a closer look at each nominee. Be sure to visit our predictions center to make your own picks in this and 25 other Primetime Emmy categories.
Annaleigh Ashford as Irene Banerjee (“Welcome to Chippendales”)
Episode: “February 31”
Ashford, who recently played Bill Clinton accuser Paula Jones on “Impeachment: American Crime Story,” appears here as the accountant and eventual wife of real-life Chippendales founder Steve Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani). In the sixth chapter of the eight-part series, the couple struggle to keep their heads above water while dealing with a class action lawsuit and the effects of various frivolous purchases, leading Irene to play a more active part in her husband’s dishonest business practices.
Maria Bello as Jordan Forster (“Beef”)
Episode: “The Great Fabricator”
More than 30 years into her career, Screen Actors Guild Award winner Bello (“ER,” 1998) has finally caught the attention of the TV academy with her portrayal of a sickeningly rich investor who makes small business owner Amy Lau (Ali Wong) really work for her money. In the show’s penultimate episode, which is also nominated for its directing, Amy lures her young daughter’s kidnappers to Jordan’s well-appointed home, which is equipped with a panic room that ends up doing the opposite of protecting its owner.
Claire Danes as Rachel (“Fleishman is in Trouble”)
Episode: “Me-Time”
With 10 nominations across four categories, Danes boasts the most extensive Emmys resume of anyone in this group. Following her lead victories for the TV movie “Temple Grandin” (2010) and the drama series “Homeland” (2012-2013), her fourth acting win would come for her portrayal of a mentally unstable woman who disappears after abruptly leaving her children with her ex-husband, Toby (Jesse Eisenberg). In this episode, narrator Libby (Lizzy Caplan) listens as Rachel runs through her full life story, thus giving viewers a deeper understanding of what led to her and Toby’s divorce.
Juliette Lewis as Denise Coughlan (“Welcome to Chippendales”)
Episode: “Paper is Paper”
Exactly 20 years after she first competed for this award as a featured “Hysterical Blindness” cast member, Lewis is back in the running thanks to her performance as Chippendales costume designer Denise. In “Paper is Paper,” her character’s long-held dream of being with closeted choreographer Nick De Noia (Murray Bartlett) is decidedly crushed, and she then loses her friend via premeditated murder, which she instantly blames on Steve.
Camila Morrone as Camila Alvarez (“Daisy Jones & the Six”)
Episode: “Track 10: Rock ‘n’ Roll Suicide”
26-year-old professional model Morrone’s first Emmy notice comes for her debut TV performance as the unhappy wife of Daisy Jones & the Six co-lead singer Billy Dunne (Sam Claflin). In the series finale, the dejected photographer calls her husband out over his romantic feelings for his bandmate, Daisy (Riley Keough), only for her own affair with bassist Eddie (Josh Whitehouse) to be revealed soon after.
Niecy Nash-Betts as Glenda Cleveland (“Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”)
Episode: “Cassandra”
Nash-Betts’s first bid in this category follows her two comedy supporting nominations for “Getting On” (2015-2016), her lead one for the limited series “When They See Us” (2019), and her 2022 producing notice for the TV movie “Reno 911!: The Hunt for QAnon.” In her submitted episode, Glenda struggles with her feelings of rage and survivor’s guilt following the long-awaited arrest of her neighbor, Jeffrey Dahmer (Evan Peters), who is later convicted as a prolific serial killer.
Merritt Wever as Frankie Pierce (“Tiny Beautiful Things”)
Episode: “Pilot”
Wever joins Lewis in having already vied for this prize, with her 2018 bid for “Godless” having resulted in a win. Here, the two-time Emmy champion (who was first honored for her comedic supporting “Nurse Jackie” performance in 2013) plays the long-deceased mother of middle-aged advice columnist Clare (Kathryn Hahn), who frequently thinks back to their life together and of the impact her death has had on her and her younger brother, Lucas (Nick Stahl).
So, who will win the 2023 Emmy for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress? Based on the fact that it also serves as their directing and writing submission, the “Fleishman is in Trouble” team clearly have a lot of confidence in “Me-Time,” but asking voters to simultaneously focus on more than two major aspects of a single episode is inherently risky. For instance, this notion was taken seriously by the presently nominated “Succession” actors, all of whom refrained from submitting “Connor’s Wedding” so that voters could devote their attention to its directing and writing.
It is also true that Nash-Betts beat Danes at the Critics Choice Awards and can be reasonably assumed that she would have done the same at the Golden Globes in the hypothetical absence of trophy magnet Jennifer Coolidge (“The White Lotus”). Regardless of any other factors affecting these actresses, Nash-Betts’s emotionally stirring performance has proven to be the most impactful, while her series stands as the most popular one in the bunch. In this case, it’s safe to expect more than enough voters to support her first Emmy win rather than Danes’s fourth.
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Best of GoldDerby
Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.