‘Mr. and Mrs. Smith’ is a great Emmy showcase for guest stars
Last year, the nominees for both Best Drama Guest Actor and Best Drama Guest Actress were drawn from just two shows: “The Last of Us” and “Succession.” The former reaped a lucky seven nominations while the latter nabbed five. We don’t think any show will manage to snag that many nominations across these two drama guest acting categories this year but we do think one show will land more bids than any other: Amazon Prime Video’s “Mr. And Mrs. Smith.”
The spy-thriller series, created by Donald Glover and Francesca Sloane, is a reboot of the 2005 movie starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Glover stars in the lead role opposite “Pen15” actress and creator Maya Erskine. The two multi-hyphenates feature as a pair of spies (John and Jane) who must pretend to be a couple and complete missions together. The episodes each depict the stages of a relationship (first date, first vacation, double date, couples therapy, and more) through the prism a spy thriller. This format allows for some terrific guest stars to turn up and deliver some exquisite performances.
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Parker Posey, Sharon Horgan, Wagner Moura, Ron Perlman, and Billy Campbell all produce brilliant performances but they aren’t the four thespians we predict will land Emmy nominations for Best Drama Guest Actor or Best Drama Guest Actress. We are predicting that John Turturro and Paul Dano will be nominated for Best Drama Guest Actor alongside Nestor Carbonell (“Shōgun”) and “Fallout” duo Michael Emerson and Kyle MacLachlan. Meanwhile, we think that Sarah Paulson and Michaela Coel will secure Best Drama Guest Actress citations alongside Claire Foy (“The Crown”), Yuko Miyamoto (“Shōgun”), and Marcia Gay Harden (“The Morning Show”). Here’s the rundown on each of the four.
John Turturro
Turturro features in episode two, “Second Date,” as Eric Shane. John and Jane identify Eric as the intended target at a black-tie auction but they overdose him on truth serum, causing his death and their first failed mission. Turturro has three Emmy nominations to his name so far with his first bid coming for Best Comedy Guest Actor in 2004 for “Monk.” He won that bid. His second nomination came in 2017 for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actor for “The Night Of” while his third citation was for Best Drama Supporting Actor for “Severance” in 2022.
Paul Dano
Dano plays Harris Materbach, John and Janes’s unlikely “Hot Neighbor.” Dano’s role is a misdirection — many thought his character would turn out to be the over-arching series villain but he is actually just a real estate agent obsessed with John and Jane’s house. It’s a great gag and Dano has lots of fun with it. He features in episodes two (“Second Date”), four (“Double Date”), and eight (“A Breakup”). Dano only has one Emmy nomination to his name. That came in 2019 for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor for “Escape at Dannemora.”
Sarah Paulson
Paulson appears in episode six (“Couples Therapy (Naked & Afraid)”) as John and Jane’s therapist. Playing a therapist always seems fun (just ask Bryan Cranston in “Curb Your Enthusiasm” or Fiona Shaw in “Fleabag,” both of whom earned Emmy bids for their therapist turns) and Paulson excels here. Paulson has an extensive Emmys history with eight nominations to her name. Four of those bids were for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress — for “Game Change” in 2012, “American Horror Story: Asylum” in 2013, “American Horror Story: Freak Show” in 2015, and “American Horror Story: Hotel” in 2016. The other four nominations were for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress — “American Horror Story: Coven” in 2014, “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story” in 2016, “American Horror Story: Cult” in 2018, and “Impeachment: American Crime Story” in 2022. She won for “The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story.”
Michaela Coel
Coel pops up in episode seven (“Infidelity”). She plays Bev, a spy working for a rival company who Jane thinks is sleeping with John. Bev subsequently becomes embroiled in a fierce fight with both John and Jane. Coel demonstrates a physically commanding performance while her power as a performer is a great match for both Glover and Erskine. Coel has four Emmy nominations to her name. They all came in 2021 for her show “I May Destroy You,” which she created, wrote, produced, directed, and starred in. The citations were for Best Limited Series, Best TV Movie/Limited Series Writing, Best TV Movie/Limited Series Directing, and Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress. She won for writing.
So, these are the four thespians we think will be nominated for guest acting for “Mr. And Mrs. Smith,” although we don’t think any will win. We are predicting that Foy will win Best Drama Guest Actress for “The Crown” and Carbonell will emerge victorious in Best Drama Guest Actor for “Shōgun.” Four Emmy nominations for drama guest acting for the same show is a very real possibility, however.
As previously mentioned, “The Last of Us” garnered seven bids across these two categories last year. Four were for Best Drama Guest Actor (winner Nick Offerman along with Murray Bartlett, Lamar Johnson, and Keivonn Woodard) and three were for Best Drama Guest Actress (winner Storm Reid alongside Melanie Lynskey and Anna Torv). Meanwhile, “Succession” picked up two Best Drama Guest Actor citations (James Cromwell and Arian Moayed) and three Best Drama Guest Actress bids (Hiam Abbass, Cherry Jones, and Harriet Walter).
In 2022, “Succession” garnered seven nominations — four for Best Drama Guest Actor (Cromwell, Moayed, Adrien Brody, and Alexander Skarsg?rd) and three for Best Drama Guest Actress (Walter, Sanaa Lathan, and Hope Davis).
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