Two “Saturday Night Live” cast members, Kenan Thompson and Bowen Yang, sit atop our Emmy odds for Best Comedy Supporting Actor, a category the sketch comedy series has actually never won before despite the show’s success in other acting races. But some of the Expert journalists we’ve surveyed warn of a possible upset by “Ted Lasso” standout Brett Goldstein.
As of this writing Thompson is the Emmy favorite with leading odds of 5/1, including support from most of the Experts. Yang is next in line with 6/1 odds. Then comes Goldstein, also with 6/1 odds for his role as Roy Kent, an aging soccer star with a heart of gold beneath his gruff demeanor. But Shawn Edwards (WDAF-TV Fox), Lynn Elber (Associated Press), Libby Hill (IndieWire), Christopher Rosen (Gold Derby), and Ben Travers (IndieWire) think Goldstein will get the better of the sketch comedy stars.
It helps that “Ted Lasso” is the overwhelming favorite to win Best Comedy Series, which could carry Goldstein to a win. We’ve seen in recent years that sweeps are more common as voting has shifted away from small judging panels (just look at “Schitt’s Creek” last year). For instance, now every actors branch member can vote for every single acting award instead of being restricted to a couple of categories, so with “Ted Lasso” already widely expected to take Best Comedy Actor (Jason Sudeikis) and Best Comedy Supporting Actress (Hannah Waddingham), those same voters can give Goldstein the nod in this race.
The biggest challenge for Goldstein might be vote-splitting, depending on how many “Ted Lasso” actors make the cut. There are seven available nomination slots for Best Comedy Supporting Actor based on the number of total actors submitted on the ballot in the category, and we’re currently expecting the show to nab two of them (for Goldstein and Brendan Hunt).
But their co-stars Nick Mohammed and Jeremy Swift are right on the bubble, ranked eighth and ninth in our odds. If three or four actors manage to get in, “Ted Lasso” fans in the academy may not be able to agree on which cast member to throw their support behind, clearing the way for one of only two “SNL” stars we expect to receive nominations. But either way there’s a good chance that whoever wins this race will have to beat a co-star to do it. It could be Goldstein who scores that goal.
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