Steven Zaillian won an Oscar for writing one of the most beloved films in history, “Schindler’s List,” but he hasn’t made his way up to the podium yet at the Emmys. This year he’s nominated for writing, directing and producing Netflix’s limited series “Ripley,” based on Patricia Highsmith‘s “The Talented Mr. Ripley” novel about the title con artist. That brings Zaillian’s career total to seven, following three noms for “The Night Of” and one for “My Dinner with Herve.” What are his chances of taking home one, two or even three trophies for his latest TV effort?
“Ripley” earned 13 Emmy nominations overall including Best Limited Series, Best Movie/Limited Actor (Andrew Scott) and Best Movie/Limited Supporting Actress (Dakota Fanning), plus Zaillian’s bids for writing and directing and Creative Arts noms for production design, casting, cinematography and more. The top category looks like a tough get; “Baby Reindeer” is the front-runner for Limited Series with “Ripley” ranked fourth, though with support from one of our Expert journalists.
But the writing and directing awards may be more within reach. For Best Movie/Limited Writing, “Ripley” ranks second behind the aforementioned “Baby Reindeer.” For Best Movie/Limited Directing, it’s in third place behind “Reindeer” and “True Detective: Night Country.” But it has an advantage in both races that we mustn’t ignore: Zaillian is nominated for writing and directing all eight hours of “Ripley” as opposed to a single episode.
In six of the last 10 years, the writing award has gone to stories nominated in their entirety — either a self-contained telefilm or a complete limited series: “Olive Kitteridge” (2015), “Black Mirror: San Junipero” (2017), “Black Mirror: USS Callister” (2018), “Chernobyl” (2019), “I May Destroy You” (2021) and “The White Lotus” (2022).
And in seven of the last 10 years, the directing award has gone to limited series in their entirety: “Olive Kitteridge” (2015), “The Night Manager” (2016), “Big Little Lies” (2017), “Chernobyl” (2019), “Unorthodox” (2020), “The Queen’s Gambit” (2021) and “The White Lotus” (2022). In the cases of “The Night Manager” and “Unorthodox,” they upset the programs that ended up winning Best Limited Series, “The People v. O.J. Simpson” and “Watchmen,” respectively.
So “Ripley” being a singular creative vision under one writer and director might give it an advantage, especially in the directing race where front-runner “Baby Reindeer” is nominated only for its fourth episode. The lavishly shot, black-and-white “Ripley” may also draw more attention to its direction than its rivals. And Zaillian’s name recognition could also help get his name engraved in a golden statue — and he wouldn’t even have to forge it.
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