Coming off his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “Oppenheimer,” Robert Downey Jr. was the heavy favorite to win the Emmy for Best Movie/Limited Supporting Actor for his multiple roles in HBO’s spring limited series “The Sympathizer.” But then the nominations were announced on July 17 and Downey ended up being the only nomination for his series. That knocked him down to second place in our odds behind Jonathan Bailey (“Fellow Travelers”). If there’s no other support for his program, he can’t really win, can he? Tell that to Mark Ruffalo.
In 2020 Ruffalo was one of the favorites to win Best Movie/Limited Actor for playing twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey in the HBO limited series “I Know This Much is True.” But he was the only nomination for the series, and he was up against actors from programs with a lot more overall recognition. First and foremost was Oscar and Emmy winner Jeremy Irons, who starred in “Watchmen” as the cold, calculating superhero Ozymandias. “Watchmen” ended up winning 10 Emmys including Best Limited Series, but Irons couldn’t challenge Ruffalo’s flashy emotional showcase performance. Neither could breakout star Paul Mescal from “Normal People” nor Hugh Jackman from the Best TV Movie champ “Bad Education.”
Now Downey is in a similar position, playing multiple roles in an HBO series with no other nominations. The thing is, current front-runner Bailey’s show wasn’t exactly dominant in the nominations either. “Fellow Travelers” only received three bids: Best Movie/Limited Actor for Matt Bomer and Best Movie/Limited Writing in addition to Bailey’s bid. Four other nominees are from programs with many noms including Best Limited Series — Tom Goodman-Hill (“Baby Reindeer”), John Hawkes (“True Detective: Night Country”), Lewis Pullman (“Lessons in Chemistry”) and Lamorne Morris (“Fargo”) — but none of them have performance showcases that are quite as showy.
So don’t count Downey out just because of “The Sympathizer’s” relative shortfall. He plays almost as many characters as the rest of the field combined.
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