The current Best Character Voice-Over Performance Emmy lineup is unique in that every nominee has previously taken the gold in at least one physical acting category. The natural frontrunner is reigning champ Maya Rudolph (“Big Mouth”), who has the opportunity to simultaneously score her fourth win here as well as her third guest one for “Saturday Night Live” and first lead one for “Loot.”
For the second time each, Rudolph faces opposition from 2010s voice acting winners Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons”) and Alex Borstein (“Family Guy”). Joining the three veterans are category newcomers Sterling K. Brown (“Invincible”) and Hannah Waddingham (“Krapopolis”), the former of whom won the 2021 Best Narrator Emmy for “Lincoln: Divided We Stand.”
In order to determine if anyone can prevent Rudolph from retaining her vocal performance crown, let’s take a closer look at each nominee. Be sure to make your predictions in this and 30 other Creative Arts Emmy categories by September 7.
Hank Azaria as Moe Szyslak (“The Simpsons”)
Episode: “Cremains of the Day”
Before winning this award in 2015 on his fourth of seven official nominations, Azaria was lauded with juried Best Voice-Over Performance prizes in 1998, 2001, and 2003. His second bid for playing Moe alone comes for a 35th season episode in which the irascible taverner and three of his most loyal patrons have a run-in with gangsters while attempting to pay tribute to a recently deceased barfly.
Alex Borstein as Lois Griffin (“Family Guy”)
Episode: “Teacher’s Heavy Pet”
Borstein’s fifth voice acting nomination coincides with her series’ 25th anniversary. Six years after simultaneously winning this award and Best Comedy Supporting Actress for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” she has earned recognition for a “Family Guy” episode in which her character becomes a substitute high school teacher and soon finds herself entangled in a web of salacious rumors perpetuated by her own son.
Sterling K. Brown as Angstrom Levy (“Invincible”)
Episode: “I Thought You Were Stronger”
Like “Tuesdays with Morrie” and “Ray Donovan” winner Azaria, Brown has collected Emmys for his work on two live action programs, namely “American Crime Story” and “This Is Us.” His submitted “Invincible” episode, which marks the end of the show’s second season and his character’s eight-part arc, focuses on the titular teenage superhero’s final confrontation with Angstrom, a dimension-hopping mutant whose memories are fused with those of his multiversal variants.
Maya Rudolph as Connie the Hormone Monstress (“Big Mouth”)
Episode: “The Ambition Gremlin”
For seven seasons and counting, Rudolph has lent her voice to Connie, a salacious supernatural creature who helps human teenager Jessi (Jessi Klein) navigate puberty. In this installment, she observes Jessi’s budding friendship with her classmate’s older sister, Leah (Chloe Fineman), and encourages her to go through with an unprofessional belly button piercing that she thinks will enhance her maturity.
Hannah Waddingham as Deliria (“Krapopolis”)
Episode: “Big Man on Hippocampus”
Waddingham, who took the 2021 Best Comedy Supporting Actress prize on her first of three bids for “Ted Lasso,” is the only performer in this lineup nominated for a new series. As the matriarch of a blended, ancient Greek family, her character spends this particular episode trying to prove her worth as a goddess by taking on the challenge of unpetrifying her daughter’s friend rather than seeking the help of her more capable rival, Athena (Amber Stevens West).
So, who will win the 2024 Emmy for Best Character Voice-Over Performance? First, it’s important to note the significance of Rudolph and Azaria’s candidacies, as they could respectively tie or break the TV academy record for most voice acting victories. It’s tough to imagine a majority of voters shifting their favor back toward the classic Fox performers at this point, but, based on episode submissions, Rudolph is noticeably more vulnerable than last year.
Aside from the fact that she already bounced back here after losing to the late Chadwick Boseman (“What If…?”) in 2022, Rudolph has the advantage of presently being up for multiple performance Emmys, at least one of which is likely to materialize. The vocal opponent she really has to watch out for is Brown, who is still riding the high of his first Oscar nomination for “American Fiction” and delivers a richly villainous performance that could easily allow him to conquer his fourth Emmy category.
PREDICT the Creative Arts Emmy winners through September 7
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?
