Sarah Snook’s 2023 Best Drama Actress Emmy victory specifically came for her 23-minute and 40-second performance in the “Tailgate Party” episode of “Succession.” Whereas she ranked second in terms of physical screen time in her own lineup behind only Keri Russell (“The Diplomat,” 36:22), the 2024 group includes five nominees whose submitted performances outpace hers by up to 18 minutes, with two even surpassing Russell’s.
The six current drama actress contenders asked voters to consider their work in episodes in which they appear for an average of 28 minutes and 28 seconds (or 47.03% of the total running time). This data was calculated using a simple definition of stand-alone screen time, which is any time a given performer can be seen on screen or heard off screen. Contiguous moments of silent and non-visible scene time were not counted.
Said physical average is almost twice the size of the corresponding male one, whereas the 2023 results were flipped with the women almost 12 minutes behind the men. At the top of this ranking is Imelda Staunton, whose submitted episode of “The Crown” runs at least 10 minutes longer than that of every other current lead nominee. She appears in the series finale, “Sleep, Dearie Sleep,” for 42 minutes and two seconds (or 59.31%), about one-tenth of which she spends sharing the screen with actresses playing younger versions of her character: Olivia Colman (2:03), Claire Foy (3:20), and Viola Prettejohn (0:18).
The one with the highest proportional screen time in this group is Maya Erskine (“Mr. & Mrs. Smith”), whose 36 minutes and 57 seconds in “A Breakup” give her a percentage of 61.31. She is followed by fellow first season nominee Anna Sawai (“Shōgun”), who is seen in 32 minutes and 31 seconds (or 54.51%) of the Best One-Hour Cinematography-winning episode “Crimson Sky.”
Next are this contest’s only two category veterans, “The Morning Show” costars Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, who had never directly faced off here until now. They respectively appear in 25 minutes and 11 seconds (or 47.07%) of “Love Island” and 23 minutes and 51 seconds (or 41.85%) of “The Overview Effect.” Rounding out the roster is Carrie Coon (“The Gilded Age”), whose “Head to Head” screen time of 10 minutes and 13 seconds (or 18.15%) is lower than that of 72% of this year’s other drama regular nominees, including nearly two-thirds of the supporting ones.
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