Emmys 2021: The Crown and The Mandalorian lead nominations – The Guardian

The Crown and The Mandalorian have tied for the most Emmy nominations this year with 24 nods each.

The Netflix royal family drama, which has previously won 10 Emmys, picked up nominations for stars Olivia Colman, Emma Corrin, Josh O’Connor, Gillian Anderson, Helena Bonham Carter, Tobias Menzies and Emerald Fennell. It was also nominated for best drama series.

It was also a strong showing for Disney’s acclaimed Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian which, for a second year, saw an impressive amount of support from the Television Academy, including nods for best drama. Disney+ also saw success for their first Marvel show, WandaVision, which picked up 23 nominations, including for stars Elizabeth Olsen, Kathryn Hahn and Paul Bettany.

The Pose star MJ Rodriguez broke new ground by becoming the first transgender actor to receive a best actress nomination. Rodriguez is only the third ever trans performer to be nominated in any acting category, following in the footsteps of Rain Valdez and Laverne Cox. She will face off in the drama category against Elisabeth Moss for The Handmaid’s Tale, Uzo Aduba for In Treatment, Jurnee Smollett for Lovecraft Country and The Crown stars Colman and Corrin.

For the first time in Emmys history, actors of colour comprise at least half of the lead drama categories. Overall, white actors occupy 56.3% of the 96 total acting nominations.

Michael Coel’s acclaimed BBC series I May Destroy You was also recognised in multiple categories, including best limited or anthology series and best actress in a limited or anthology series. Overall it scored nine nominations. The series recently picked up two Baftas for best mini-series and best leading actress.

Other British stars who picked up nominations included Hugh Grant for The Undoing, Ewan McGregor for Halston and O-T Fagbenle for The Handmaid’s Tale. Bridgerton’s breakout star Regé-Jean Page was also nominated for best actor in a drama with the Netflix period drama scoring 12 nominations overall.

In its first year, Apple’s sleeper hit Ted Lasso received 20 nominations, including best comedy and best actor in a comedy for star Jason Sudeikis. It faces off in the comedy category against Black-ish, Emily in Paris, The Flight Attendant, The Kominsky Method, Hacks and Pen15.

The first, and only, season of HBO’s dark mystery Mare of Easttown was also a big draw for voters, picking up 16 nominations, including for star Kate Winslet. It will face off in the category of best limited or anthology series alongside Netflix’s hit chess drama The Queen’s Gambit, which picked up 18 nominations, including for star Anya-Taylor Joy.

The drama category saw a surprise showing for Amazon’s dark superhero series The Boys which was joined by other first-time shows Bridgerton and Lovecraft Country. They joined The Crown, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Mandalorian, Pose and This is Us.

It was HBO and HBO Max who led the way with 130 nominations in total, followed closely by Netflix with 129 and then Disney+ with 71.

The most notable snubs this year include Nicole Kidman for her performance in HBO’s thriller series The Undoing, buzzy Peacock comedy series Girls5Eva, Ted Danson’s performance in NBC comedy Mr Mayor and, most surprisingly, Steve McQueen’s universally acclaimed BBC/Amazon series Small Axe which failed to score a single nomination.

The ceremony is set to take place on 19 September with Cedric the Entertainer hosting. Earlier this week it was announced that there will be “a limited audience of nominees and their guests” in attendance.