Last year, Margo Martindale triumphed in this category with her turn on “The Americans,” a show that has been woefully underrepresented at the Emmys. While she could repeat this year, she will have to battle some fierce competitors in the form of previous winners.
Both Allison Janney [“Masters of Sex”] and Carrie Preston [“The Good Wife”] have won for their roles before. And several potential nominees are previous winners. Ellen Burstyn [“House of Cards”] is an Emmy winner in this category for “Law & Order: SVU,” and has seven noms and two wins total. [Don’t forget Burstyn is beloved; she was famously nominated for her work in “Mrs. Harris,” which consisted of fewer than 20 seconds of screen time.] Laurie Metcalf has three Emmys from “Roseanne,” but her work as the ex-wife of Louis C.K. in “Horace and Pete” is unlike anything we’ve seen her in before. Stockard Channing has won two Emmys, both in 2002, and could score a third for the final season of “The Good Wife.” Cynthia Nixon also has two Emmys — one in this category for “Law & Order: SVU” — but her work in “The Affair” could score her third. And Cicely Tyson could add a fourth trophy for her work as Viola Davis’ mother on “How to Get Away With Murder.”
Among the competition are ladies who are legends, including Patti LuPone [“Penny Dreadful”] and Carrie Fisher [“Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce”]. Who wouldn’t love to hear Fisher’s acceptance speech?
Frontrunners
Ellen Burstyn
HOUSE OF CARDS
Stockard Channing
THE GOOD WIFE
Allison Janney
MASTERS OF SEX
Patti LuPone
PENNY DREADFUL
Margo Martindale
THE AMERICANS
Laurie Metcalf
HORACE AND PETE
Cynthia Nixon
THE AFFAIR
Carrie Preston
THE GOOD WIFE
Cicely Tyson
HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
On the Bubble
Ana de la Reguera
NARCOS
Carrie Fisher
GIRLFRIENDS’ GUIDE TO DIVORCE
Whoopi Goldberg
LAW & ORDER: SVU
Arielle Kebbel
UNREAL
Natasha Lyonne
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
Lena Olin
VINYL
Sarah Silverman
MASTERS OF SEX
Mary Steenburgen
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK
Marisa Tomei
EMPIRE
Kathleen Turner
THE PATH
Cicely Tyson
HOUSE OF CARDS
Mare Winningham
THE AFFAIR
Dark Horses
Debbie Allen
GREY’S ANATOMY
Shiri Appleby
CODE BLACK
Aidy Bryant
HORACE AND PETE
Rosario Dawson
MARVEL’S DAREDEVIL
Frances de la Tour
OUTLANDER
Kim Dickens
HOUSE OF CARDS
Linda Emond
THE KNICK
Melissa Errico
BILLIONS
Tovah Feldshuh
THE WALKING DEAD
Judy Greer
MASTERS OF SEX
Famke Janssen
HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER
Annet Mahendru
THE AMERICANS
Rita Moreno
GREY’S ANATOMY
Molly Parker
HOUSE OF CARDS
June Squibb
CODE BLACK
Sarah Steele
THE GOOD WIFE
Annabelle Wallis
PEAKY BLINDERS
Alicia Witt
THE WALKING DEAD