Emmy Predictions: Best Guest Actress in a Drama Series

The 64th Primetime Emmy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, July 19th. Please refer to my Emmy musings for this category for a detailed analysis of the contenders, and, as always, chime in below in the comments with any thoughts of your own.

Last year’s nominees: Cara Buono (Mad Men), Joan Cusack (Shameless), Loretta Devine (Grey’s Anatomy), Randee Heller (Mad Men), Mary McDonnell (The Closer), Julia Stiles (Dexter), Alfre Woodard (True Blood)

The competition: Only two of last year’s nominees are eligible this year (McDonnell is now considered a supporting actress), and they’re both good bets to come back. Joan Cusack (Shameless) was really a supporting player this year and Loretta Devine (Grey’s Anatomy), was last year’s winner. The “Shameless” cast is likely to be well-represented by Louise Fletcher (Shameless) for her angry performance as Frank’s maniacal mother and Jenna Elfman (Shameless) for her unexpected turn as a wild psychiatric inmate. Musical series “Smash” has a couple of contenders, with recurring guest Uma Thurman likely to make it in over Bernadette Peters (Smash), who played a much more minor role. Julia Ormond (Mad Men), who won an Emmy two years ago for “Temple Grandin,” is probably going to represent the AMC period drama this year, though some unexpected choices from that series made it in last year. Other contenders include Jamie Lee Curtis (NCIS), Lucy Liu (Southland), Martha Plimpton (The Good Wife), Carrie Preston (The Good Wife), and Julianne Nicholson (Boardwalk Empire).

The predicted nominees: Joan Cusack, Loretta Devine, Jenna Elfman, Louise Fletcher, Julia Ormond, Uma Thurman

The predicted winner: Ormond

Next up: Best Guest Actor in a Comedy Series