Golden Globe Winner Predictions: Best Actress in a TV Series – Drama

The competition:
Caitriona Balfe (Outlander) plays Claire Randall, a time-transplanted nurse in the fourth season of the Starz drama. This is her fourth consecutive Globe nomination in this category. Her show was nominated for Best TV Series – Drama back in season one, and she’s managed to remain here despite no love from either the Emmys or SAG since her show started.

Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) plays June, a woman forced to live as handmaid Offred in the second season of the Hulu dystopian drama. She won this award last year after a previous win for “Top of the Lake” and a nomination for “Mad Men.” She is joined by costar Yvonne Strahovski, nominated in the supporting category, while her show, which took home the Best TV Series – Drama award last year, is absent from that list this time.

Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) plays Eve Polastri, an MI-5 agent tracking a female assassin in the first season of the BBC America drama. Oh’s show is nominated for Best TV Series – Drama. Oh won a Golden Globe for “Grey’s Anatomy” in 2005.

Julia Roberts (Homecoming) plays Heidi Bergman, a caseworker at a privately-funded military research program in the first season of Amazon’s drama series. Her costar Stephan James is nominated, as is her series in the top category. This is her first time contending for television despite eight previous bids for her film work. She has won three times, for “Steel Magnolias,” “Pretty Woman,” and “Erin Brockovich.”

Keri Russell (The Americans) plays Elizabeth Jennings, a Russian sleeper agent posing as an American mother in the sixth and final season of the acclaimed FX drama. Her costar Matthew Rhys, who took home an Emmy this past year, is also nominated, as is her show for the first time in the top category. She was nominated two years ago for this role, and won this award nineteen years ago for “Felicity.”

Additional notes: Four previous winners – Taraji P. Henson (Empire), Ruth Wilson (The Affair), Robin Wright (House of Cards), and Claire Danes (Homeland) – were eligible but weren’t nominated this year. Danes was the last and only actress ever to score repeat wins in this category, in 2011 and 2012. The star of a freshman series has won this award for the past five years in a row.
Who should win? I’m halfway through Roberts’ show, and she certainly is good. I’ve still never seen Balfe’s work, though I hear great things. I watched most of Russell’s work this season and still don’t find her to be as terrific as everyone else does. I’m much more partial to Oh’s costar Jodie Comer, who continues to miss out on nominations regardless of how well-liked her show is. The clear winner for me is Moss, who continued to be excellent in her show’s second season.
Who will win? In a face-off between new series stars, Roberts should be able to best Oh.