Golden Globe Musings: Best Actor in a TV Series - Drama

Golden Globe nominations for this year will be announced soon, so here’s a survey of the contenders and the most likely predictions at this time. Weigh in with your thoughts, and let me know if I’ve left off anyone important. A reminder that last year’s nominees mean zilch at the Globes and that the race is almost entirely unpredictable.

Last year’s nominees:
Brian Cox (Succession)
Kit Harington (Game of Thrones)
Rami Malek (Mr. Robot)
Tobias Menzies (The Crown)
Billy Porter (Pose)

New contenders:
Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country)
Ben Mendelsohn (The Outsider)
Aaron Paul (Westworld)
Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason)

Eligible again:
Jason Bateman (Ozark)

Potential first-time nominees:
Josh O’Connor (The Crown)

Past nominees:
Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us)
Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)

None of last year’s nominees will return this year. Only Menzies is eligible again, and now he’s been demoted to the supporting category, making room for O’Connor to take his spot. Bateman was nominated twice before his show took 2019 off, and he may be joined by Odenkirk or Brown, who both received multiple nominations before being left off in recent years (but which one?). The two performers from new series cited by the Critics Choice Association, Majors and Rhys, should have a good shot here too.

Current predictions:
Jason Bateman (Ozark)
Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us)
Jonathan Majors (Lovecraft Country)
Josh O’Connor (The Crown)
Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason)