Golden Globe Musings: Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a TV Series

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:
Alan Arkin (The Kominsky Method)
Kieran Culkin (Succession)
Andrew Scott (Fleabag)
Stellan Skarsgard (Chernobyl)
Henry Winkler (Barry)

It’s always difficult to predict this category, which feeds from so many different projects. All five of last year’s nominees aren’t eligible this time around, though Culkin and Winkler may have a chance when their shows eventually return for season three (Arkin isn’t coming back for his show’s third outing). Eight of the twenty-two Emmy nominees in the corresponding categories are eligible. The likeliest among them are surely Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek) and Mahershala Ali (Ramy), while Andre Braugher (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), Giancarlo Esposito (Better Call Saul), and Jeffrey Wright (Westworld) would be peculiar first-time inclusions this late into their runs. Limited series honorees Jim Parsons (Hollywood), Dylan McDermott (Hollywood), and Tituss Burgess (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. the Reverend) all have a decent shot, though Burgess was never nominated for the series that leads into his TV movie. Of the sixteen additional names added to the conversation by the Critics Choice Association on their list, watch out for past nominees like Tobias Menzies (The Crown), now switched to this category after a lead bid last year, and John Lithgow (Perry Mason), previously cited for two other series in this race. Tom Pelphrey (Ozark) and John Turturro (The Plot Against America) were both Emmy-eligible but didn’t get nominated, while Donald Sutherland (The Undoing), Michael K. Williams (Lovecraft Country), Glynn Turman (Fargo), Joshua Caleb Johnson (The Good Lord Bird), and Daveed Diggs (The Good Lord Bird) are new contenders from the back half of 2020. Still other possibilities include Brendan Gleeson (The Comey Rule), Ben Whishaw (Fargo), John Boyega (Small Axe), and Amit Rahav (Unorthodox).

Current predictions:
Mahershala Ali (Ramy)
Brendan Gleeson (The Comey Rule)
Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek)
John Lithgow (Perry Mason)
Tobias Menzies (The Crown)