The Emmys dubbed the new Oscars as A-list stars flood the small screen
This year’s Emmy nominees list looks more like an Oscars honour roll, as A-list movie stars take over television. See the Australian nominees.
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Tom Cruise may be the last great movie star to swap the silver screen for the stream screen.
While Brad Pitt is yet to act in a series besides Friends 20 years ago, he has established his credentials as an executive producer of quality television with last year’s acclaimed historical drama The Underground Railroad.
Leo DiCaprio has also had a few executive producer credits in the past three years on docudramas including The Right Stuff and Theodore Roosevelt.
But these men are late to the Emmys party, with the 2022 nominees list resembling an Oscars honour roll as it confirms the ongoing migration of A-list actors and actresses to the leading television production houses.
Reese Witherspoon has been a fixture at the Emmys since she parlayed her love of a great story into optioning best-selling books and negotiating nous to assemble star-powered ensembles into creating wildly successful television series.
Big Little Lies, co-produced with Nicole Kidman, won all of the big Emmys in 2017 and after its second series, she partnered with Jennifer Aniston to produce and star in Morning Wars; she is nominated for Lead Actress in a Drama Series.
Witherspoon is now one of the most powerful producers in the world; Forbes named her the world’s richest actress with an estimated net worth of almost $600 million last year.
Colin Firth, no stranger to small screen success after his career-making turn as Mr Darcy in the Pride and Prejudice series produced by the BBC in 1995, is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his role as suspected murderer Michael Peterson in the true crime series The Staircase.
Australian actress Toni Collette, who plays his dead wife Kathleen in the series, scored an Outstanding Actress nomination.
Other Hollywood film stars who have joined the new golden age of television and consequently won Emmy nominations this year include the dynamic duo of “serious” actors Christopher Walken and John Turturro for their roles as a romantic couple in the psychological thriller series Severance.
And then there’s stand-up comedy buddies Steve Martin and Martin Short who will face-off for the Lead Actor in a Comedy Series award for their dynamic performances in Only Murders In The Building.
“I suggested to Marty that he withdraw, but he doesn’t say why. It’s just a mystery. And then he starts a whisper campaign that it’s because I have a fatal disease,” Martin told the New York Times.
Their Disney princess co-star Selena Gomez didn’t score a nomination, much to the actors’ disappointment, but if you have seen her “act” in the series, it would be apparent she faced a tough challenge to muscle out nominees including Ted Lasso stars Hannah Waddingham, Sarah Niles and Juno Temple or Saturday Night Live’s Kate McKinnon.
And Michael Keaton continues to finally be given his due by awards voters with his performance in Dopesick recognised with a Lead Actor in a Limited Series nomination.
Variety Australia contributing editor Vivienne Kelly says the transition of bankable Hollywood talent to big small screen productions accelerated during the pandemic as viewers were shut out of theatres and turned their loungerooms into home cinemas.
“You had actors like Julia Roberts and Sean Penn making Gaslit, people we are used to seeing on the big screen now bringing their talents to the small screen because the quality of television series production is as high, if not better in some cases, as movies,’ Kelly said.
And now they are getting the blockbuster budgets to match the movie industry.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos has taken a massive gamble spending close to $700 million to make just the first of the five seasons of Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
While there is no denying the enduring popularity of fantasy storytelling for the small screen – Games of Thrones, House of the Dragon and Stranger Things – Kelly said the box office bankability of silver screen stars will prove to be a strong subscription driver for the streaming networks.
“Tom Cruise and George Clooney are big, big traditional movie stars when we think of Hollywood and the Oscars red carpet,” Kelly says.
“They would definitely drive subscriptions for streaming but the series would have to be really, really good.”
Television now completely dominates the pop culture landscape partly because of the slow-burn nature of streaming hits.
The hype and heat around the new series of water cooler shows such as Game of Thrones, Stranger Things and now Succession (Aussie Sarah Snook is up for a 2022 Emmy) will guarantee a record amount of eyeballs on each episode as it drops.
But comedies such as Ted Lasso and Schitt’s Creek built their audiences more via word-of-mouth on social media and an avalanche of “The Show You Must Watch In Lockdown” critics’ lists.
Both shows also point to another pillar in the small screen’s cultural supremacy – genres just ain’t what they used to be.
While Hollywood film studios remain fixated on the blockbuster superhero story, television continues to push and blur the boundaries between comedy and drama, romance and thriller.
The White Lotus, which features Emmy nominated Australian actor Murray Bartlett, is a perfect example of the genre-defying series which are finding favour with critics and viewers.
“I think that blending of genre is happening more because television series run longer so they can tell a more nuanced and complex story,” Kelly says.
“And if the pandemic taught us anything about what viewers want it is that you can’t just be dramatic or just be funny, you need light and shade.
“If you look at the nominations for Outstanding Limited Series this year, you’ve got true crime The Staircase up against Inventing Anna, also true crime but a bit more frivolous and then you’ve got Pam and Tommy based on a celebrity sex tape – it’s all over the place with a whole range of stories.
“And they all have that X factor which will keep you talking about them.”
And the other attraction of streaming for Hollywood superstars? The complete lack of ratings transparency. Without viewer numbers publicly available, actors won’t wear the stigma of box office failure as they do with films.
The 74th EMMY AWARDS will be broadcast live on FOXTEL on September 13 from 10am
The Australians in contention for 2022 Emmys
Supporting Actress – Drama
Patricia Arquette, Severance
Julia Garner, Ozark
Jung Ho-yeon, Squid Game
Christina Ricci, Yellowjackets
J. Smith Cameron, Succession
Sarah Snook, Succession
Sydney Sweeney, Euphoria
Rhea Seehorn, Better Call Saul
Supporting Actor – Limited Series or Movie
Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus
Jake Lacy, The White Lotus
Will Poulter, Dopesick
Seth Rogen, Pam & Tommy
Peter Sarsgaard, Dopesick
Michael Stuhlbarg, Dopesick
Steve Zahn, The White Lotus
Lead Actress – Limited Series or Movie
Toni Collette, The Staircase
Julia Garner, Inventing Anna
Lily James, Pam & Tommy
Sarah Paulson, Impeachment: American Crime Story
Margaret Qualley, Maid
Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout
Originally published as The Emmys dubbed the new Oscars as A-list stars flood the small screen
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