Emmy Award nominations 2017: Nicole Kidman favourite to win Emmy over Jessica Lange

FOUR Australian actors, including Nicole Kidman, have received Emmy nominations, with Westworld and SNL leading the pack with 22 nods.

Nicole Kidman plays Celeste Wright in Big Little Lies. Picture: HBO

AUSTRALIANS Nicole Kidman, Judy Davis, Ben Mendolsohn and Geoffrey Rush have all scored Emmy nominations as Westworld and SNL lead the pack with 22 nods.

Stranger Things and Feud: Bette and Joan got 18 nominations each, while HBO political comedy Veep earned 17 nods.

The long-running Saturday Night Live received a wealth of awards for its cast, hosts and guest stars, including one to Alec Baldwin for his recurring portrayal of President Donald Trump.

GoldDerby puts Kidman out in front to win Best Actress in a TV movie or Limited Series, just ahead of Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford in Feud: Bette and Joan.

Big Little Lies stars (L-R) Laura Dern, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Zoe Kravitz, and Reese Witherspoon. Picture: Getty

The site says that of the 20 experts they polled, 11 favour Kidman’s turn as Celeste Wright in Big Little Lies. Lange is still her closest competition though with eight others supporting her portrayal of movie star Joan Crawford.

Perhaps going against Lange is the fact that the final expert believes that her co-star Susan Sarandon, who played Bette Davis opposite Lange’s Crawford, may split voters.

Susan Sarandon is Bette Davis and Jessica Lange is Joan Crawford in the TV series Feud: Bette and Joan. Picture: Supplied

Reese Witherspoon (Big Little Lies), Carrie Coon (Fargo) and Felicity Huffman (American Crime) round out the nominations with Oprah Winfrey a surprise omission for her role in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Judy Davis as Hedda Hopper in Feud. Picture: Fx

Jackie Hoffman as Mamacita in Feud. Picture: Fx

Aussie Judy Davis also received an Emmy nomination for Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie for her role as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper in Feud: Bette and Joan. To win she will have to beat two of Kidman’s Big Little Lies co-stars Laura Dern and Sailene Woodley, as well as her own Feud co-star Jackie Hoffman. Michelle Pfeiffer (The Wizard of Lies) and Regina King (American Crime) round out the nominees.

Geoffrey Rush as Albert Einstein in Genius. Picture: Foxtel

Geoffrey Rush scored a nomination for Lead Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie for playing Albert Einstein in Genius. He also faces tough competition from Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock), Robert De Niro (The Wizard of Lies), Ewan McGregor (Fargo), Riz Ahmed (The Night Of) and John Turturro (The Night Of).

Ben Mendelsohn has turned heads for his role in Bloodline. Picture: Supplied

Ben Mendolsohn shocked many last year when he picked up the Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Emmy for Bloodline. This year he was also honoured with a nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

Elisabeth Moss in The Handmaid's Tale. Picture: Hulu

Former Mad Men and The West Wing star Elisabeth Moss received a nomination for Best Actress in a TV Drama for The Handmaid’s Tale, where she will likely face stiff competition Claire Foy (The Crown), Viola Davis (How to Get Away with Murder), Keri Russell (The Americans), Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld) and Robin Wright (House of Cards).

SNUBS AND SURPRISES

Girls was completely overlooked in its final season starring (L-R) Zosia Mamet, Allison Williams, Lena Dunham and Jemima Kirke. Picture: Getty

Aside from omitting Oprah Winfrey from the nomination there were a number of other snubs including Girls (which failed to get a single nomination outside of those in the guest actor category for its final season) Rami Malek (the Mr Robot actor won the award last year but failed to even get nominated this time around), Winona Ryder (Stranger Things), Claire Danes (Homeland), Mandy Moore (This Is Us) and Christine Baranski (The Good Fight).

Orange Is The New Black's Uzo Aduba. Picture: Supplied

Samira Wiley plays Moira in The Handmaid's Tale and will battle her former OITNB co-star. Picture: Hulu

Some of those snubs were forced to make way for a few of the surprises. They included Samira Wiley for The Handmaid’s Tale (She will battle it out against former Orange is the New Black castmate Uzo Aduba), Zach Galifianakis (who twins Chip and Dale Baskets in the show Baskets) and Carrie Coon (who may feel snubbed for missing out for her role in The Leftovers but picked up a nod for Fargo).

Shannon Purser played Barb in Stranger Things. Picture: Netflix

Shannon Purser, whose missing character Barb on Stranger Things struck a chord with viewers, saw that translate to Emmy voters, picking up a surprise nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress.

“Wow. I am so incredibly honored,” Purser tweeted Thursday after the nominations were announced. “Thank you so much. Congratulations to all the other incredible nominees. @TheEmmys.”

The Emmys will be handed out a September 17 ceremony in Los Angeles hosted by Stephen Colbert.

FULL LIST

Outstanding Drama Series

The Americans

Better Call Saul

The Crown

The Handmaid’s Tale

House of Cards

Stranger Things

This Is Us

Westworld

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama

Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us

Anthony Hopkins, Westworld

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Matthew Rhys, The Americans

Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Liev Schrieber, Ray Donovan

Milo Ventimiglia, This Is Us

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama

Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder

Claire Foy, The Crown

Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale

Keri Russell, The Americans

Evan Rachel Wood, Westworld

Robin Wright, House of Cards

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama

Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul

David Harbour, Stranger Things

Ron Cephas Jones, This Is Us

Michael Kelly, House of Cards

John Lithgow, The Crown

Mandy Patinkin, Homeland

Jeffrey Wright, Westworld

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama

Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black

Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things

Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale

Chrissy Metz, This Is Us

Thandie Newton, Westworld

Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale

Outstanding Comedy Series

Atlanta

Black-ish

Master of None

Modern Family

Silicon Valley

Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Veep

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy

Pamela Adlon, Better Things

Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie

Allison Janney, Mom

Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish

Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy

Aziz Ansari, Master of None

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish

Zack Galifianakis, Baskets

Donald Glover, Atlanta

William H. Macy, Shameless

Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy

Louie Anderson, Baskets

Alec Baldwin, Saturday Night Live

Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt

Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Tony Hale, Veep

Matt Walsh, Veep

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy

Vanessa Bayer, Saturday Night Live

Anna Chlumsky, Veep

Kathryn Hahn, Transparent

Judith Light, Transparent

Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live

Leslie Jones, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Limited Series

Fargo

Feud: Bette and Joan

Big Little Lies

The Night Of

Genius

Outstanding Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Carrie Coon, Fargo

Felicity Huffman, American Crime

Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies

Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan

Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan

Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies

Outstanding Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Riz Ahmed, The Night Of

Robert De Niro, The Wizard of Lies

Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: The Lying Detective

Ewan McGregor, Fargo

Geoffrey Rush, Genius

John Turturro, The Night Of

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Bill Camp, The Night Of

Alfred Molina, Feud: Bette and Joan

Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies

David Thewlis, Fargo

Stanley Tucci, Feud: Bette and Joan

Michael Kenneth Williams, The Night Of

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie

Judy Davis, Feud: Bette and Joan

Laura Dern, Big Little Lies

Jackie Hoffman, Feud: Bette and Joan

Regina King, American Crime

Michelle Pfeiffer, The Wizard of Lies

Shailene Woodley, Big Little Lies

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Ben Mendelsohn Bloodline

Hank Azaria Ray Donovan

Gerald McRaney This Is Us

B.D. Wong Mr. Robot

Brian Tyree Henry This Is Us

Denis O’Hare This Is Us

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Cicely Tyson How to Get Away With Murder

Laverne Cox Orange Is the New Black

Shannon Purser Stranger Things

Alison Wright The Americans

Alexis Bledel The Handmaid’s Tale

Ann Dowd The Leftovers

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Matthew Rhys Girls

Riz Ahmed Girls

Lin-Manuel Miranda Saturday Night Live

Dave Chappelle Saturday Night Live

Tom Hanks Saturday Night Live

Hugh Laurie Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Wanda Sykes Black-ish

Becky Ann Baker Girls

Melissa McCarthy Saturday Night Live

Carrie Fisher Catastrophe

Angela Bassett Master of None

Kristen Wiig Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Reality Competition

The Amazing Race

American Ninja Warrior

Project Runway

RuPaul’s Drag Race

Top Chef

The Voice

Outstanding Reality Competition Host

Alec Baldwin, Match Game

W. Kamau Bell, United Shades of America

RuPaul Charles, RuPaul’s Drag Race

Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg, Martha and Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party

Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn, Project Runway

Gordon Ramsay, Master Chef Junior

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

The Late Late Show with James Corden

Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Real Time with Bill Maher

Originally published as Emmy Award nominations 2017: Nicole Kidman favourite to win Emmy over Jessica Lange