Lena Headey has extended her Emmy nomination reign this year with another Best Drama Supporting Actress bid for “Game of Thrones.” But after facing one crushing loss after another (2014-16, 2018) she could now cash in her Emmy IOU and finally ascend the throne on her fifth and final try for the HBO behemoth. For consideration, she submitted season eight’s fifth and penultimate installment, “The Bells,” to Emmy voters.
In this episode, an initially confident Cersei watches from the Red Keep as Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) effectuates her attack on King’s Landing, rapidly annihilating the Iron Fleet and the Golden Company – as in, most of Cersei’s army. When Daenerys then pauses her assault and stares her down from afar on her dragon, the queen’s early confidence swiftly turns into immense fear and an admission of defeat. All the more so when Daenerys takes off and ruthlessly torches the capital’s innocent civilians, despite the bells – a sign of surrender – tolling.
Now in survival mode, Cersei fearfully and despairingly wanders through the disintegrating keep, when her brother/lover Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) then shows up to rescue her. An escape through the tunnels below the city is, however, made impossible by the debris sealing up the pathways. With tears running down her face, Cersei begs Jaime not to let them and their unborn child die down there. But after reassuring words from him, and in his arms, she’s ultimately killed by the crumbling walls of her own fortress.
Will this episode finally pave the way to victory for Headey? Let’s dive into the pros and cons:
PROS
In “The Bells,” Cersei breaks out of her usual coldhearted shell, giving Headey the opportunity to display emotions previously unseen from the ice queen — not in an ostentatious manner, like in oversized speeches or monologues, but rather with distinct facial expression. It’s not a definitive turn-around, let alone a redemption arc, for her character, but this dose of vulnerability and empathy from one of the show’s biggest villains could be what sways voters to finally check Headey’s name on their ballots.
Sentiment around this being her final season could boost her chances, like it recently did for Claire Foy (“The Crown,” 2018), Matthew Rhys (“The Americans,” 2018), Maggie Smith (“Downton Abbey,” 2016) and Jon Hamm (“Mad Men,” 2015), who all won in their last eligible years. It helps that Headey is now the second most Emmy-nominated “Thrones” cast member behind Peter Dinklage, but has thus far gone zero-for-four. With “Thrones” having just received a whopping 32 noms, perhaps she could ride her overdue narrative into a potential “Thrones” steamroll on Emmy night.
CONS
Her work in “The Bells” might be eye-catching, but she had little screen time in the rest of the season and would have even been guest-eligible had she been in just one fewer episode. She has lost before for seasons and episode submissions where Cersei was the driving force of the storyline – for instance, season six’s “The Winds of Winter,” in which she destroys the Sept of Baelor. If she wasn’t able to win for such Cersei-centric showcases, it might be difficult to win for a season where her character took a back seat.
But what has most likely impeded her is vote-splitting with co-stars. She was the sole “Thrones” actor nominated in her category in 2014 and 2018, but the other times she faced either one (Clarke in 2015) or two co-stars (Clarke and Maisie Williams in 2016). This year could be even worse now that she’s up against three – Gwendoline Christie, Sophie Turner and Williams. With sparser screen time than her cast mates, she might not stand out enough to overcome a vote-split and pull ahead of the other two nominees, Julia Garner (“Ozark”) and Fiona Shaw (“Killing Eve”).
Be sure to make your Emmy predictions today so that Hollywood insiders can see how their TV shows and performers are faring in our odds. You can keep changing your predictions as often as you like until just before winners are announced on September 22. And join in the fun debate over the 2019 Emmys taking place right now with Hollywood insiders in our television forums. Read more Gold Derby entertainment news.
