The nominations are out for the 70th annual Emmy Awards, and Game of Thrones has 22 nods, more than any other show. Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) is up for an award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. This is not surprising, as he has been nominated for literally every year the show has been on the air. He’s also the only cast member to ever actually win an Emmy for their work on the show, and he did it twice: for seasons 1 and 5. Will his performance in season 7 make it a hat trick?
It’s possible, but my guess is…proooooobably not.
Awards site GoldDerby reports that Dinklage has submitted for Emmy consideration his performance in “The Dragon and the Wolf,” the season 7 finale. That’s a good pick, since this episode almost definitely contains Dinklage’s best work from the season, namely the electrifying scene where he confronts his sister Cersei in her solar, the Mountain looming over him the entire time:
There’s a lot of history between these characters, and Dinklage is masterful at bringing all of Tyrion’s complicated feelings to bear, from deep-seated hatred and bitterness to level-headed pragmatism to flashes of brotherly affection.
Dinklage also does good work during the Dragonpit meeting, although in that I think he’s overshadowed there by Lena Headey’s work as Cersei. (Headey, incidentally, is nominated for Outstanding Support Actress in a Drama, and has also submitted this episode. I like her chances more than Dinklage’s.) His other acting highlight this year is “Eastwatch.” Dinklage is quietly effective during his reunion with brother Jaime (although I wish that scene had gone on longer), and heartbreaking during the opening moments of the episode, when he wanders through fields of Lannister bodies in the aftermath of Daenerys’ Loot Train Attack.
So Dinklage was solid in season 7, as he always is. I just don’t know if he popped enough to earn an Emmy, particularly in a field like this one:
Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Drama Series
- The Crown, Matt Smith as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
- Game Of Thrones, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister
- Game Of Thrones, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
- The Handmaid’s Tale, Joseph Fiennes as Commander Waterford
- Homeland, Mandy Patinkin as Saul Berenson
- Stranger Things, David Harbour as Jim Hopper
That’s some solid competition. Matt Smith and Joseph Fiennes are well-known actors on shows favored by critics, while poor Mandy Patinkin has now been nominated four times for Homeland without ever winning. Might the Emmy voters decide to finally give him a statue?
Then there’s Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who plays Jaime Lannister. Personally, I’m hoping he takes home the award for his commanding, physical performance in “The Spoils of War.” It’s his first-ever Emmy nomination, after all, and I think he outshone Dinklage this year; there’s a reason Coster-Waldau has been on Game of Thrones since the beginning but has only been nominated now.
But ultimately I’ll be happy if any of the Lannister kids take home the gold. What do you think? Is this the year Dinklage earns his third Emmy, will it go to Coster-Waldau instead, or will the Lannister brothers go home empty-handed?
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