After eight long years the Emmy winds have finally blown in Sophie Turner’s direction and rewarded her with her very first nomination for playing Sansa Stark on “Game of Thrones.” She’s up for Best Drama Supporting Actress, and she’s aiming to be the first non-Peter Dinklage cast member to snatch a statuette with her episode submission, “Winterfell,” the eighth and final season’s premiere.
In this installment, Winterfell welcomes the arrival of Jon (Kit Harington), Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) and her king-sized army, but not at everyone’s pleasure: Sansa immediately senses chemistry between Jon and his newfound queen, whom she’s instantly distrustful of. Her reunion with Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) isn’t so warm and fuzzy either. During a meeting between the council and the Northern lords she expresses her further concerns about having to additionally feed the Dothraki and Unsullied, not to mention Daenerys’s two fully-grown dragons. Jon’s loyalties are also called into question by Sansa, who confronts him to make sure he isn’t abandoning his own crown for love.
Can Turner be crowned at the Emmys like her character was crowned Queen of the North in the series finale of the show? Let’s dive into the pros and cons:
PROS
While Turner isn’t in much of “Winterfell,” she brilliantly portrays how the tables have turned, specifically in her scenes opposite Dinklage, now that Sansa is no longer the naive little girl she once was back when she was forced to marry Tyrion. This is not only manifested in her chilly, subtly cheeky line delivery, but also in her altered mannerisms, posture and gait. Her transformation is a testament to how well Turner now knows this character and inhabits her. And it’s just a whole lot of fun to see Sansa go head-to-head with Daenerys – and Turner nails those distrustful glances they exchange.
Even though season eight resulted in her maiden nom, Turner has given note-worthy performances in past seasons – most notably in season five, when she was traumatized by the sadistic Ramsay (Iwan Rheon), and then season six, when she exacted revenge against him and helped reclaim Winterfell for her family. There may be voters who would’ve already handed her the statuette in the past if they had gotten the chance and would therefore check her off this year. After all, it’d be their last chance to crown her for playing this character, and “Thrones” is stronger than ever before with 32 overall nominations, of which 10 are for acting.
CONS
The pack survives, indeed, because Turner is nominated alongside not one or two co-stars, but a whopping three: Gwendoline Christie, Lena Headey and Maisie Williams. Also, Sansa was overall less of a focus during this season than Christie’s Brienne or Williams’s Arya. And although Headey got perhaps the shortest end of the stick in terms of screen time, she has now been nominated five times as Cersei and could benefit from sentiment over how overdue she is. A situation like this, where there’s no clear standout among co-stars, could result in vote-splitting and pave the way for someone else to win, which in this case could be Julia Garner (“Ozark”) or Fiona Shaw (“Killing Eve”).
Despite the many acting nominations “Thrones” has bagged – 12 different actors have been shortlisted for this show throughout its run – only Dinklage has ever gone on to win. Harington, Headey and Diana Rigg have been odds-on favorites in their respective categories at one point or another, but even they weren’t able to ascend the Emmy throne despite having episodes that showcased them prominently. Hence, it could be difficult for Turner to defy the odds, especially with so much internal competition.
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.
