Game of Thrones has broken a record once again at the Emmys with the number of nominations it received this year. A lot of those nominations are for acting.
The outstanding supporting actress in a drama category is stacked with fan favorite stars. Gwendoline Christie, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, and Sophie Turner are nominated. There is a good chance one of them will win, but it’s possible they will all lose to Fiona Shaw of Killing Eve or Julia Garner of Ozark.
We decided to look at why this category would be a tough call for Game of Thrones fans. Here are three things to consider.
Powerful Lena Headey didn’t have much to do in the final season
Game of Thrones wouldn’t have been very compelling if Heady’s Cersei Lannister wasn’t convincing. However, the actress did a powerful job playing the vengeful mother throughout the series.
She has been nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series four times before at the Emmys. She’s up once again this year, but many would argue that Cersei wasn’t given much to do for the final season.
Although Cersei was the last person between Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) and the Iron Throne, she was mostly waiting for the battle to come to her in King’s Landing. It would be understandable if Headey was finally awarded for her work, but it would be for her least impressive season.
Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams’ characters had the best endings in the series
Some fans had a lot of frustration with the writing of Sansa Stark throughout the series. The one big misstep was how the night of her wedding played out with Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon.) Luckily, things took a turn with Sansa gaining much more power by the end.
Turner has done a great job playing Sansa the whole series. She went from playing a spoiled young girl holding onto her destiny to becoming a queen one day to a worthy strategic opponent to Cersei.
It wouldn’t be surprising if many are rooting just as hard for Turner to take home the award because of this. The same can be said for Williams.
Her character didn’t get as much backlash as Sansa throughout the series. Instead, she has been a steady fan favorite and her character hasn’t changed much either.
However, Arya had one of the most satisfying moments in the finale in the battle episode with the Night King. Many would argue her work with throughout the series with stunts should get some kind of recognition.
Gwendoline Christie is truly one of the best supporting characters of the series
Game of Thrones is an ensemble show given the huge cast and all the changes it experienced throughout the years. This makes Headey, Williams, and Turner feel like leads because they have started with the series from the very beginning playing members of the most powerful families of Westeros.
Christie, on the other hand, first appeared on the show in season 2. Her role is relatively smaller. Her performance as Brienne of Tarth is so compelling as she plays the strong woman who is also vulnerable. She truly feels like a supporting character and what this category is for by name.
She still has a lot of competition and most of it is from her co-stars. Fans will have to wait and see how the award night will actually end. The Emmy Awards air on Sunday, Sept. 22 on Fox starting at 8 p.m. EST.
