Game of Thrones did fantastically at this year’s Emmy Award nominations, snagging 23 nominations including Outstanding Drama Series, Writing, Directing, and a boatload of technical categories. Game of Thrones will be well represented this year in the acting categories as well, with five nominees spread over two (!) categories, plus a nomination for a guest actor award. Gold Derby has info about which episodes the nominated Game of Thrones stars will be submitting to represent their work for season six.
In the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor, the show has two nominees:
First-time nominee Kit Harington will be submitting “The Battle of the Bastards,” a great choice since he was the clear star of the season’s ninth episode, with the epic fight for Winterfell led by Jon Snow.
Two-time Emmy winner Peter Dinklage has chosen his work in the eighth episode “No One” for his submission. In this episode, Tyrion bids farewell to Varys, draws his coworkers Missandei and Grey Worm out of their shells, and faces a dire attack from their slave-keeping enemies.
Outstanding Supporting Actress is a tough category with three GoT actresses taking on Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey), Constance Zimmer (UnREAL), and Maura Tierney (The Affair). Clarke and Headey have both been nominated twice previously, while Williams is a new addition to the nominee club.
Lena Headey will be submitting, as most guessed, her work in the season finale “The Winds of Winter.” The episode saw Cersei taking down all her enemies, losing her last child Tommen, and crowning herself ruler of the Seven Kingdoms.
Emilia Clarke is submitting her work in the fourth episode, “Book of the Stranger.” In the episode, Daenerys is reunited with Jorah and Daario in Vaes Dothrak, confronts the khals, and with her fiery power move, acquires a new khalasar.
Maisie Williams has unsurprisingly submitted “No One” for her nomination, the eighth episode of the season. In “No One,” Arya is saved by Lady Crane’s kindness, only to be forced into a heart-pounding footchase through Braavos that ends with her taking out the Waif and with Arya Stark taking back her own identity.
Max von Sydow (the Three-Eyed Raven) will be competing in the category of Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series. The initial Emmy submissions ballot revealed his episode choice as “The Door.”
Voting by the Television Academy will take place throughout August, and the Emmy winners will be announced live on September 18th on ABC.
For more info on the rest of GoT’s nominations, visit our Emmy post, with the complete listing.
I hope Lena Headey wins this year.
Peter is doing it for the greater good y’all but joking aside I nailed all of them appart from Peter not that it was difficult lol.As far as Peter goes I shouldn’t have thought as a fan of course he would put forward the episode he was the most in.
Kit and Lena. Can’t really see Clarke there because I thought it wasn’t a partically strong season for Dany. Same goes for Peter.
Maisie gets a lot of action in No One, but I liked Arya better in Oathbreaker (the training montage) – and I expected Peter to submit Home (where he talks to dragons).
Lena for the win!
GO LENA GO LENA GO
GO LENA GO LENA GO
GOOOOOOOOO LENA
aabe,
Yeah, maisie should have submitted an episode with her blindness, she was so good at it
Fine episode choices – good luck to all. Hopefully Lena can pull off a victory.
I wish them good fortune in the ceremony to come.
It seems rather silly that they have to choose AN episode to represent their work. I’d think it would be more accurate for all of the actors if the Academy were to look at a reel of clips of them for the entire season. They may have their most material in one so that’s what they submit but have one scene in another that is their best.
Wish them all good luck!
Current odds on that same site have Kit and Lena winning! Interestingly it’s neck and neck for Peter vs Kit as 1 and 2. Lena on the other hand is way above the others (correctly IMO).
Honestly surprised esp about supporting actor but I haven’t been watching that much TV lately so I don’t know about the competition at all. The only other series I actually watched in it’s entirety this year was DA.
Lena and Kit for the win!!
They are presently the favored winners on Gold Derby … let’s hope the Emmy voters feel the same way!
The scenes with Lady Crane were Maisie’s best acting scenes this season- so I’m glad she chose that episode. Honorable mention is the scene where Arya is barely hanging on, still blind and begging in the streets, and Jaqen shows up and says he will let her have food and shelter if she says her name- even though you can’t read the expression in her eyes, her anguished voice and demeanor as she kept repeating “a girl has no name” just broke my heart- like, I’ve seen that episode many times and my eyes always fill up with tears hearing the raw pain in her voice… Maisie is a wonderful actress. I would love for her to win!
aabe,
I think the problem for Maisie is that while she was excellent throughout the season, there wasn’t any one stand-out episode for her, which would have hurt her chances.
Good luck to everyone involved!
I am happy that Kit was nominated, I am not getting my hopes up for a win. He and Lena deserve to win, imo.
Because it is now public knowledge that GOT will not be able to submit for consideration next year, the voters will likely shower them with awards.
Kit could actually win because if this. Peter is more likely to win, though, only because the voters know and like him.
I think Lena has this in the bag. Even if you’ve never seen the show before and watch only that episode, you’d be hard pressed to ignore the power of her performance.
Max is highly respected and could win on name recognition alone.
Lord Parramandas,
Hahahhaha
I don’t know what it is about Lena’s acting, I allways get emotional watching her. In other movies, too – there’s this devotion to the parts, like a willingness to be completely empty and transparent so the character can burst forth unimpeded. I know at the end of the day it’s just acting, but as far as actors go, she stands out to me as a really superb and brave actress.
Yeah, Kit and Lena might be able to pull it off. Assuming a large enough majority of voters do actually watch the episodes that they submitted.
Dee Stark,
I think the scenes with Lady Crane in 608 make it the clear choice, even if the action scenes are messily done (not a performance issue, and not OTT enough to worry people watching the screeners — and in any event, she’s not going to win regardless).
Keeping my fingers crossed Lena will win this time. And go Kit!!!
Kit, Kit, Kit, Kit….hands down!!! He gave a superb performance. Really saw him living the role of Jon Snow, not just acting it. If he doesn’t win that Emmy, it’s a travesty imo. I watch his interviews and I find him so different to Jon, which only goes to prove he is extremely accomplished at playing a character who is nothing like him. He convinces me, portraying all the emotions and characteristics of the character so I engage totally with Jon through the tv screen. When I began watching GOT, Tyrion was my fave character. Now it’s Jon, because of Kit’s performance.
The delusion of Kit Harington winning an Emmy… please, have you seen the other actors in the same category?. He shouldnt have been nominated in the first place, same as Emilia and Maisie (she is good, but this wasnt her season), it was just fan service. The only one who deserves the nomination is Lena, she is the only one who has the conditions to win: she is a great actress and had a great season. Peter is a great actor, but he was barely there, same as Maisie. Kit and Emilia are just terrible.
Dornishsm,
Well you are welcome to your wrong opinion lol
Why is that? Not public knowledge to me – please explain?
Jenny,
Don’t feed the trolls.
Maisie can win next year. Please give Kit and Lena their Emmys please please please please please please please
100 times this.
Mihnea,
Sorry I only did it so I could use my favourite clip of President Bartlet haha
Jenny,
Must have waited for quite a while for the chance to use it! 🙂
Imo Lena should have already won an Emmy. I hope this will add to her chances. And I hope Kit will also win!
Rhaenys Stark,
Jon’s expression when he looks at the young boy he’s about to hang is heartbreaking. I will never forget it.
The season next year will premiere too late for consideration under current Emmy rules.
So happy to see a comment from you — it seems like you have been away for a while!
Totally agree with you on Lena and Kit! She was spectacular in that episode, and he works so hard and conveyed so many emotions in BotB.
Vote-splitting could be a problem, no?
Mary,
Exactly. Kit was outstanding this season, he truly deserves the award. His entire episode 3 performance, the look before unsheathing Longclaw in episode 9, him vs Ramsay in the Winterfell courtyard and the ‘Winter is here’ conversation with Sansa in the finale are some of my top 10 moments of the entire show, only because of Kit’s flawless acting. He has become one of my top 3 favorite actors after this season.
Uh… what?
Dee Stark,
Too bad she didn’t get a chance to submit the scene from last season when she had to decide what to do with Needle. She was fantastic.
Go Queen Lena and King Kit! I love Peter, I really do… But his best moment of the season was not in the “No One” episode.
I cried so hard when I was watching that scene. In s6, I particularly appreciated her acting when she was telling Lady Crane how she’d feel if her son was murdered by someone. Her eyes and facial expression in that scene conveyed so much emotions! Winning this year is a long shot for her but I have a feeling this isn’t the last nomination (in any award-giving bodies) she’ll get. Go Maisie!
LOL! Good use of that clip! Nice to see President Bartlet again.
Why did Emilia Clarke submit the episode with her worst acting in it? I guess she had significant screen time in episode 4, but her ‘bad ass’ face at the end was pretty bad. She could have gone for Winds of Winter as well – Her quieter moments with Tyrion and Daario were both much better than her episode 4 stuff and she was actually good.
For Peter, I would have gone with the episode with the dragons. For Kit, I thought Oath breaker was a good one where he had to show different emotions as compared to BOB.
Maisie’s is the only episode submission I agree with.
Rhaenys Stark,
He also did really well expressing terror when he saw Rickon beside Ramsay and the latter raised his hand with a knife. Also, the KitN scene when he stood up and he looked shocked with a hint of fear. That facial expression was just perfect for that scene.
Maisie deserves to win this year. She had a number of excellent episodes to choose from, but No One was the right choice. While the scenes where she depicted Arya as blind were impressive, No One allowed her to display a full range of the character’set emotions showing just how talented Maisie is.
As always, I very much hope for Lena to win and I think chances are pretty good this year. She should have won already a few times so far and she clearly deserves to win this year. Maisie was also great again this year but I think this will be Lena’s year.
While Peter is consistently good, I think this might actually go to Kit and I almost feel as if Peter selected a not so prominent episode for himself to help Kit win it.
Lena should have won last year.
Maisie had to do every kind of acting this year – physical, physical fighting, emotive, blind. You name it, she had to do it and with no emmy baiting material.
Maisie for the ‘upset’
Kit Harington is going to win his first Emmy. I have about a 95% confidence level in that staement for reasons I won’t say. But if you’re a betting person, put your money on Kit Harington.
Halfman,
Yes! Hes amazing. Completely inhabits this role and is a pleasure to watch 🙂
It’s going to be so kick-ass if Max von Sydow wins the Emmy for this, so late in his career.
I still wish Alfie and NCW had been nominated.
Peter just didn’t deserve it this year.
Hope Lena and Kit win it!
Maisie should have been nominated in seasons 1 and 2. She is a great actress and was very good this season ( I particularly love the scene with Lady Crane where she says her name is Mercy) but in the previous seasons she was indeed much better!
Tim S,
Aww why can’t you say?
That is true, Arya is never intended to be the stand out character – or at least not in the same way that Dany, Jon, Cersei and Tyrion are. And this year there were no grand plots and schemes, no great enemy/actor to act with/against, or awe inspiring locations or cgi, she doesn’t even have the benefit of all the beautiful costumes or faltering makeup. Most of her scenes are just about her own character, the other actors are there to support her, they really have no other relevance. So none of the high stakes drama or complications that you would get where the other players also have agency, stakes and their own character story lines that can cause conflict and tension. Yet, she still does manage to break through with what she gets, even with sup-par material. But this award is not based on the material/writing, but the performance.
Still, doesn’t have a a chance at winning, but I do agree her nomination was a long time coming and that probably played a role in her nomination.
That is interesting, I haven’t really seen her in a lot of other things, but the comment is interesting – a lot of the times you will see an actor give a really good performance that just wows, then you watch them in something else and it is a let down or just not as good as you would have expected… the actors that can maintain a consistent level are the ones to watch for, not only because of their acting but because they also generally choose good material to work with.
Meaning all of them will lose?
If peter didn’t deserve it this year, then neither did alfie or ncw – both had much stronger past seasons, neither this year were given very much that we haven’t seen before and better in from both actors. But that really isn’t the point.
I think many people here are confusing the material, plot line and dialog with performance. Just because you don’t think Tyrion had a good story line, or had weak dialog, etc… has nothing to do with performance. Of course great situations and dialog helps, but even great dialog is wasted if the performer isn’t up to the task, and vise versa weak dialog can be elevated by great performances. The latter is actually harder to accomplish.
Bottom line, the Emmy’s are a long standing organization with voters that have been in the industry for a long time and are more aware of their craft than any of us. Be glad any of them were nominated at all – the TV field is huge, and getting this much recognition is almost an embarrassment of riches… probably won’t happen again. And at the end of the day it is just another award show, one of many this industry likes to give to themselves.
I hope Lena and Kit win, I believe they deserve it 🙂
viki,
At long last, someone says this. Thank you!
Looking at what Peter submitted, I hope he doesn’t win. Obviously, he hopes he doesn’t win either lmao.
Kit and Lena FTW! And Max too!!
I’m sure Lena is going to win this. I don’t want to get my hopes up with Kit. I’m amazed he was even nominated for an action role.
I wish the show had submitted Bella Ramsay for guest actress. She would have gotten a nom imo.
Sam,
Of course. I just can’t remember any Jon S6 scene I didn’t love.
While reading this article this morning it hit me hard that GOT won’t air until a YEAR FROM NOW! Holy crap, it already feels like a LONG time since S6 ended.
In regards to submissions, I would have liked to have seen Peter pick the one he talked to the dragons in, but his choice. I honestly feel that Kit really put himself out there this season. It’s hard to not be biased, as I really like Kit’s portrayal of Jon, but after watching all the background stuff on BOTB, he was amazing. Would like to see Maisie win this year as she did such a great job, but knowing how these things go she probably won’t. Lena was great as always this season, but I just don’t feel it for her to win.
Flayed Potatoes,
Yeah, it’s entirely possible that Peter was helping Kit improve his chances of winning, by submitting “No one”.
This is nice in theory but doesn’t match reality.
If you cast a great actor in a part where he reads the phone book and doens’t interact with any other characters… even if he reads that phone book VERY convincingly and puts all his soul into it, he’s not going to win acting awards.
People want actors to make them FEEL something. If the writing for the part isn’t there, there’s no chance of a win. Peter is very lucky to have been nominated this year.
Don’t remind me! Guess we’ll have plenty of time to rewatch Battle of the Bastards 🙂
This, in bucketloads. The behind the scenes material and comments from Liam Cunningham, Bryan Cogman, etc really give the sense that Kit threw himself into his work, emotionally and physically, and despite the possible toll on him. Oh I hope he wins! He’s more than earned it.
Maisie’s best work this season wasn’t even in GoT, it was in Doctor Who. I was really hoping she’d be nominated for that because she delivered an absolutely brilliant performance.
Maisie is an amazing talent but I really hope Lena get’s the win. I really believe she’s the most talented actor/actress on the show.
Good luck to the GoT actors.
#KitForTheWin
Shy Lady Dragon,
*waves happily and passes a fruity drink with a tiny umbrella*
Mwahaha. I love the Dink, but this was not his season. It is insane that he was even nominated, IMO. To put forward “No One” as his episode for consideration is just mind-boggling. I went back to see what my first impressions for Tyrion had been in “No One,” and I found this quote in the recap comments:
Of all the main actors, I’d say wihout a doubt that Kit Harington is the one that has to work harder and longer, at least in the last three seasons. He’s gotten a huge action scene in the last three seasons, with weeks of battle shooting, with all the training that it requires. No other main character comes close to the amount of work he has to do.
(I mean, Lena has been great this season, as always, but except for her day in Croatia, all her scenes were shot inside the studio, and it probably didn’t take more than 2 or 3 weeks to shoot them all -there were barely any crowd scenes! Same for Peter or Emilia).
Did someone say Sangria? I thought I heard my name called.
viki,
I disagree about NCW. Which season was better for him than S6?
S3, yeah, but S6 was his second strongest season.
I have a feeling that Kit will win.
QueenofThrones,
Not really. Because when I think back on the season, two scenes stick out for me: Tyrion releasing the dragons and Tyrion reacting to being named Hand of the Queen. You say people want actors who make them FEEL something, well I’m pretty sure people felt things when watching Peter in those scenes. Having said all that, between the two, Kit should win. For such an internal character, Kit has managed to slowly and very subtly reveal the growth of the White Wolf.
Ginevra,
*passes the pitcher*
I thought you might want more than a glass 😉
Every time someone says Kit will win I touch wood three times I’m not even kidding lol
Every time someone says Kit will win I knock on wood three times I’m not even kidding lol
Danny,
Kit should win because Peter has 2 Emmys and GG already. It’s time for Kit and Lena.
I cannot shake the feeling that Maggie Smith has a very, very decent shot. She is a legendary actress in her show’s last season. Even though she already got two Emmys for Downton Abbey, the last one was four years ago and it may be the academy’s last chance to celebrate her (not trying to be grim but she is 81…)
For those very same reasons, Max von Sydow is as close to a homerun as it gets.
Kit Harrington has, I believe, an extremely good chance this year ! That is, if the voters actually watch the tapes submitted to them instead of either basing their votes solely on the pre-award season socialising marathon or giving their ballots to their friends/children/housemaids (as they have been known to do).
All in all, fingers crossed ! ^^
But what people FEEL depends on those people too! When I take a quick look back at Season 6, two Tyrion scenes definitely stand out for me. Releasing the dragons and being named Hand (that entire scene, in contrast to Tyrion in 501 and the change in him). Obviously my views are probably not representative of a majority of posters here, but then the posters at WotW aren’t a fair representation of the viewers of the TV show.
I might need more than one glass, yes! Thank you greatly.
Kay,
Danny,
Interesting you both pointed out the same two scenes! I agree they were his best this season. But if you consider all of his material this season, they are outliers. And the material for him is far weaker across all scenes than in previous seasons.
Which gets back to my point – the perception of an actor’s overall performance relies heavily on the material he is given. With Jon I felt he was interesting basically all year because he had a lot to work with.
Not to mention Peter didnt’ even put forward either of the two episodes you mention.
People already criticized the academy last year for giving the award to Peter instead of the actor from Better Call Saul. Even Peter seemed kinda baffled when they announced his name lol I can see him picking his “worst” episode in order to make it even easier for Kit. And really, Battle of The Bastards will probably win every award for which the episode is nominated. It would be kinda weird if the (very deserving) protagonist of the episode loses so that the academy can give Peter another award.
I’ll probably gonna get hate for these comments but oh well…
Terrible decisions from all the actors submissions.
Lena was terrible in the finale. Her “What? Now? Today?” was just embracing and her final look to Jamie was blank and plain angry bitch face, compared to Nikolaj’s that conveyed so much. Her long look in the premiere made me for the first time ever care about Cercie, should have picked that episode.
Emilia’s best performance was when she said goodbye to Jorah and her scenes in the finale. As much as I love her the take they chose for her when she smiles before burning the Khals looked like she just released a fart and hoped no one noticed.
Peter’s was with the dragons. He was great as always in ‘No One’, but that scene made me cry for both Tyrion and myself. I was so happy and jealous he fulfilled both of our childhood dream.
Maisie’s was in episode 3 and her talk with Lady Crane in episode 6 before she saved her. Her performance in ‘No One’ was amazing but those were better.
Kit’s was episode 3. The rest of the season he was just there. The only good moments he had in episode 9 was when Rickon was shot in front of him and when he decided to live in the stampede, not enough to win. Honestly I never thought of him as a good actor, and how they ruined his character in the last two seasons, didn’t really help his performance.
It’s like the actors don’t watch the final outcome and submit these from their performance on set.
QueenofThrones,
Tell me, how can anyone read a phone book “VERY convincingly”? The problem is with the material being read. The material Peter submitted is not equivalent to phone book material.
Yes of course there’s a difference between a phone book and what Peter Dinklage was given to do in episode 8, or this season as a whole.
My point is there’s also a difference between what he was given to do this season compared to the last 5 seasons. And that difference when we are talking about judging him against talented competition is plenty to sway someone to note for another actors. Even if the “objective truth” is that Peter Dinklage played the material better than any other actor could have done, and better than any actor played their own material.
I’m not so sure about that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qENwEuD__2E
I would have given him an award. 😀
MG,
Agreed 100 % she is the best actress on the show!
A Dornish Tyrell,
Meraviglioso Vittorio ! Sento molto la sua mancanza…
ACME,
He is, indeed, wonderful! I’ve watched several videos in youtube where he reads poems or even passages from the Divine Comedy… goosebumps!!!
If only my Italian were better. 🙁
Oh my god, I’m gonna start doing this now. 🙂
Actually, Jonathan Banks of BCS could be Kit’s biggest rival. Many people thought he deserved to get the award last year but Peter did. Hence, the voters may give it to him this year to make up for last year (the same way they gave it to Peter last year to make up for the previous year, when he was expected to win for S4).
I get this feeling as well – that he might be deliberately ‘taking a dive.’ When he won last year, he almost seemed embarrassed because he knew that it wasn’t really ‘his’ season (that should’ve been S4, and Tyrion’s trial in particular). Peter is my favorite actor in GoT, but more than half of his screentime this season was just busywork assignments. He brings his best to whatever he is asked to do, but I’d rather they saved the accolades for his true peak moments.