Olivia Colman Gets Snubbed by the Emmys for the Most Unfair Reason Possible
Ironically, even Bradley Cooper turned out to have better luck.
Netflix ’s epic royal drama The Crown came to its end last year showing Imelda Staunton’s Queen Elizabeth II torn between her wish for a calmer life and duty to serve her country as its rightful monarch.
The final episode also featured the Queen’s younger versions, portrayed by Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, in a short, yet defining sequence that later on turned into a concluding moment for the whole series.
Although both actresses’ comebacks to the show were a one-time option, their astounding performances received a raving reaction from both critics and fans, yet only one of them now has a chance to get a prestigious TV award.
In The Crown’s final episode titled Sleep, Dearie Sleep, Queen Elizabeth II is confronted by Claire Foy and Olivia Colman’s Queens talking her into either keep going with her duty to serve the nation until the very last day of her life, or to resign and thus letting her son Charles accede to the throne.
Both Foy and Colman don’t appear in the episode for more than several minutes, which may seem negligible given the episode’s overall run of 72 minutes. Still, with all the changes the Television Academy adopted earlier this year, only Claire Foy can be considered for Primetime Emmy awards competition.
As the Academy has previously stated, the performer’s engagement in the scene, whether on or off the camera, should get at least 5% of the submitted episode’s total run to eventually become eligible for the nomination.
According to Variety’s report, Colman’s performance should’ve had at least 3 minutes and 36 seconds of screen time, but this requirement wasn’t met. Meanwhile, Claire Foy’s guest role in The Crown’s finale is a perfect fit for the new rule, allowing her to be submitted for the competition.
However merciful the new requirement may seem, it appears to be a kind of punch in the face to big drama shows that tend to have longer run time than other types of series.
As the deadline for submitting the options is approaching, many find it quite unfair that Bradley Cooper ’s less-than-two-minute performance in Abbott Elementary ’s episode got a chance to receive an Emmy nomination, while Colman’s much more powerful dramatical performance was merely ignored due to its failure to meet the main requirement.
The shows’ creators still have a bit of time to submit their applications till May 31 while the overall voting process will start on June 13.
Source: Variety