Could Melanie Lynskey (‘Yellowjackets’) become an Emmy frontrunner after Critics Choice win?

Melanie Lynskey has been putting in the work for decades, dating back to her debut performance in 1994’s “Heavenly Creatures.” The Kiwi actress bounces back and forth between leading and smaller roles, in films like “Up in the Air” (2009), “Hello I Must Be Going” (2012), “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore”(2017) and last year’s “Don’t Look Up,” and TV series like “Two and a Half Men,” “Togetherness,” “Castle Rock” and “Mrs. America.” Through it all, Lynskey has been a favorite of critics, who have given her multiple nominations, but the industry awards have left her criminally under-recognized. But that may change this year thanks to her starring turn in Showtime’s buzzy drama series “Yellowjackets.”

“Yellowjackets” offers Lynskey the opportunity to deliver on what she does best, playing a seemingly ordinary stay-at-home mom who happens to harbor a dark side. The actress plays Shauna, who is still unpacking the trauma of surviving a plane crash as a teenager and being stranded in the wilderness for months with her high school soccer team. Lynskey plays Shauna as a tired yet headstrong housewife, whose domestic life is increasingly dissatisfying. When others try to get to the bottom of what went down in the wild all those years ago, it becomes clear that she will do whatever it takes to prevent some rather unpleasant truths from coming out.

SEE Will ‘Yellowjackets’ crash the Emmys like ‘Lost’ did 17 years ago?

When “Yellowjackets” premiered on Showtime in November, the praise was nearly universal for Lynskey, with critics calling her performance “excellent” and “unnerving.” It was only natural that she won the Critics Choice Award for Best Drama Actress last month, beating the likes of Uzo Aduba (“In Treatment”) and Michaela Jae Rodriguez (“Pose”), who were nominated in the equivalent Emmy category last year. With this high-profile win, Lynskey may find herself in the Emmy race for the first time this summer.

Since the inception of the Critics Choice Television Awards in 2011, only one of its Best Drama Actress winners has failed to receive a corresponding Emmy nomination: Carrie Coon (“The Leftovers”). This puts Lynskey in a great position to at least secure a nomination from the Emmys, as numerous Gold Derby users are predicting. The “Yellowjackets” star ranks fourth in the latest Drama Actress odds, behind previous Emmy winners Zendaya (“Euphoria”), Laura Linney (“Ozark”) and Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”). Even if Lynskey doesn’t win against such heavy competition, for her to finally break through with industry recognition would be the reward for longtime fans of the actress.

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?