Tracy Letts (‘Winning Time’) and Carrie Coon (‘The Gilded Age’) could score his-and-hers Emmy nominations
It’s not too often that married couples earn his and hers nominations in the same year, but it could very well happen at this year’s Emmy Awards. Actors Tracy Letts and Carrie Coon, who wed in 2013, both star in new HBO dramas that premiered earlier this year, and both give memorable performances that could have them popping two bottles of champagne come July.
Letts, who also appears in this spring’s “Deep Water,” has a supporting role as the late basketball coach Jack McKinney in the sports drama “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty,” which depicts the famed Showtime era led by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who are portrayed on the show by Solomon Hughes and Quincy Isaiah, respectively. The real McKinney suffered a near-fatal bicycle accident that cut short his career with the Lakers after introducing the up-tempo style that came to define Showtime. The accident memorably closed out the fifth episode of the series, and Letts is given plenty of memorable material both before and after it that should appeal to Emmy voters. However, he has to compete with several actors from the show in the supporting drama actor category, including Hughes, Isaiah, Jason Segel, who plays TMcKinney’s assistant-turned-successor Paul Westhead, and Oscar winner Adrien Brody, who portrays eventual (and legendary) Lakers head coach Pat Riley. This could make things a bit difficult for Letts come nomination time.
SEE Why you shouldn’t underestimate ‘The Gilded Age’ at the Emmys
Luckily for Coon, she doesn’t have that same problem. The former “The Leftovers” star portrays Bertha Russell in “The Gilded Age,” Julian Fellows’ follow-up to “Downton Abbey. The show, which was initially set to air on NBC before finding its way to HBO, is a historical drama set during the booming 1880s in New York City. Coon’s Russell is a complex, ruthless and determined woman, the wife of a railroad baron, who wants to break through the ranks of the old guard of high society. In a cast that also includes the likes of Audra McDonald and Christine Baranski, it’s Coon who leaves a lasting impression at the end of the day. And luckily for them, she’s competing in lead, while they (along with Cynthia Nixon) are eligible in supporting.
Currently, Coon, who was previously nominated for the third season of “Fargo,” is on the rise and now sits inside the top 10 in eighth place in Gold Derby’s combined odds for the race for Best Drama Actress. The category is led by former winner Zendaya (“Euphoria”), with Laura Linney (“Ozark”), Melanie Lynskey (“Yellowjackets”), Jennifer Aniston (“The Morning Show”), Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”), Sandra Oh (“Killing Eve”) and Patricia Arquette (“Severance”) filling out second through seventh place.
It’ll be a bit of an uphill battle if both hope to celebrate come nomination day, but after the Oscars nominated two real-life couples this year — Javier Bardem (“Being the Ricardos”) and Penelope Cruz (“Parallel Mothers”), and “The Power of the Dog’s” Jesse Plemons and Kirsten Dunst — maybe love is in the awards air.
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