Emmy nominee profile: Janelle James (‘Abbott Elementary’) could graduate to Emmy winner for her hilariously inept principal
ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” made the grade with Emmy voters this year, with the freshman comedy about a Philadelphia elementary school scoring seven Emmy nominations, including Best Comedy Series and Best Comedy Actress and Best Comedy Writing for the show’s star and creator, Quinta Brunson. However, there can be little argument that the show’s breakout character was Ava Coleman, the outrageous and outrageously inept principal played by Janelle James.
James’s work has earned her a nomination for Best Comedy Supporting Actress, her first Emmy bid. She is nominated alongside her “Abbott Elementary” co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Ted Lasso” actors Hannah Waddingham (last year’s winner), Juno Temple and Sarah Niles, Hannah Einbinder of “Hacks,” and previous winners Alex Borstein (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) and Kate McKinnon (“Saturday Night Live”).
While James’s character steals every scene she’s in, the actress has a singular showcase in the season’s penultimate episode “Ava vs. Superintendent,” which James has submitted to Emmy voters. Ava must make a presentation to the school board to justify the need for more funding, which is needed to continue many of the school’s more popular programs. But Ava has a problem: After blackmailing the superintendent (Reggie Hayes) in order to get her job as principal, she finds that she no longer has leverage over him, and he’s out for her job.
SEE Janelle James’ Emmy episode submission revealed
Following some failed trial runs, including one involving Ava avatars on rolling iPads, Ava is forced to rely on her own skills to give the presentation. After faltering with graphs and data, Ava makes an impassioned plea for her students and particularly her staff. Though Ava doesn’t get her funding, the staff develops a grudging respect for their leader.
The early scenes of this episode are textbook Ava. She’s flippant, dismissive and out of her league. James tosses one-liners and asides almost faster than the audience can catch them, and the result is often painfully funny. But this episode shows a more vulnerable side to Ava. She actually cares about her job and is even willing to ask for help from Gregory (Emmy nominee Tyler James Williams), whom she knows is more qualified to run the school.
Ava’s presentation to the school board is where James truly has the chance to shine. Her inability to handle basic facts and figures provide moments of uncomfortable humor as we watch Ava try to stay afloat. Then Ava goes off script, delivering a monologue about the lengths that she and her teachers go to in order help their students. It’s the kind of speech that wins Emmys: heartfelt, sincere and strong. It’s a testament to James’s skill as an actor that the pivot feels completely believable; the audience never doubts that Ava had this in her all along.
Emmy voters love a breakout star, especially in the comedy supporting actress category. The list of winners in this category is loaded with larger-than-life characters who helped make their respective shows. Think about where “The Mary Tyler Moore Show ” would be without Rhoda (Valerie Harper) and Sue Ann (Betty White); “The Golden Girls” without Sophia (Estelle Getty); “Will & Grace” without Karen Walker (Megan Mullally). As the scene-stealer of one of television’s most acclaimed new shows, James could be poised to join that roster of icons on Emmy night.
This article is a part of Gold Derby’s “Emmy nominee profile” series spotlighting the 2022 acting contenders.
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