4 reasons why Zendaya (‘Euphoria’) will win 2nd Emmy for playing Rue Bennett

Hey, Zendaya: Is your Emmy speech ready yet? You’re gonna need it.

The “Euphoria” superstar currently finds herself in first place in Gold Derby’s odds for Best Drama Actress, and for good reason. The 26-year-old actress is already an Emmy favorite, winning the last time she was eligible for her role of drug-addicted, bipolar teen Rue Bennett. But if you look at the predictions of Gold Derby’s Experts, Editors and Users, some of them are instead throwing their support elsewhere. Are they going to miss an easy category? Below, see my four reasons why I think Zendaya will win her second Emmy.

1. Emmy episode submission
In this current era of Emmy voting, TV academy members can vote for a category without necessarily having watched all of the episode submissions — though they’re supposed to. While that occasionally leads to nominees winning without having the strongest material (*cough* Claire Foy for her minutes-long guest cameo on “The Crown” last year *cough*), it still doesn’t hurt to put your best foot forward. And Zendaya has done just that. In fact, in our most recent Editors’ Emmy slugfest, I single out “Stand Still Like the Hummingbird” as being “scene after scene of breathtaking acting” for Zendaya and “one of the best submissions I’ve ever seen covering the Emmys.” Rue appears in every scene of that episode as she battles addiction like never before, escaping from her family and running from the police in an effort to stay out of rehab.

2. The empathy vote
Throughout Season 2 of “Euphoria,” Zendaya elicits enough empathy from the audience to fill an entire category. As we’ve noticed through the years, actors who portray huggably flawed characters are ones that tend to win awards. Zendaya as Rue Bennett arguably has the biggest empathy factor in this year’s Best Drama Actress lineup, as she continues to battle her demons of addiction. Compare that to Jodie Comer as a serial killer (“Killing Eve”), Laura Linney as a drug launderer (“Ozark”), Melanie Lynskey as a plane crash survivor with dark secrets (“Yellowjackets”), Sandra Oh as a killer sympathizer (“Killing Eve”) and Reese Witherspoon as a self-serving TV broadcaster (“The Morning Show”).

3. Voters love “Euphoria”
At last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys, “Euphoria” walked off with a whopping five trophies (Guest Actor for Colman Domingo, Choreography, Cinematography, Makeup and Picture Editing). Comparatively, “Killing Eve,” “Ozark,” “Yellowjackets” and “The Morning Show” all came away with zero wins. In other words, it’s clear Emmy voters have a favorite show in the Best Drama Actress category. In addition, Zendaya scored double bids in the Best Music & Lyrics category (“I’m Tired” and “Elliot’s Song”), though it’s likely she vote-split her way out of a win, as “Schmigadoon’s” “Corn Puddin'” prevailed instead.

4. It’s time for a repeat
Some awards pundits look at the recent history of the Best Drama Actress race and think Zendaya has a hill to climb because it’s been eight years since we’ve had a repeat winner here — Julianna Margulies for “The Good Wife.” But Emmy stats tend to ebb and flow. Don’t forget to take into account that prior to Margulies’ double victory, all of the following leading ladies won twice since the turn of the century: Claire Danes (“Homeland”), Glenn Close (“Damages”), Allison Janney (“The West Wing”) and Edie Falco (“The Sopranos”). Isn’t it time to add Zendaya to this list?

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