Salim Daw (‘The Crown’): From BAFTAs to Emmys?
Netflix’s “The Crown” concluded late last year with a sixth and final season. The drama show has depicted the ups and downs of the royal family, beginning with Queen Elizabeth‘s coronation in season one. This sixth and final season takes place between 1997 and 2005 and depicts the death of Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), the premiership of Tony Blair (Bertie Carvel) as Prime Minister, and the wedding of Prince Charles (Dominic West) and Camilla Parker Bowles (Olivia Williams).
A key player in this season is Salim Daw, who reprises his role as Mohamed Al-Fayed from season five. Daw’s Al-Fayed is a complex figure, at once a measured and thoughtful man as well as a calculated game player who pushes his son to marry Princess Diana in order to gain fame, glory, influence, and power. Daw’s complex portrayal has been applauded by critics.
Joey Moser (Awards Daily) stated: “Salim Daw, as Mohamed Al-Fayed, shows us a man blinded by his own ambition and eagerness to be seen as an equal with the Royal Family. He has a brief scene in episode four that is truly heartbreaking.”
Helen Hawkins (The Arts Desk) observed: “Salim Daw’s Mohamed is a triumph as a manipulative wizened autocrat who only registers how much he loved his son once Dodi is on a slab at the morgue. His howls of misery are unforgettable.”
Melanie McDonagh (The Standard) explained: “Mohammed Al-Fayed – played with scary verisimilitude by Salim Daw – regards his guest Diana as a boa constrictor might view a plump doe, and dispatches his hapless son Dodi (a sweet Khalib Abdalla) to seize this prize, dismissing Dodi’s disgruntled fiancée.”
Our current predicted nominees for Best Drama Supporting Actor are Billy Crudup (“The Morning Show”), Jon Hamm (“The Morning Show”), Jonathan Pryce (“The Crown”), Tadanobu Asano (“Shōgun”), Khalid Abdalla (“The Crown”), Nathan Lane (“The Gilded Age”), Takehiro Hira (“Shōgun”), and Ke Huy Quan (“Loki”). However, Daw is on the precipice of breaking into this lineup and there are several reasons why we think he can do it.
Firstly, Emmy voters love “The Crown.” So far, the show has won a whopping 21 Emmys. Being involved in a show this beloved will always help your chances no matter what. But let’s dig a little deeper into Emmy voters’ love for this show. They specifically adore the performances, having awarded “The Crown” 18 nominations in total for its various actors’ roles. That is an incredible number. Season one garnered two bids, season two reaped four nominations, season three received two bids, season four was greeted with a huge nine nominations, and season five picked up one citation for acting.
In particular, “The Crown” has done well in this category. John Lithgow won here in 2017 for playing Winston Churchill while Matt Smith was nominated in 2018 for his portrayal of Prince Philip. Then, Tobias Menzies won this award in 2021 for his rendition of Prince Philip. That’s three nominations in this category, while we think Pryce and Abdalla will make it five bids this year. Emmy voters like the supporting performances in this show so if Daw were to sneak into this lineup, it would make total sense.
Currently, we think that “The Crown” season six will be nominated for Best Drama Series, Best Drama Actress for Imelda Staunton, Best Drama Actor for West, Best Drama Supporting Actress for Debicki and Lesley Manville, Best Drama Supporting Actor for Pryce and Abdalla, and Best Drama Guest Actress for Claire Foy. That’s eight major Emmy nominations we think it will receive, so Daw could well be taken along for the ride.
And don’t worry about the fact that Daw is competing for a potential bid with co-stars Pryce and Abdalla as this category often nominates multiple stars from the same show. Here are just a few examples: Matthew Macfadyen, Nicholaus Braun, Alan Ruck, and Alexander Skarsgård (“Succession”); F. Murray Abraham, Michael Imperioli, Theo James, and Will Sharpe (“The White Lotus”); John Turturro and Christopher Walken (“Severance”); Park Hae-soo and O Yeong-su (“Squid Game”); and O.T. Fagbenle, Max Minghella, and Bradley Whitford (“The Handmaid’s Tale”).
Plus, Daw has actually already garnered support from a major awards organization. He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the BAFTA TV Awards in both 2023 and 2024. They liked his performances in both seasons and, crucially, she was nominated this year for season six. That is some key current awards support Daw has, and it could translate into the actor’s first-ever Emmy nomination.
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