AUP EP. 19 Emmys So Black
Transcribed: Cameron Blackwell
Jul 15, 2021
Cortney Wills: Hello and welcome to Acting Up, the podcast that dives deep into the world of TV and film that highlights our people, our communities, and our stories. I’m your host, Courtney Wills, entertainment director at theGrio, and this week we are talking about the 2021 Emmy nominees.
It finally happened. They’re finally here, you all know I have been waiting with bated breath to see who would be recognized, who would be snubbed. And I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised on Tuesday, July 13th, when father-daughter duo Jasmine Cephas Jones and Ron Cephas Jones, both Emmy winners announced this year’s list of contenders. Let me tell you, the list of Emmy nominees has never been so Black it’s kind of mind-blowing. I think something like thirty-seven Black actors were nominated this year. Four of six of the contenders for outstanding lead actors in a drama are Black men. MJ Rodriguez made history as the first transgender woman to be nominated for a major acting category. And it feels like progress. It feels like movement. Is it perfect? No. Were there some head-scratchers? Yes. Were there some snubs? Of course. Not as many as usual. And I just feel seen. I just feel like the people and the projects that should be highlighted from our community are actually being highlighted in our community. And of course, the question is always looming. Is this a knee-jerk reaction to pressure or is this the beginning of real change? I’m hoping it’s the latter and I am still celebrating all of the nominees from this year. Overall, I think that the Academy is finally recognizing all of the work done by Black creators that deserve to compete against the mainstream. A ton of the people and the projects that we’ve been talking to you about on acting up this season, we’re on the list and it feels good to know that the things that I’m paying attention to, the things that I think matter, the television academy and the public as a whole is starting to feel that way, too. And that feels good. It’s also awesome to feel like you called it, like you notice, like something special before anyone else was really talking about it. That really gets me going in my job. And I’m so happy that we’ve been able to share these kind of intimate conversations about the work, about the journey, about the art with these people before they got all of the attention for it. Right. Because now, of course, everyone- everyone wants to talk to Amber Ruffin now, I mean, not like they didn’t before, but when you get an Emmy nomination, you guys might remember Andre Willis told us about the power of nabbing Emmy nominations and wins. It feels like maybe it shouldn’t matter. We shouldn’t care if they don’t see us. We don’t need to be recognized by them. But it does matter. It matters to the bottom line of the business. It matters to these people’s pockets. It dictates what they get paid, how they get booked. It really, really is a game-changer. And to see so many people that we admire and have made themselves available to us, you know, I’ve been candid with us, nominated. It just feels really good. And we are so excited for all of the nominees. So in case you haven’t heard of this very, very Black list of Emmy nominees, let me break it down for you.
McKayla Cole got the shine that she deserved for I May Destroy You. Lovecraft country racked up eighteen nominations, so well deserved, but also kind of crazy considering HBO just announced they’re not renewing that show. If you remember, I told you it was one of the must-sees of the season, and I’m so glad that so many people connected to that project are getting recognized.
MJ Rodriguez made history as the first transgender woman to be nominated in a major acting category. She’s up for best actress in a drama for her role in Pose. Billy Porter nabbed a nom for best actor for his role in Poe’s, and he is one of the four Black men nominated in that category. The others are Sterling K. Brown for This Is US, obviously, Jonathan Majors for Lovecraft Country, yes, Regé-Jean Page for Bridgerton, which– we all know, I did not like Bretherton. I am not an incredible fan of the Duke, but like, fine, ok, I’ll take it. And it’s the first time that four out of six of those actors are Black. Jurnee Smollett is up for lead actress in a drama series for her stint in Lovecraft Country alongside MJ and Uzo Aduba for In Treatment, which is a really good show. We didn’t cover this season, but it’s on right now and it’s definitely one that’s worth a watch.
McKayla Cole got the shine that she deserves for lead actress in a limited series or movie for, I May Destroy You and Cynthia Erivo picked up a nod for playing Aretha Franklin for Genius Aretha. I told you, genius, Aretha was going to make an impact. I kind of hoped I would have seen some other folks from that project on the list. I think Omar Dorsey probably came close, certainly deserves an honorable mention. And Courtney B. Vance was also fantastic in that film playing Aretha’s father. He didn’t get nominated for genius Aretha, but he did pick up a nod for Lovecraft Country, as did pretty much everyone from that show. It got 18 nominations, including best drama Anjanue Ellis got nominated for it, Courtney B. Vance got nominated for it, Journey, Jonathan– it is getting the recognition that it deserves literally like a week after HBO announced it was pulling the plug and not renewing for a second season. So I’m still reeling from that news, but Misha Green already landed an overall deal over at Apple. And I think that I mean, fingers crossed, maybe we’ll see it come back over there.
So many of the projects and the people that we’ve been highlighting on this first season of acting up landed on the list. And we could not be more excited for those guests. While there are a ton of things to celebrate about this year’s list of nominees, there were still a few snubs and some pretty puzzling surprises. Don Cheadle was in Falcon and the Winter Soldier for all of I wrote it down, I think. Ninety-eight seconds. That’s not really a guest spot. That is a cameo. And somehow he nabbed a nomination for that. Even he was surprised when the news broke on Tuesday and was like, okay, I guess. And I mean, that’s kind of my response. I like Don Cheadle, but he’s been in other things even this year that are probably more worth an Emmy nod than that minute and a half. But fine. The other thing that still has me scratching my head is the fact that Richardson is nominated for best drama. I mean, OK, fine. Like, it’s cool. We get it. I didn’t love Bridgton. I can still understand and respect that. Other people liked it and it was very popular. But I would go to bat to say I don’t think it was a drama like nothing about it screamed drama to me. And considering that shows like Snow Fall and The Chi were left off the list in that category, it just seems really weird and kind of like a lazy choice from the Academy because they knew everyone just loved that show so much. But does it deserve an Emmy Nom? I don’t think so. The costumes were cool, like I would have been cheering for an Emmy nod for their set design and their costuming. Even Them I thought deserved a nod for what that series looked like, what the wardrobe and hair and makeup looked like, and how it instantly transported viewers to the time that it was trying to reflect. Them didn’t get any love. But I can’t say that I’m surprised, considering what the reception was like and the fact that by the time it came out, that space was already a little bit crowded, especially with projects like the Underground Railroad from Barry Jenkins coming right after it. And that did earn a nomination, which I think was well deserved. Still, I do think that Thuso Mbedu deserved a nomination for lead actress for her role in that series. It was her first big gig and she carried it. She delivered. She did everything required of a nomination and she didn’t get it. So that makes me a little sad.
I also had my fingers crossed for William Jackson Harper in Underground Railroad, and he did not get nominated. He’s been nominated before for his work on The Good Place. But I was hoping that his work on this particular series would have been celebrated the way that it should have been. So many other folks that we’ve talked to on this season of Acting Up scored nominations. O. T. Fagbenle is for his role in The Handmaid’s Tale. Rooting for him. Our beloved Brandon Kyle Goodman works on Big Mouth over at Netflix, and that was nominated for Best Animated Program. The lovely Amber Ruffin, who we just had on, is nominated for outstanding writing for a variety series. A Black lady sketch show picked up five nominations, which is fantastic.
Now for the snubs, I, I really think that Master of None deserved to be recognized. I mean, I thought it would happen because we know that the television academy really loves that show already. And I thought this season was the most innovative one. It was so different. It was so interesting. It was shot beautifully. Naomi Ackee and Lena Waithe acted their asses off in it and I just expected it to get sunshine. Obviously, I’m annoyed about Snowfall. I think it’s one of the best shows on TV and it always gets snubbed. And I have to say, I was kind of expecting Chris Rock to get a nod for Fargo over at FX, but he didn’t.
Tracee Ellis Ross and Anthony Anderson are nominated for Blackish, once again, they’ve been nominated for that show a lot, but last year they weren’t. So I’m sure that they’re happy, you know, to be back in the running. Kenan Thompson is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a comedy series for Kenan and Trevor Noah is nominated for Outstanding Variety Talk Series. As usual, RuPaul’s Drag Race is in the Running for Outstanding Competition Program. And that brings me to Leslie Odom Jr., who is nominated for his role in Hamilton as an outstanding lead actor in a limited anthology series for a movie. Here’s my beef with Hamilton nominations, OK? Yes, Hamilton was great. It was really tricky. Streaming theater, like all of the rules have been constantly changing. And what happened with Hamilton is this. It got nominated for, I think, eight acting awards, but it was considered a limited series because of its length. It didn’t qualify it to be a movie. But here’s the truth. It’s not a limited series or a movie. It’s a Broadway play that was filmed five years ago, performed five years ago, and recently made it to the small screen. It seems like just a little bit off that it gets to compete against other actors and other programs. I mean, look Daveed Diggs is nominated it, everyone nominated for it is certainly deserving and did an incredible job. I just I don’t know. I don’t want to say it’s like a cheat, but it kind of feels like a sneak into a pool that, like, they shouldn’t have necessarily been invited to. Like it already won all the Tonys, like, you know, it wasn’t a movie and it wasn’t a series. So I call weird. I don’t call mad. I just call puzzled and a little bit shady.
Some of you might be thinking that Insecure got snubbed, but it didn’t it did not make the cutoff for the dates. So it didn’t get snubbed. It just didn’t qualify this time around. Someone who did get snubbed, though, I think is Nicole Beharie. I thought that her performance in solos absolutely deserved some recognition. I also wish the Queen and Sugar got more shine because what they did this season was just mind-blowing, especially amid the pandemic. Let’s hope they’re not to discourage and we’ll certainly be on the lookout for them next year.
Now that the Emmy nominations are out and they are really exciting, it’s kind of a perfect time to take a break. I live in L.A. It’s summer. We’ve got a few weeks until the Emmys roll around and we’ll be bringing you some fantastic interviews with more contenders. But in the meantime, Acting Up is going to go on a brief hiatus. And I hope you guys will keep me posted on what you’re watching while you wait for us to come back. Thanks so much for listening to the first season of Acting Up. We’ll see you soon.
Thank you for listening to acting up. If you liked what you heard, please give us a five-star review and subscribe to the show. Wherever you listen to your podcasts, please email all questions, suggestions, and compliments to podcasts at the Grio dot com. Follow us on Instagram @actingup.pod Acting Up is brought to you by theGrio, an executive produced by Courtney Wills and produced by Cameron Blackwell.
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