Nine years after he won his fourth and final acting Emmy for playing Walter White on “Breaking Bad,” Bryan Cranston has a solid shot at triumphing in the corresponding Best Drama Guest Actor category for reprising the role on the prequel series “Better Call Saul” on AMC. In fact, he has three chances to win at least his fifth acting Emmy this year since he could also earn notices for Best Movie/Limited Actor for Paramount Plus’ “Jerry and Marge Go Large” and for Best Drama Actor for Showtime’s “Your Honor.” If all three nominations come to fruition, he will be only the fourth person and second man to ever compete for three acting Emmys at once.
Cranston’s highly anticipated “Better Call Saul” appearance consists of several flashback scenes in which he reunites with his “Breaking Bad” cast mates Bob Odenkirk and Aaron Paul. His two episodes aired shortly after the premiere of “Jerry and Marge Go Large,” in which he stars opposite Annette Bening as Jerry Selbee, a recent retiree who figures out a way to repeatedly win Michigan’s WinFall lottery. He then headlined the second season of “Your Honor,” which focuses on his character, former judge Michael Desiato, infiltrating the New Orleans mob following a brief prison stint.
The only male actor who will have preceded Cranston in garnering three Emmy bids in one year is Will Geer, who achieved the feat posthumously in 1978. His haul included his sixth drama supporting actor mention for “The Waltons” and two notices in the now-defunct Best Single Appearance in a Comedy or Drama Series categories (lead: “The Love Boat”; supporting: “Eight is Enough”). He ultimately came up short in every contest, respectively losing to Robert Vaughn (“Washington: Behind Closed Doors”), Barnard Hughes (“Lou Grant”) and Ricardo Montalban (“How the West Was Won”).
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In 1972, Glenda Jackson technically became the first performer to simultaneously receive three Emmy nominations, but she was only eligible to win two actual awards. As the star of the miniseries “Elizabeth R,” she amassed one Best Drama Actress and two Best Single Performance by a Lead Actress bids. She ended up taking both prizes, overcoming a potential vote split with herself in the latter category.
Geer was followed on the list of concurrent triple category contenders by Blythe Danner (2005) and Laurie Metcalf (2016). Danner’s first of two drama supporting actress wins for “Huff” was accompanied by respective lead and guest bids for the telefilm “Back When We Were Grownups” and the sitcom “Will & Grace,” on which she lost to S. Epatha Merkerson (“Lackawanna Blues”) and Kathryn Joosten (“Desperate Housewives”). Metcalf received her three notices for “Getting On” (comedy actress), “The Big Bang Theory” (comedy guest actress) and “Horace and Pete” (drama guest actress) and was respectively bested by Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”), Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (“Saturday Night Live”) and Margo Martindale (“The Americans”).
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According to Gold Derby’s current odds, Cranston is widely expected to be nominated for his guest appearance on “Better Call Saul” but faces greater hurdles elsewhere. However, he may benefit from the fact that “Jerry and Marge Go Large” is a strong Best TV Movie contender due to its broad appeal as a lighthearted comedy.
Cranston’s past success in the drama lead category also certainly helps, as does the compellingly complex nature of his performance on “Your Honor.” Judging by his body of work, it may be hard to deny him an immediate abundance of Emmy love.
PREDICT the 2023 Emmy nominees through July 12
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