Brett's Emmy Picks: Supporting Actor - Drama

Next in our continuing series of Emmy picks: Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Emmy picks caveat: Look, I don't watch every show on TV. I watch the shows I think are good (and that's a lot of shows, mind you). As such, most of these picks are going to come from those shows. I don't watch crap like Entourage or Grey's Anatomy which I think are garbage but are sure to pile up the Emmy nods. If you want to read praise of the actors on those shows, look elsewhere. I also don't watch many of the critically acclaimed cable shows like Mad Men and Breaking Bad (though I plan to this summer), so while I'm sure there are fine deserving candidates on those shows, I can't speak to it.

Rather than telling you the prior nominations for each actor, I'll dispatch with it upfront: none of these actors has ever been nominated for an Emmy.


Jeremy Davies as Daniel Faraday on Lost













Although he appeared in only nine episodes of Season Five, perhaps no character was more important this year than Daniel Faraday - particularly to the viewer. When Lost decided to go the time travel route, there were plenty of people that were skeptical that they could pull it off successfully. Perhaps they wouldn't have been able to if Faraday hadn't been there every step of the way as the calm and collected person explaining it to us. Not only did Davies fill this vital role in the shows storytelling, but he managed to make his character one of the most sympathetic on the show. Even though he was only around for two seasons, his untimely end (it aired months ago, shut up) affected me like no other character's but Charlie. Little known fact: His birth name is actually Jeremy Davies Boring. His performance was anything but.


Zachary Quinto as Sylar on Heroes












Quinto has moved into Michael Emerson territory of "most able to play an absolute creep and still make us root for him." There probably isn't a character on TV more evil and reprehensible than Sylar, and yet Quinto manages to make us feel both his triumphs and his disappointments. In a way, he is one of the most human characters on the show. Heroes has consistently been one of the more disappointing shows on television the last couple of years, and there have been times where Quinto was absolutely carrying it. For that alone, he deserves some Emmy love.


John Noble as Walter Bishop on Fringe











I don't think it's a stretch at all to say that Fringe was the best new network drama this year, in no small part because of its excellent cast. While both Joshua Jackson and Lance Reddick deserve mention for great performances, there's no doubt that it was Noble who stole the show. What is so interesting about his performance is that he's essentially playing a cliche. Walter Bishop perfectly embodies the term "mad scientist", and yet Noble manages to make the character feel fresh and original. Not only does he lend gravity to the performance, he is also responsible for much of the shows levity, as he manages to convincingly play someone who is at once flighty and also tortured by the deeds of his past. Noble is one of the primary reasons that the premiere of Fringe will be one of my most eagerly anticipated Fall events.


Josh Holloway as James "Sawyer" Ford on Lost












Through four years of Lost, Sawyer had always been around but had never really been given the spotlight. He was the wise-cracking bad boy, the pseudo-villain you loved to hate. He was always "one of the good" characters on the show, but never "one of the best". That all changed in Season Five, when suddenly Sawyer was far more central to the plot of the show (particularly in its latter half), a transition which Holloway pulled off brilliantly. Terry O'Quinn and Michael Emerson will always be the best actors on the show, but Holloway deserves the nod this year for taking his performance from merely good to great. Actors who are given the opportunity to do more with their characters and seize those opportunities deserve recognition for it.


James Callis as Gaius Baltar on Battlestar Galactica













You can go ahead and file this one under "never going to be nominated". The Emmys hate sci-fi shows (you'll notice I've stuck it to them by picking actors from only such shows here. Take that, Emmys!) It's a shame though, because Callis is one of the very best actors on tv. During Battlestar's remarkable four season run, he's had to play Gaius Baltar as traitor, genius, politician, criminal, prophet, and many more varied roles and he's pulled them all off believably. I can't think of a single more dynamic character on television (there's a reason the official cat of bambat is named Gaius Baltar) [ed: *snicker*], and there are few actors who could pull him off as well. Callis deserves an Emmy nom to go with his Saturn award for the character, but unfortunately he'll have to make due with being mentioned here.

The Pick:

This one was actually much easier for me to choose than the comedy category. While all of these actors are certainly deserving, one clearly rises above the rest. As much as I love Lost, it is and will always be an ensemble cast, and Holloway and Davies are merely part of a great grew. Quite the opposite, Quinto is great but is surrounded by such mediocre talent at times that his performance is perhaps unfairly magnified. And as much as I would love to give it to a Battlestar alum, there's little doubt in my mind that the best of the lot this year was starring on J.J. Abrams latest opus: John Noble. If you haven't had a chance to check out Fringe yet, let it be said that it's worth tuning in for Noble's performance alone. Congrats John on your first fake bambat Emmy!


















These People Will Be Nominated For The "Real" Emmys:
Someone from Mad Men, Someone from Damages, etc