Saturday, August 30, 2025

Gold Derby's predictions for guest actors and actresses at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards


Slight change of plans — instead of continuing my Emmy coverage with limited series nominations at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards, as I wrote at the end of 'Arcane,' 'Love, Death + Robots,' and 'Octopus!' already Emmy Award winners, I'm resuming with a condensed version of last year's Gold Derby predicts guest actor, guest actress, reality host, and voice-over at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards concentrating on guest actor and guest actress in comedy and drama. Here are the nominees for these categories at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
  • Jon Bernthal – The Bear: "Napkins" as Michael Berzatto (FX)
  • Bryan Cranston – The Studio: "CinemaCon" as Griffin Mill (Apple TV+)
  • Dave Franco – The Studio: "CinemaCon" as himself (Apple TV+)
  • Ron Howard – The Studio: "The Note" as himself (Apple TV+)
  • Anthony Mackie – The Studio: "The Note" as himself (Apple TV+)
  • Martin Scorsese – The Studio: "The Promotion" as himself (Apple TV+)
Bryan Cranston leads the field according to the odds at Gold Derby, with every editor and expert along with 80.1% of users picking him to win. He's followed by Martin Scorsese, Jon Bernthal, Ron Howard, Dave Franco, and Anthony Mackie, who have the support of 11.1%, 4.6%, 2.3%, 1.4%, and 0.5% of users, respectively. The Studio having multiple nominees could have split the vote, but the prognosticators at Gold Derby think the Emmy voters have settled on the best performance of the bunch, a great actor playing a role instead of just himself.

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
  • Olivia Colman – The Bear: "Forever" as Chef Andrea Terry (FX)
  • Jamie Lee Curtis – The Bear: "Ice Chips" as Donna Berzatto (FX)
  • Cynthia Erivo – Poker Face: "The Game Is a Foot" as the Kazinsky sisters (Peacock)
  • Robby Hoffman – Hacks: "Cover Girls" as Randi (HBO Max)
  • Zoë Kravitz – The Studio: "The Presentation" as herself (Apple TV+)
  • Julianne Nicholson – Hacks: "A Slippery Slope" as Mary-Alice (HBO Max)
There is less of a consensus about this category than for guest actor, as Julianne Nicholson is the choice of every editor, but only two-thirds of experts and 74.4% of users. The experts and users are split on who is second, with the remaining one-third of experts and 7.9% of users picking Cynthia Erivo, while 11.5% of users expect last year's winner Jamie Lee Curtis to repeat. Zoe Kravitz, Robby Hoffman, and Olivia Colman round out the rest of the field with the support of 4.8%, 0.9%, and 0.4% of users, respectively.

Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series
  • Giancarlo Esposito – The Boys: "Beware the Jabberwock, My Son" as Stan Edgar (Prime Video)
  • Scott Glenn – The White Lotus: "Killer Instincts" as Jim Hollinger (HBO)
  • Shawn Hatosy – The Pitt: "9:00 PM" as Dr. Jack Abbot (HBO)
  • Joe Pantoliano – The Last of Us: "The Price" as Eugene (HBO)
  • Forest Whitaker – Andor: "I Have Friends Everywhere" as Saw Gerrera (Disney+)
  • Jeffrey Wright – The Last of Us: "Day One" as Isaac (HBO)
Predictions by Gold Derby's prognosticators for this category follow a pattern similar to that for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. Shawn Hatosy is the choice of 80.0% of editors, 75.0% of experts, and 78.5% of users. The professionals and users are again split on the second choice, with the remaining 20% of editors and 25% of experts along with only 3.1% of users picking Scott Glenn, while 14.0% of users are voting for Jeffrey Wright. I suspect the users are responding to their perceptions of the performances, while the professionals are taking the politics of the acting community in particular into consideration. Electorates matter.

Gold Derby ranks the rest of the roster as Joe Pantoliano in fourth, Giancarlo Esposito in fifth, and Forest Whitaker last with 2.2%, 1.8%, and 0.4% of users choosing them, respectively. Too bad, as Whitaker is the only acting nominee from Andor. Being an Oscar-winning actor reprising a movie role may have helped him earn a nomination, but it's not going to help him win. Darn. Maybe at the Saturn Awards.

Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series
  • Jane Alexander – Severance: "Sweet Vitriol" as Sissy Cobel (Apple TV+)
  • Gwendoline Christie – Severance: "Cold Harbor" as Lorne (Apple TV+)
  • Kaitlyn Dever – The Last of Us: "Through the Valley" as Abby (HBO)
  • Cherry Jones – The Handmaid's Tale: "Exile" as Holly (Hulu)
  • Catherine O’Hara – The Last of Us: "Future Days" as Gail (HBO)
  • Merritt Wever – Severance: "Who Is Alive?" as Gretchen George (Apple TV+)
Speaking of the Saturn Awards, every one of these actresses is in a show that has been nominated by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, so all of them could be nominated for Best Guest Star in a Television Series except perhaps Cherry Jones. No actress from The Handmaid's Tale has ever earned a nomination at the Saturn Awards, a snub I've whined about before. I don't expect that will change. Not only do electorates matter, so do selection committees.

Enough speculation. Now for the odds. This is the third consecutive category where there is a top choice, followed by divided support for the next two. Three-quarters of both editors and experts along with 78.2% of users have lined up behind Kaitlyn Dever, while the remaining one-quarter of editors and experts along with 7.3% of users have chosen Merritt Wever and 10.5% of users have picked Catherine O'Hara. The remaining three nominees are well behind, with Gwendoline Christie having the votes of 2.3% of users, Jane Alexander with 1.4%, and Cherry Jones 0.5%. Maybe a snub of Jones at the Saturn Awards would be justified.

That's a wrap for today's installment. I'm planning this year's version of Gold Derby's predictions for TV movie and music at the Emmy Awards for tomorrow's Sunday entertainment feature. Stay tuned.

Previous posts about the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards
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