Emmy Predictions 2018 - Who Will Likely Be Nominated for Lead Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie?

From June 11 to June 25, 2018, voting is taking place for The 70th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. To add to the excitement of the past year in television, I'm providing analysis on which shows and performers are likely to get nominated this year. Next up is Lead Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie.

2017 Nominees:

        Riz Ahmed for HBO's The Night Of (WINNER)
        Benedict Cumberbatch for PBS' Sherlock: The Lying Detective
        Robert De Niro for HBO's The Wizard of Lies
        Ewan McGregor for FX's Fargo
        Geoffrey Rush for National Geographic's Genius
        John Turturro for HBO's The Night Of

Absolutely nothing would make me happier on nomination morning than seeing Jimmy Tatro get a nod in this category for his brilliant performance in American Vandal. He's such a long shot. And yet, I still have hope because Netflix has said that the show was a huge, surprise success for them. Plus, it's one of the best performances from the past year in television. I just think it will be hard for him to get in especially when he's going up against competitors who all have serious track records at the Emmys. There are multiple past nominees and winners once again vying for nominations in this category. It will make it very exciting to predict who will eventually emerge as the winner in September. But for right now, it's easy to just assume that the known qualities with these voters will be the ones who actually get the nominations. There still could be a surprise here or there. But I'm thinking that's how this particular category will ultimately play out.

So now, here's my thoughts on the actors most likely to be nominated for Lead Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie:

1. Darren Criss for FX's The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
2. Benedict Cumberbatch for Showtime's Patrick Melrose
3. Kyle MacLachlan for Showtime's Twin Peaks: The Return
4. Al Pacino for HBO's Paterno
5. Jeff Daniels for Hulu's The Looming Tower
6. Jesse Plemons for Netflix's Black Mirror

And now, for some serious threats that could break into the list:

1. Michael B. Jordan for HBO's Fahrenheit 451
2. Jared Harris for AMC's The Terror
3. Evan Peters for FX's American Horror Story: Cult
4. Antonio Banderas for National Geographic's Genius: Picasso
5. Jimmy Tatro for Netflix's American Vandal
6. Benedict Cumberbatch for PBS' The Child in Time
7. John Legend for NBC's Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert
8. Jack O'Connell for Netflix's Godless
9. Matthew Macfadyen for Starz's Howards End

Some considerable long-shots:

1. Sam Worthington for Discovery's Manhunt: Unabomber
2. Terrence Howard, Timothy Spall and Mel Rodriguez for Amazon's Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams
3. Taylor Kitsch and Michael Shannon for Paramount's Waco
4. Daniel Brühl for TNT's The Alienist
5. Garrett Hedlund for HBO's Mosaic
6. Josh Duhamel for USA's Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.
7. Matt Bomer and Kelsey Grammer for Amazon's The Last Tycoon

And now, just some colorful oddities who still have an outside chance:

1. Matthew Broderick for FOX's A Christmas Story Live
2. Peter Capaldi for BBC America's Twice Upon a Time (Doctor Who)
3. Michael Mosley for Netflix's Seven Seconds
4. James Roday and Dulé Hill for USA's Psych: The Movie
5. Gus Halper and Miles Gaston Villanueva for NBC's Law & Order: True Crime - The Menendez Murders
6. Richard Dormer for Cinemax's Rellik

What do you think? Do you agree or disagree with my choices? Let me know in the comments below!