Emmy Predictions 2020 - Who Will Likely Be Nominated for Guest Actor in a Drama Series?

From July 2 to July 13, 2020, voting is taking place for The 72nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards. As such, it's fun to look at which actors and shows have the best chances of actually being nominated this year. So, these are my predictions for who will be nominated for Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

2019 Nominees:

        Michael Angarano for NBC's This Is Us
        Ron Cephas Jones for NBC's This Is Us
        Michael McKean for AMC's Better Call Saul
        Kumail Nanjiani for CBS All Access' The Twilight Zone
        Glynn Turman for ABC's How to Get Away With Murder
        Bradley Whitford for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale (WINNER)

Several dramas have proven themselves capable of netting numerous nominations for their actors. NBC's This Is Us has gotten more than one nominee in this field for every year it has been on. Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale and Netflix's The Crown are always reliable for nods no matter where they are competing. As such, it makes it harder for a character actor from another show with less buzz to break through. It's not impossible. Cameron Britton did so two years ago as the only acting nomination for Netflix's Mindhunter. That could easily repeat with Damon Herriman for playing Charles Manson. Meanwhile, last year proved that some of the episodic anthology stars can make a play for voters. That support could rally around Robert Forster in AppleTV+'s Amazing Stories, which was one of the final roles he played before his death. Or it could go to Andrew Scott for appearing on Netflix's Black Mirror. The guest categories are always known for throwing in a couple of surprises. This Is Us could absolutely dominate. Or it could finally cut down to one nomination or even none. Succession, Killing Eve, The Outsider and Better Call Saul could shoot their shots as well with several actors being more than deserving of such recognition.

For the 2020 awards ceremony, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences decided to tie the number of nominations to the number of submissions in each category. For Guest Actor in a Drama Series, 141 actors were eligible on the ballot. That will translate to six nominees in this category.

Actors most likely to be nominated:

1. Ron Cephas Jones for NBC's This Is Us
2. Charles Dance for Netflix's The Crown
3. Jason Bateman for HBO's The Outsider
4. Dean Norris for AMC's Better Call Saul
5. Christopher Meloni for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale
6. Damon Herriman for Netflix's Mindhunter

Serious threats that could break through:

1. Gerald McRaney, Michael Angarano, Timothy Omundson, Blake Stadnik, Tim Matheson and Omar Epps for NBC's This Is Us
2. James Cromwell for HBO's Succession
3. O-T Fagbenle and Max Minghella for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale
4. Andrew Scott for Netflix's Black Mirror
5. Sean Delaney for BBC America's Killing Eve
6. Beau Bridges for Showtime's Homeland
7. Robert Forster, Edward Burns, Josh Holloway and Dylan O'Brien for AppleTV+'s Amazing Stories
8. Martin Short for AppleTV+'s The Morning Show
9. Alexander Skarsgård for Showtime's On Becoming a God in Central Florida
10. Elliot Villar for USA's Mr. Robot
11. Judd Hirsch for Amazon's Hunters
12. Michael J. Fox, Gary Cole, Rob Reiner, Fisher Stevens and Jon Michael Hill for CBS All Access' The Good Fight

Some considerable long-shots:

1. Luke Kirby for Netflix's Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City
2. Simon Quarterman and Rodrigo Santoro for HBO's Westworld
3. Christopher Backus and Oliver Cooper for Netflix's Mindhunter
4. Giancarlo Esposito for Amazon's The Boys
5. Duncan Lacroix, John Bell, David Berry and Edward Speleers for Starz's Outlander
6. Brad Garrett for Showtime's Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
7. David Morse for HBO's The Deuce
8. Clarke Peters for HBO's His Dark Materials
9. Michael O'Keefe, Dean Winters and Lee Tergesen for Showtime's City on a Hill
10. Dan Bakkedahl and Tyler Barnhardt for Amazon's Tales From the Loop
11. Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes and Jonathan Del Arco for CBS All Access' Star Trek: Picard
12. Giancarlo Esposito, Werner Herzog, Bill Burr and Jake Cannavale for Disney+'s The Mandalorian

Colorful oddities who still have an outside chance:

1. Brian Dennehy for NBC's The Blacklist
2. Ian McShane for NBC's Law & Order: SVU
3. Tom Hardy for Netflix's Peaky Blinders
4. Michael B. Jordan for Netflix's Raising Dion
5. Vondie Curtis-Hall and Patrick Brammall for CBS' Evil
6. Dabney Coleman for Paramount's Yellowstone
7. David Alan Grier for OWN's Queen Sugar
8. Dermot Mulroney for FOX's Prodigal Son
9. Colm Feore for AppleTV+'s For All Mankind
10. Donal Logue for ABC's Stumptown
11. Jon Cryer for The CW's Supergirl
12. Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson for ABC's For Life

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