Emmy Predictions 2020 - Who Will Likely Be Nominated for Supporting Actress 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 Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

2019 Nominees:

        Gwendoline Christie for HBO's Game of Thrones
        Julia Garner for Netflix's Ozark (WINNER)
        Lena Headey for HBO's Game of Thrones
        Fiona Shaw for BBC America's Killing Eve
        Sophie Turner for HBO's Game of Thrones
        Maisie Williams for HBO's Game of Thrones

It was an amazing feat that four actresses from the same show got nominations. Sure, none of them ultimately won which was shocking. It was still impressive. With those women out of the running and the expansion of this category, the voters could go in any number of directions. This may be the most open race on the drama side of things. Moreover, the three most recent winners - Julia Garner, Thandie Newton and Ann Dowd - could all be facing off. That could make this year competitive amongst the three of them. Or they could all be upset by exciting newcomers or some big name competitors. The second season of Big Little Lies was more flawed than the first. Its transition to the drama categories may not make it as beloved by the voters. However, awards magnet Meryl Streep and former winner Laura Dern seem very likely to compete here. The rest of the category could be determined based on which shows have momentum this year. Helena Bonham Carter could follow in Vanessa Kirby's footsteps with a nomination for playing Princess Margaret on The Crown. Sarah Snook and Holly Hunter could slide in for Succession where they had some meaty roles this year. This could even be the year that Rhea Seehorn finally gets a long overdue nomination for Better Call Saul. Every year she has only gotten better in her performance. She has shockingly never been nominated though. That travesty could continue. Or she could win the much deserved trophy. And yet, there are swarms of competitors clinging onto the edges of this race. Eight slots may not be enough to contain all of the greatness from the past year.

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 Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, 394 actresses were eligible on the ballot. That will translate to eight nominees in this category.

Actors most likely to be nominated:

1. Julia Garner for Netflix's Ozark
2. Helena Bonham Carter for Netflix's The Crown
3. Meryl Streep for HBO's Big Little Lies
4. Laura Dern for HBO's Big Little Lies
5. Ann Dowd for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale
6. Thandie Newton for HBO's Westworld
7. Sarah Snook for HBO's Succession
8. Rhea Seehorn for AMC's Better Call Saul

Serious threats that could break through:

1. Cynthia Erivo, Julianne Nicholson and Mare Winningham for HBO's The Outsider
2. Fiona Shaw, Harriet Walter and Gemma Whelan for BBC America's Killing Eve
3. Holly Hunter, J. Smith-Cameron and Hiam Abbass for HBO's Succession
4. Samira Wiley, Yvonne Strakovski, Amanda Brugel and Madeline Brewer for Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale
5. Janet McTeer for Netflix's Ozark
6. Millie Bobby Brown, Maya Hawke, Natalia Dyer, Sadie Sink and Priah Ferguson for Netflix's Stranger Things
7. Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Marcia Gay Harden, Bel Powley and Karen Pittman for AppleTV+'s The Morning Show
8. Chrissy Metz, Susan Kelechi Watson and Lyric Ross for NBC's This Is Us
9. Patti LuPone, Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore, Sandra Bernhard, Angelica Ross and Hailie Sahar for FX's Pose
10. Tessa Thompson and Lena Waithe for HBO's Westworld
11. Zoë Kravitz and Shailene Woodley for HBO's Big Little Lies
12. Uzo Aduba, Danielle Brooks, Natasha Lyonne, Kate Mulgrew, Adrienne C. Moore and Laura Prepon for Netflix's Orange Is the New Black
13. Audra McDonald, Cush Jumbo and Sarah Steele for CBS All Access' The Good Fight
14. Carly Chaikin, Grace Gummer, Portia Doubleday and Ashlie Atkinson for USA's Mr. Robot
15. Ruth Wilson for HBO's His Dark Materials
16. Hunter Schafer, Sydney Sweeney, Barbie Ferreira, Alexa Demie and Maude Apatow for HBO's Euphoria
17. Lizzy Caplan and Elizabeth Perkins for AppleTV+'s Truth Be Told
18. Phylicia Rashad for OWN's David Makes Man
19. Beth Ditto for Showtime's On Becoming a God in Central Florida
20. Hong Chau for Amazon's Homecoming

Some considerable long-shots:

1. Aubrey Plaza and Lauren Tsai for FX's Legion
2. Emily Meade for HBO's The Deuce
3. Sophie Skelton and Lauren Lyle for Starz's Outlander
4. Anna Paquin and Julia Goldani Telles for Showtime's The Affair
5. Carol Kane, Lena Olin, Jeannie Berlin, Kate Mulvany and Tiffany Boone for Amazon's Hunters
6. Olympia Dukakis, Laura Linney and Zosia Mamet for Netflix's Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City
7. Jacki Weaver for Epix's Perpetual Grace, LTD
8. Maggie Siff and Condola Rashad for Showtime's Billions
9. Parisa Fitz-Henley and Jessica Hecht for USA's The Sinner
10. Sarah Shahi, Jill Hennessy, Lauren E. Banks and Amanda Clayton for Showtime's City on a Hill
11. Yael Stone, Taryn Manning, Dascha Polanco, Selenis Leyva, Laura Gomez, Diane Guerrero and Jackie Cruz for Netflix's Orange Is the New Black
12. Sonya Walger, Wrenn Schmidt, Jodi Balfour, Sarah Jones, Shantel VanSanten and Krys Marshall for AppleTV+'s For All Mankind
13. Dominique McElligott and Karen Fukuhara for Amazon's The Boys
14. Ambyr Childers for Netflix's You
15. Indira Varma, Tamzin Merchant and Karla Crome for Amazon's Carnival Row
16. Kerry Bishé, Adriana Barraza and Amy Madigan for Showtime's Penny Dreadful: City of Angels
17. Kelly Reilly and Kelsey Asbille for Paramount's Yellowstone
18. Ilfenesh Hadera and Antoinette Crowe-Legacy for Epix's Godfather of Harlem
19. Nicole Beharie and Madison Davenport for Netflix's Black Mirror
20. Noomi Rapace and Cristina Umaña for Amazon's Jack Ryan
21. Jeri Ryan, Michelle Hurd, Isa Briones, Peyton List and Alison Pill for CBS All Access' Star Trek: Picard
22. Alison Wright, Mickey Sumner, Lena Hall, Sheila Vand and Annalise Basso for TNT's Snowpiercer

Colorful oddities who still have an outside chance:

1. Alfre Woodard for AppleTV+'s See
2. Janet McTeer and Kelly Marie Tran for Facebook Watch's Sorry for Your Loss
3. Christine Lahti for CBS' Evil
4. Adina Porter for Netflix's Outer Banks
5. Amy Brenneman for Amazon's Goliath
6. Joy Bryant, Indira Varma and Mary Stuart Masterson for ABC's For Life
7. Shohreh Aghdashloo for Amazon's The Expanse
8. Carrie Preston and Judy Reyes for TNT's Claws
9. Tantoo Cardinal for ABC's Stumptown
10. Gina Carano for Disney+'s The Mandalorian
11. Katheryn Winnick and Georgia Hirst for History's Vikings
12. Angelique Cabral and Constance Marie for Amazon's Undone
13. Simone Missick, Lela Loren and Dina Shihabi for Netflix's Altered Carbon
14. Ruthie Ann Miles for CBS' All Rise
15. Erika Alexander for Hulu's Wu-Tang: An American Saga
16. Nell Tiger Free for AppleTV+'s Servant
17. Sherri Saum for Netflix's Locke & Key
18. Wunmi Mosaku for BBC America's Luther
19. Riley Voelkel for Starz's Hightown
20. Annette O'Toole for Netflix's Virgin River
21. Jamie Lynn Spears for Netflix's Sweet Magnolias

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