Emmy Predictions 2022 - Who Will Likely Be Nominated for Lead Actress in a Drama Series?

From June 16-27, 2022, voting is taking place for The 74th 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 which performers will be nominated for Lead Actress in a Drama Series.

Performers most likely to be nominated:

1. Zendaya for HBO's Euphoria
2. Laura Linney for Netflix's Ozark
3. Melanie Lynskey for Showtime's Yellowjackets
4. Jennifer Aniston for AppleTV+'s The Morning Show
5. Mandy Moore for NBC's This Is Us
6. Britt Lower for AppleTV+'s Severance

Serious threats who could break through:

1. Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh for BBC America's Killing Eve
2. Elisabeth Moss for AppleTV+'s Shining Girls
3. Kelly Reilly for Paramount Network's Yellowstone
4. Carrie Coon for HBO's The Gilded Age
5. Juliette Lewis and Tawny Cypress for Showtime's Yellowjackets
6. Reese Witherspoon for AppleTV+'s The Morning Show
7. Winona Ryder for Netflix's Stranger Things
8. Simone Ashley for Netflix's Bridgerton
9. Aunjanue Ellis for AMC's 61st Street
10. Sissy Spacek for Amazon's Night Sky
11. Minha Kim for AppleTV+'s Pachinko
12. Nicole Kidman for Hulu's Nine Perfect Strangers

Some considerable long-shots:

1. Christine Baranski for Paramount+'s The Good Fight
2. Naomie Harris for Showtime's The Man Who Fell to Earth
3. Rachel Keller for HBO Max's Tokyo Vice
4. Katja Herbers for Paramount+'s Evil
5. Annie Murphy for AMC's Kevin Can F**k Himself
6. Rosamund Pike for Amazon's The Wheel of Time
7. Imogen Poots for Amazon's Outer Range
8. Victoria Pedretti for Netflix's You
9. Maura Tierney for Showtime's American Rust
10. Octavia Spencer for AppleTV+'s Truth Be Told
11. Ming-Na Wen for Disney+'s The Book of Boba Fett

Colorful oddities who still have an outside chance:

1. Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey and Katherine Moennig for Showtime's The L Word: Generation Q
2. Mary J. Blige for Starz's Power Book II: Ghost
3. Emily Hampshire for Epix's Chapelwaite
4. Madison Lintz and Mimi Rogers for Freevee's Bosch: Legacy
5. Sonequa Martin-Green for Paramount+'s Star Trek: Discovery
6. Rebecca Romijn for Paramount+'s Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
7. Toni Collette for Netflix's Pieces of Her
8. Elodie Yung for FOX's The Cleaning Lady
9. Roselyn Sanchez for FOX's Fantasy Island
10. Freya Allan and Anya Chalotra for Netflix's The Witcher

The nominations for The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, July 12.