2016 Emmy Predictions: Lead Actor in a Drama Series

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Lead Actor in a Drama Series is proving to be one of the more open categories this year. Despite Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) having three Emmy Experts list him at #1, the race feels far from over. House of Cards isn’t going to be a major winner this year but Spacey could benefit from being a multi-nominee that’s never won, much like what happened for Jon Hamm (Mad Men) last year.

The two spoilers for Spacey are first-time nominees. Rami Malek, the explosive new star of the huge freshman hit Mr. Robot (currently in its second season) and Matthew Rhys, enjoying the convergence of critics and Emmys as his show, The Americans, finally cracked the big show. With the voting process being popular vote it seems like it could lean Spacey’s way but his President Frank Underwood could feel a bit repetitive and almost boring compared to the insane antics going on in the actual current forum of U.S. politics. This is where Malek (a fresh face, a hip choice) or Rhys (submitting an episode he directed) could triumph.

The bottom three feel like just that, a bottom three. Despite being a clear 5th, I think if anyone was going to spoil the spoilers it would be Liev Schreiber. With getting that out of nowhere directing nomination he might be in a better place than Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) and certainly Kyle Chandler (Bloodline). Incidentally, all three of these lead actors have corresponding supporting actor nominations for their shows. For that matter, Spacey does as well. Only Malek does not, despite his co-star, Christian Slater, receiving a Golden Globe win for Best Supporting Actor last year.

Here are the winner predictions from the Emmy Experts for Lead Actor in a Drama Series on August 31st.

Check out August 2016 Emmy Predictions for:

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Guest Actor and Actress in a Drama and Comedy Series

Plus, the updating Emmy charts here.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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