2021 Emmy Predictions: Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series Or Movie

Tyler Doster August 5, 2021

The time has finally come: the 2021 Emmy nominations are here. Just like every other year, this year has been a whirlwind of surprises and snubs when it comes to the Emmy nominations. Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie was no different. This is a category that was going to be stacked from the beginning, but it made snubs like Thuso Mbedu for The Underground Railroad that much more painful when the nominations were announced. Actresses that provided incredible performances didn’t make it, but the five that did turned in pitch perfect performances for their respective shows, making this category one of the fiercest categories of the 2021 Emmys.

Let’s look at the five women who made it this year.

WandaVision was the most nominated limited series this year, pulling out an incredible 23 nominations. Doing so, it should be of no surprise that Elizabeth Olsen is one of the women nominated in this category for her performance as the titular Wanda Maximoff. WandaVision was the water-cooler show for the first couple of months of 2021, but it still overachieved at the Emmys when it comes to nominations. Olsen delivered a stellar performance in WandaVision, switching her style for each episode as the series traveled through decades of different comedy formats, and shining in each one. She also brought heart to her performance, really honing in on Wanda’s pain and grief that bubbled underneath each episode before finally revealing itself. Olsen is responsible for navigating this difficult role and she delivers a flawless performance throughout the season.

Cynthia Erivo is nominated for her work in Genius: Aretha, National Geographic’s historical series that shines a spotlight on a different figure each season. The show has been nominated before for its leading performances (Antonio Banderas for playing Picasso and Geoffrey Rush for playing Albert Einstein), but has yet to win an Emmy for a performance. Erivo was on many people’s predictions to make it into this category, so its no surprise that she landed a nomination. But can she win with the series barely having any other nominations behind it? It’d be quite a surprise. It would take a pretty big campaign for Erivo to take home the Emmy, so we’ll see if she’s able to do so.

Mare of Easttown was a certified hit when it premiered on HBO this last spring, having viewers waiting impatiently week after week for another dose of Detective Mare Sheehan, played marvelously by Kate Winslet. In a transfixing performance, Winslet played Sheehan in a way that made her feel like an old friend, someone the audience could love and root for as she searched for the murderer/kidnapper she was looking for. Who wasn’t sitting at home mimicking the way Winslet said “home” in her Pennsylvania accent? A performance that gave the audience everything they wanted from a series that ended up being nominated for 15 Emmys. With more nominations in the supporting categories (and possible wins coming from those categories), could that bolster Kate Winslet’s chances? Having already won this category a decade ago for her performance in Mildred Pierce, could she do it again?

If Winslet is going to win the Emmy, she’s going to have to take it from Anya Taylor-Joy. Taylor-Joy gave a much-talked-about performance in The Queen’s Gambit (which premiered last fall on Netflix and already won her the Golden Globe and Critics Choice) as Beth Harmon, chess prodigy turned champion who battles addiction as she grows older, coming from an orphan background. Harmon has a set of friends that help her train as she prepares to take on the biggest chess champions in the world. The series received 18 Emmy nominations from the Television Academy, with nominations also happening in both supporting actress and actor. With a similar chance to Kate Winslet, could Taylor-Joy become the leader of the pack? Or will it be Michaela Coel, nominated for her brilliant performance in I May Destroy You? Coel’s series is nominated for 8 Emmys, and Coel herself is also nominated in the directing category for limited series. Will the series have an uphill battle to face since it came out last summer, being the series with the most time passed since its premiere? Or will the hype behind Coel’s performance live up and win her an Emmy?

This is a race that includes all five of these women, with Elizabeth Olsen perhaps having the biggest chance if her show’s 23 nominations are of any merit to look at. All of these performances have massive hype around them, with Erivo possibly being the weakest link based on her show’s performance when it comes to nominations. All of the roles are great and play perfectly when it comes to Emmy recognition, so this will be a photo finish when the winner is revealed.

Emmy winner voting begins August 19 and goes until August 30. The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards will be on September 19.

Here are my ranked predictions for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.

Elizabeth Olsen – WandaVision (Disney+)
Kate Winslet – Mare of Easttown (HBO)
Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You (HBO)
Anya Taylor-Joy – The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
Cynthia Erivo – Genius: Aretha (NatGeo)

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Tyler Doster

Tyler is the TV Awards Editor for AwardsWatch and from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He’s been obsessed with movies and the oscars since he was about 14. He enjoys reading, but even more, talking about Amy Adams more and will, at any given moment, bring up her Oscar snub for Arrival. The only thing he spends more time on than watching TV is sitting on Twitter. If you ever want to discuss the movie Carol at length, he’s your guy. You can find Tyler at @wordswithtyler