Among the most familiar faces at the Emmys over the past two decades has been the incomparable Angela Bassett.
First honored at the Emmys in 2002, with a Limited Series Actress bid for The Rosa Parks Story, Bassett would go on to earn nominations in Limited Series Supporting Actress (for American Horror Story: Coven and American Horror Story: Freak Show), Comedy Guest Actress (for Master of None and A Black Lady Sketch Show) and Outstanding Narrator (for The Flood, The Imagineering Story and Good Night Oppy).
Despite acclaim for all of these turns, Bassett has yet to score an Emmy win. That may change this year, as Bassett once again contends in Outstanding Narrator, this time for National Geographic’s Queens, a documentary series spotlighting the incredible matriarchies of the animal kingdom. With this fourth bid, Bassett (tied with Liev Schreiber) trails only eight-time nominee David Attenborough for most nominations in Outstanding Narrator.
Could this finally be Bassett’s year – or will she extend her losing streak to 0-for-9? Let’s dive into this race.
Since this category’s inception in 2014, when Outstanding Voice-Over Performance was separated into two categories – Outstanding Narrator and Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance – Attenborough, the legendary British broadcaster and biologist, has proven a dominant force, scoring three wins on seven nominations. At age 98, Attenborough is back with an eighth bid, this time for Planet Earth III. He faces four actors, each on the hunt for their first Emmy win.
Beyond Bassett, Morgan Freeman is here with his fifth career Emmy nomination, this time for narrating Life on Our Planet. He’s no stranger to this category, having fallen short to Attenborough in 2018 and former President Barack Obama in 2023. There’s also Paul Rudd, this year a double-nominee with Secrets of the Octopus in this category and Only Murders in the Building in Comedy Supporting Actor. And Octavia Spencer, previously a Limited Series Actress nominee for Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker, is back in Emmy contention, this time for narrating Lost Women of Highway 20.
Given his formidable track record, one would presume Attenborough to be the heavy favorite here. Unlike Attenborough, whose Planet Earth III enters the Creative Arts Emmys with five total nominations, each of his competitors marks the lone bid for their program. Moreover, there is precedent in this category of actors falling short to a non-actor. Just last year, for instance, former President Obama defeated the likes of Bassett, Freeman, Mahershala Ali and Pedro Pascal. In 2019, Attenborough edged out actors Bassett, Schreiber, Charles Dance, Anthony Mendez and Juliet Stevenson to victory. And in 2018, Attenborough topped actors Dance, Freeman, Schreiber and Carl Reiner.
With that said, it should be noted that Attenborough’s trio of victories arrived some time ago – consecutively, from 2018 to 2020 – and he has fallen short on his three nominations since, dampening any air of inevitably heading into this race.
Should sentiment prove strong that Attenborough has been awarded enough in this category, another contender may have the opening they need to prevail – and that alternative might just be Bassett, who has had a remarkable run of recognition in recent years.
On the heels of her robust awards season run in 2023 with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which resulted in a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination but not the win, feeling was so fierce around Bassett being overdue for victory that the Academy awarded her an Honorary Oscar the following year. Momentum has been palpably building toward finally awarding Bassett’s work on the small screen, with eight of her nine Emmy nominations coming within the past decade – and it can’t hurt that her series 9-1-1 continues to be among the most-watched programs on network television.
There is perhaps a case to be made for Freeman, on his fifth career Emmy nomination without a win, and Rudd, who has had a busy season on the small screen. But if anyone can best Attenborough, who may be the category favorite but is hardly a shoo-in, bet on Bassett. She is having an extraordinary moment, and it would make perfect sense for an Emmy to go alongside that Oscar on her mantle.
Angela Bassett is Emmy-nominated in the category of Outstanding Narrator for National Geographic’s Queens.
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