2026 Tonys: Laurie Metcalf (‘Little Bear Ridge Road,’ ‘Death of a Salesman’) May Join Elite Group of Double-Nominated Performers

Among the most celebrated performers at the Tony Awards in recent years has been the iconic Laurie Metcalf.

Since her first Tony nomination in 2008, with a Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play bid for November, Metcalf has made six Tony appearances, with one more nomination in Featured (for Three Tall Women) and four in Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play (for The Other Place, Misery, A Doll’s House Part 2, and Hillary and Clinton). She has triumphed twice on Tony night (and in consecutive years, no less), for A Doll’s House Part 2 and Three Tall Women.

This year, Metcalf is back in Tony contention with not one but two critically heralded performances – as an irresistibly caustic aunt reuniting with her estranged nephew in Little Bear Ridge Road and as long-suffering wife Linda Loman in the latest Broadway revival of Death of a Salesman. Vying for nominations in both Leading (for Little Bear Ridge Road) and Featured (for Death of a Salesman) categories, Metcalf is on the cusp of emerging only the seventh performer in Tony history to score multiple nominations in a single year.

The first contender to pull off this remarkable feat was Amanda Plummer, who, in 1982, earned a Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play nomination for A Taste of Honey, alongside a Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play bid for Agnes of God, winning for the latter.

In 1984, Dana Ivey marked the first performer to be nominated for both a play and a musical in the same year, up in Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for Heartbreak House and Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical for Sunday in the Park with George.

Nearly two decades later, in 2002, Kate Burton emerged the next double nominee, scoring a Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play nomination for Hedda Gabler and Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play bid for The Elephant Man. She would be followed by Jan Maxwell, double-nominated in 2010 in Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for The Royal Family and Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for Lend Me a Tenor.

In 2014, the same year he was a Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play nominee for Richard III, Mark Rylance took home the prize for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for Twelfth Night. Most recently, Jeremy Pope earned a pair of nominations, in Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Choir Boy and Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical for Ain’t Too Proud.

Is Metcalf about to earn multiple nominations, joining this elite group of Tony favorites? Let’s take a look at this year’s races for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play and Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play.

If one of these nominations may prove more challenging for Metcalf to earn, it is likely in the Leading field. Little Bear Ridge Road closed last December after a relatively brief run and, while Metcalf earned rave reviews, her performance may not be as fresh on voters’ minds as others contending. Carrie Coon (Bug), Susannah Flood (Liberation) and Lesley Manville (Oedipus) seem safest for nominations. Beyond that, it’s a tough race to forecast, with Rose Byrne & Kelli O’Hara (Fallen Angels), Madeline Brewer (Becky Shaw), Ayo Edebiri (Proof), Taraji P. Henson (Joe Turner’s Come and Gone), Jean Smart (Call Me Izzy) and Tessa Thompson (The Fear of 13) all formidable contenders.

It should be noted, however, that since Metcalf’s first Tony nomination, she has opened in eight Broadway productions and all but two (Brighton Beach Memoirs, which quickly closed after a very brief fall run, and Grey House, a summer production that earned middling reviews) have resulted in Tony nominations.

Over in Featured, it’s tougher to fathom Metcalf missing. Unlike Little Bear Ridge Road, Death of a Salesman is currently running, a tremendous critical and commercial hit, and appears destined to score a plethora of nominations. Linda Loman is a role that Tony voters have embraced before, with Elizabeth Franz winning in this category for the 1999 Broadway revival and Linda Emond a nominee for the 2012 production, so a Metcalf snub would be surprising, to say the least.

That isn’t to say this category is anemic – in fact, it’s quite a crowded field and includes fellow Tony favorites such as Victoria Clark (Punch), Linda Emond (Becky Shaw), Jessica Hecht (Dog Day Afternoon), Cynthia Nixon (Marjorie Prime), Anika Noni Rose (The Balusters) and, seeking her fifth consecutive Featured nomination, Kara Young (Proof). Other contenders include Betsy Aidem (Liberation), Marylouise Burke (The Balusters), Aya Cash (Giant), Anne Reid (Oedipus) and June Squibb (Marjorie Prime), among others.

Perhaps the Featured race could prove more suspenseful for the win but there is little doubt Metcalf at least emerges a nominee.

It should be noted that the Tonys will hardly mark the end of the 2026 awards season road for Metcalf. Later this year, she could emerge a triple nominee, this time at the Emmys where she’ll contend in Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for Big Mistakes, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Monster: The Ed Gein Story and Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for Hacks. A four-time Emmy winner (three for Roseanne, one for Hacks), with 12 total nominations under her belt, it is exceedingly likely Metcalf will return and see the industry accolades continue into the summer.

Nominations for the 79th Tony Awards will be announced on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. The show will broadcast live to both coasts on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+ (8:00 – 11:00 PM ET/5:00 – 8:00 PM PT), and hosted by Grammy Award-winning artist Pink.

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Andrew Carden

Andrew Carden is a contributing writer at Gold Derby and writes about all things Oscar on his blog, The Awards Connection. When he’s not on Twitter, lamenting Thelma Ritter’s 0-for-6 record in Best Supporting Actress, Andrew works in Massachusetts politics.

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