Emmy nominees who could be one step closer to EGOT
TAIKA WAITITI 
CATE BLANCHETT 
LESLIE ODOM JR. 
LUPITA NYONG’O
With every new Emmy, Grammy, Oscar or Tony Awards the entertainment industry finds itself with emerging EGOT contenders. Some looking for a 2nd or 3rd letter and some looking to close the deal and become part of a still very elite group.
With the Emmys in just under a month, 19 nominees are looking for their second and one is looking for their third, inching ever so close to grabbing that final gold ring.
At the top of the list are Spike Jonze and Leslie Odom, Jr. Jonze already has an Oscar (Original Screenplay for 2013’s Her) and a Grammy (Music Video for 2002’s “Star 69”) and later this month he’ll have not one but two chances for an Emmy. He’s nominated for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming, both for the Beastie Boys Story documentary. Although he’s not a favorite to win either (but you never know), either could give him a pretty big EGO. These are Jonze’s 4th and 5th Emmy nominations. This is Alan Arkin’s 6th bid for an Emmy but only his second after winning the Oscar in 2007. He won a Tony back in 1963 for Enter Laughing.
Speaking of Tony, Leslie Odom, Jr. is a Tony winner – for Hamilton – and a Grammy winner…for Hamilton. With there still being a slight chance that the filmed version of that musical being Oscar-eligible in this pandemic-laden year, Odom Jr. could find himself in the running for that early next year. Again, if it’s eligible. Looking to what is real though, his Emmy nomination for Outstanding Character Voice-Over (for Apple’s Central Park) will put him in a very good position to close out EGOT in the future. This is Odom Jr.’s first Emmy nomination.
Trent Reznor already has a Grammy as a member of Nine Inch Nails and with composing partner Atticus Ross, has one for the score of 2011’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Both actually have two chances to win this year as they’re both nominated for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score) and Outstanding Music & Lyrics – both for Watchmen. I’m betting they’re going to take one of them (probably Dramatic Score) but I won’t be surprised if they go 2/2.
Grammy winners nominated for Emmys this year: Chad Hugo and Pharrell (Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics, “Letter to My Godfather” from The Black Godfather), Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (Outstanding Music Direction, Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy to Prince), Dolly Parton (Outstanding Television Movie, Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones), and Shakira (Outstanding Variety Special – Live, Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show Starring Jennifer Lopez And Shakira).
Oscar winners looking to add an ‘E’ to their awards shelf: Mahershala Ali, Alan Arkin, Cate Blanchett, Olivia Colman, Ludwig Göransson, Brie Larson, Lupita Nyong’o, Atticus Ross, Octavia Spencer, Taika Waititi and Christoph Waltz.
Mahershala Ali and Olivia Colman are taking their second turns at the Emmys this year, after all were nominated and lost their bids last year. This is first Emmy nominations for Lupita Nyong’o (Outstanding Narrator, Serengeti) and Brie Larson (Interactive Special, The Messy Truth VR Experience) as they attempt to grab that E.
Octavia Spencer is on her first nomination (Lead Actress in a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special for Self Made) but I don’t see a path for her to beat the likes of Regina King (Watchmen), Cate Blanchett (Mrs. America) or Shira Haas (Unorthodox) to pull it off. Taika Waititi just won his Oscar this year (yes, in 2020) and has the unique distinction of being nominated for both Outstanding Drama Series (The Mandalorian) and Outstanding Comedy Series. His chances are much higher in Comedy Series where What We Do In the Shadows has writing and casting nominations but it would be a huge upset, the likes we haven’t seen in a long time.
One of the most interesting races in this section will be Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score) as Göransson (The Mandalorian) is up against Nicholas Britell for Succession. Britell already has an Emmy for Succession‘s Main Title Theme Music but when the two went head to head at the Oscars two years ago it was Göransson who came out on top. Will he again in this new matchup? Göransson already has three Grammys so this could put him just one T away.
Here’s the list of Emmy nominees this year in running for another letter in their EGOT.
- Alan Arkin (Oscar, Tony)
- Ludwig Göransson (Grammy, Oscar)
- Spike Jonze (Grammy, Oscar)
- Leslie Odom, Jr. (Grammy, Tony)
- Trent Reznor (Grammy, Oscar)
- Atticus Ross (Grammy, Oscar)
- Chad Hugo (Grammy)
- Jimmy Jam (Grammy)
- Terry Lewis (Grammy)
- Dolly Parton (Grammy)
- Pharrell (Grammy)
- Shakira (Grammy)
- Mahershala Ali (Oscar)
- Olivia Colman (Oscar)
- Brie Larson (Oscar)
- Lupita Nyong’o (Oscar)
- Atticus Ross (Oscar)
- Octavia Spencer (Oscar)
- Taika Waititi (Oscar)
- Christoph Waltz (Oscar)
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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