First time nominees and expectations

The most coveted television awards are around the corner and fans are already rooting for their favourite actors and shows. Each year the competition gets tougher at Primetime Emmy Awards as some of the best work comes forward and this is no exception.

While we have some comebacks at the 68th edition of Emmys, with ‘Game of Thrones’, ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ once again landing nominations, there are also some making a debut. Everybody’s favourite, Kit Harrington finally scored a nomination for his role as Jon Snow on ‘Game of Thrones’. Season 6 was undoubtedly his biggest one yet.

He not only came back from the dead, he reunited with Sansa and took back the North. Kit showed off amazing range as he battled Ramsay in the Battle of the Bastards and dealing with the aftermath of being brought back from the dead. “It is a serious understatement to say that I am somewhat stunned. For my work on ‘Game of Thrones’ to be recognised in this way is an emotional moment for me. I could not be more humbled,” said the actor about his nomination.

Almost the entire cast of ‘Ryan Murphy’s People v. O J Simpson’ is nominated this year. The series has given a tough competition to ‘Game of Thrones’ with 22 total nominations, which is just one short of ‘Game of Thrones’ nominations. To add to the excitement, there are not one or two but four actors from the series that are making their debut at the Emmys. “I’m glad my mom and my wife and children (10-year-old twins) were all around when the news came down,” said Courtney B Vance, who is nominated for his role as Johnnie Cochran in the series.

Tom Hiddleston might have been in the news for his much publicised relationship and then break-up with Taylor Swift but that can’t take the attention away from his very first Emmy nomination for his role as Jonathan Pine in six-part limited series ‘The Night Manager’. The actor called the show "a huge labour of love for everybody," and said that the "most thrilling feedback" is when fans approach him having just binge-watched the show in a matter of days.

“Idris and I are old friends and we’ll have fun with it. He’s a fantastic, brilliant actor. It’s not just the honor of being nominated in the company of all these actors; it’s such an honour to be nominated among friends like Idris and Benedict Cumberbatch. I don’t feel any rivalry, I just feel so proud of both of them. It’s an amazing thing to be in the company of all these actors,” he said.

Speaking about the show raking raking 12 nominations, he said, “It’s such a fantastic affirmation of the team. It was a huge team effort, a great undertaking of 2015 for all of us, so to see all these names nominated, it just feels wonderful. It’s one of the most fulfilling experiences of my working life and my proudest achievement to date. I loved making ‘The Night Manager’, I loved playing ‘The Night Manager’, and it’s a huge, humbling feeling to know people enjoyed it.”

Of course, a debut nomination is a reason for nerves. And, if one has a double nomination for the first time, it’s bound to have more pressure on the person. Sarah Paulson comments on her double nomination at the Emmys and the pressure she deals with, “I feel a little bit of pressure. I don’t want to let anybody down.

I appreciate that people feel that passionately about wanting a victorious night for me, but I personally have to sit in the place of if I give it that much weight, it will take away everything I learned about being a woman, a human, my experience with the other actors and am I going to let an award take that away? No. So the experience has to be paramount and the other stuff has to be the gravy. But don’t get me wrong, I like gravy!”

Commenting about shooting for real life character Marcia Clarke (ACS) and Hypodermic Sally (AHS) at the same time she said, “I was playing them both at the same time. It was a very bizarre time and a very blurry time when I think back about it. I would go to work as Marcia, the next day I would go to ‘Horror Story’ and play Sally, then I would go to ‘Crime Story’ in the morning and they would de-Sally me.”

‘The American’ co-stars and real life lovers, Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys are nominated for the spy drama series, which had been getting the royal snub at Emmys for the last three years. This year it is up for five major Emmy Awards including Outstanding Drama Series, one each for Rhys and Russell as lead actors, one for Outstanding Writing for Weisberg and Fields, and another for Margo Martindale, who last year won the show’s only Emmy in the Guest Actress category.

Aziz Ansari’s ‘Master of None’ is the kindest comedy of the year, with its thoughtful, nuanced takes on modern romance, the intricacies of text etiquette, and living and loving in New York. No wonder then that the Netflix hit racked up four Emmy nominations in its first year, for Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing, and Outstanding Directing and Acting for Ansari. Will the first time-timers take over the veterans? We can only know on Monday as 68th Primetime Emmy Awards will be telecast live on Star English Network. (With inputs from Asra Ghouse)