10 Network TV Actors Who Could Be Serious Contenders For 2025 Emmys

The 2025 Primetime Emmy Award race is on, and though streaming television might have an edge in the award-season field, there are quite a few network television stars who could be contenders for an Emmy this year. Buzz surrounds a handful of performances on comedies like Abbott Elementary and dramas like Will Trent, but the Emmy race often comes down to who the voters are most intrigued by during their seasons. Emmy voting is tough work – there are more than 800 pages of ballots this year, even though overall submissions are down.

Networks, producers, writers, actors, etc, can all make the decision to submit their work for nomination, which means some shows that had very good seasons will likely see multiple actors earn nominations. Television has entered a golden age in which TV episodes feel more cinematic than ever, so in order for a series or an actor to really stand out, they have to make a big impression on their audience. These actors certainly do.

10

Kathy Bates (Matlock)

Contender For Lead Actress In A Drama

Early predictions for Emmy nominees in the Lead Actress In A Drama Series have all been those starring in streaming shows. Names like Kerri Russell (The Diplomat), Britt Lower (Severance), and Melanie Lynskey (Yellowjackets) have been thrown around thanks to their gripping performances. It’s hard to argue that network TV has been able to keep up with those big-budget shows, but Matlock’s Kathy Bates is really emerging as the favorite.

Bates has been nominated for 14 Emmys in her career across different categories, winning two. Neither of those wins has been for Lead Actress In A Drama, though. Bates could pull out the win this year. She provided a breath of fresh air on television as the previously retired (and always underestimated) lawyer who reenters the legal world to investigate who is responsible for the death of her daughter.

Bates, as a woman who always dons a mask and plays another role within the story itself, is a force in Matlock, performing comedy and drama in equal measure for the role, and turning out emotionally arresting speeches on a regular basis. If she gets a nomination, she would be the oldest actress ever nominated in the category.

9

Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live)

Contender For Supporting Actor In A Comedy

Saturday Night Live often gets overlooked when it comes to the acting categories of the Emmys. Because of the nature of the show, however, it is able to submit nominations in a variety of categories, and this year, it has taken advantage of that. All of its principal cast have been submitted for Supporting Actor/Actress In A Comedy, while hosts and other performers have been submitted in Guest Actor/Actress In A Comedy, totaling more than 40 actors being submitted.

While the entire cast of Saturday Night Live is impressively funny, the season has been uneven, and Bowen Yang seems the most likely to get the nomination over other, more traditional sitcom supporting actors here. Part of that is not due to the material being submitted per se, but due to Yang’s seemingly innate ability to create moments in his skits that go viral. Yang has some of the most memorable moments of the last few seasons, so when the nomination field is likely to be crowded with actors from streaming shows like Shrinking and Hacks, he seems like the best bet.

8

Janelle James (Abbott Elementary)

Contender For Supporting Actress In A Comedy

2025 is Janelle James’ year for Abbott Elementary. Costar Sheryl Lee Ralph has previously won in the same category for the show and James has already snagged a nomination three times. Abbott Elementary has a fantastic supporting cast, so, really, in any season, James, Ralph, and Lisa Ann Walter could all score nominations. James, however, had a particularly standout year.

James’ Ava received more of the spotlight this season when it came to the supporting cast in Abbott Elementary. Her character became a bit more fleshed out instead of just the stereotypical inept boss (though James has never been bad at playing into the stereotype either). Abbott Elementary allowed James to play up the comedy while Ava had emotional storylines of trouble at work, with her father, and even with a new relationship. Ava got to be vulnerable in addition to being hilarious.

Allowing the character to become more well-rounded means James’ comedy chops might finally get the recognition she deserves.

7

Ramón Rodriguez (Will Trent)

Contender For Lead Actor In A Drama

When it comes to the Lead Actor categories at the Emmys, there are only five nomination slots, and only 77 actors submitted for Drama voting. That makes the voting race especially tight here. Streaming stars like Diego Luna (Andor), Pedro Pascal (The Last Of Us), and Gary Oldman (Slow Horses) have done exceptional work this season. Noah Wyle has also emerged as the critical favorite for The Pitt. Despite all of those heavyweights on streaming, Ramón Rodriguez could be the dark horse nomination from network television drama, Will Trent.

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Without a doubt, Will Trent season 3 was excellent and held up the show’s good reputation, but episode 13 proved that one thing was missing.

With Rodriguez in the lead, Will Trent has actually grown its audience as it has continued, and the role was not even originally written with a Latin actor in mind. The series is based on a set of novels in which the protagonist is white, but Rodriguez has been able to really sink his teeth into the role and make it his own, creating a fantastic example of representation in Hollywood alongside his pure talent.

6

Skye P. Marshall (Matlock)

Contender For Supporting Actress In A Drama

The Supporting Actress In A Drama category has so many submissions that are packed with talent that it will likely be difficult for voters to choose. It seems like a foregone conclusion that this category with be populated by those actresses who appeared in The White Lotus and The Pitt. Most of the critical favorites come from big ensemble shows on streaming. Variety’s Emmy predictions don’t even see the first network television actress slotted in at the 16th most likely to be nominated (in a category with seven nominations available).

That actress is Skye P. Marshall, and she certainly deserves the chance to be among the nominees. As a sharp, witty, and ambitious lawyer in Matlock, Marshall impressively stood toe-to-toe with Kathy Bates this season and managed to steal a few scenes right out from under her. Marshall is superb in the role and is the cast member tasked with so many of the heavier courtroom speeches. As Olympia, she also figured out who Madeline Matlock really was, and her cold fury at being betrayed radiated through television sets.

5

Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary)

Contender For Lead Actress In A Comedy

Quinta Brunson is the face of Abbott Elementary. Though the show is an ensemble set in an elementary school, Brunson’s Janine is at the center of that ensemble, which makes sense considering the series is also Brunson’s brainchild. Brunson created the show, is an executive producer on it, and is one of the writers in addition to starring in it. That allows her to be connected to the character in a way not many actors likely are.

Brunson has already won both writing and acting Emmys for Abbott Elementary, so it seems like a foregone conclusion that she will earn another nomination here. Securing a win might be more difficult since she will likely be up against the likes of Jean Smart (Hacks) and Ayo Edebiri (The Bear), who have also won Emmys for their respective roles in the past.

4

Carrie Preston (Elsbeth)

Contender For Lead Actress In A Drama

If Kathy Bates is the network TV favorite for Lead Actress In A Drama, Carrie Preston could end up giving her some competition. She is a slightly less likely nomination than Bates in general, just because of the nature of the usual field of Emmy nominations.

The Emmys do not usually give a lot of love to either spinoffs or procedurals, and Elsbeth is both. Elsbeth spins out of The Good Wife, which has seen multiple spinoffs make it to air. Carrie Preston completely transforms in any role, but she seems to have found a sweet spot for her performance as the quirky titular character here. It’s impossible to imagine anyone else taking it on, and an actor having complete ownership of a role can go a long way with Emmy voters.

Lead Actress In A Drama, however, is such a crowded field that Preston could also just miss out on the votes needed for the nomination.

3

Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary)

Contender For Supporting Actor In A Comedy

Tyler James Williams has been nominated three years in a row for this same category for Abbott Elementary. The entire ensemble on the show is so talented that it’s easy to imagine the Emmy categories could be filled with the cast members of the show.

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Williams has been a grounding presence in Abbott Elementary since the first season. As Gregory, he often does not do the big, broad comedy that other members of the cast do. Instead, it’s more subtle as he gets some deadpan deliveries of the jokes in the script. It’s the subtlety that might be why he’s lost out on the win the last few years. With Gregory’s development tied in to both Janine and Ava’s this year, though, Williams did get to play with some meatier storylines.

Also, no one has mastered the art of looking straight on at the mockumentary camera as well as Williams, other than John Krasinski in The Office.

2

Beau Bridges (Matlock)

Contender For Guest Actor In A Drama

Though Beau Bridges’ Senior is a big part of Matlock, the number of episodes he is in means he is a guest star in the series rather than a supporting actor. Bridges has a great chance for a nomination because he is a Hollywood heavyweight when it comes to television. He has been nominated for 13 Emmys before, winning three, though no wins are in this particular category.

Bridges pops in and out of Matlock in the first season as this imposing figure who is clearly selfish and self-serving, holding a huge amount of power over the other members of the law firm. He is able to demonstrate all of that with a look in the direction of the other actors, so it seems inevitable that he will snag a nomination here.

Getting the win would likely be more difficult, as it also seems inevitable that Bridges will be up against Scott Glenn (The White Lotus) and potentially Jeffrey Wright (The Last Of Us).

1

Kaitlin Olson (High Potential)

Contender For Lead Actress In A Drama

The biggest surprise nomination for Lead Actress In A Drama could go to Kaitlin Olson in High Potential. High Potential is an American remake of a French series, and it’s a procedural, which are both usually going to be strikes against it for Emmy voters. That being said, Olson is also spectacular in it, so she might be able to sway enough votes her way to land among the nominations.

Olson comes from a heavier comedic background, and she is best known for It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Because of that, the show is very different from what Emmy voters are used to seeing her in, even though Olson still gets to be incredibly funny in a crime procedural. Though the show is classified as a drama, it rides the line in tone to help keep the show lighter while the characters are investigating murders every week.

Olson has been able to make the heightened world and seemingly impossible cases believable, and that’s as much a credit to her as it is to the writers of the show. Like Carrie Preston in Elsbeth, she is a long shot for a nomination, but certainly in Emmy contention with High Potential being one of the most-loved new shows of the 2024-2025 TV season.

The Primetime Emmys will air on September 14, 2025.

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Matlock

9/10

Release Date

September 22, 2024