'The Crown': Olivia Colman disqualified from Emmy guest actor race
Emmy award-winning actor Olivia Colman, celebrated for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in the series finale of Netflix's The Crown, has been deemed ineligible for the guest drama actor category at the upcoming Emmy Awards. The decision is due to her falling short of the required screen time by mere seconds. This leaves her co-star Claire Foy, who also portrays a younger Queen Elizabeth in the same episode, as the only guest submission for the series.
Foy remains a favorite for Emmy nomination
Foy, who is aiming for her second win in the guest drama actor category, meets the eligibility criteria set by the Television Academy. The final episode of The Crown, titled "Sleep, Dearie Sleep," was written by show creator Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Daldry. It is noteworthy that this episode is the longest across all six seasons with a running time of 72 minutes.
New Television Academy rules impacted Emmy submissions
Earlier this year, the Television Academy revised its rules for guest acting categories. The new rules state that "A brief cameo appearance is not eligible for entry." Further clarification defines a guest performer as one whose minimum stand-alone and contiguous screen time (whether on or off camera) is 5% of the total running time of the submitted episode. This rule change was implemented "to ensure that a guest performer's role is significant to the episode being submitted."
New Emmy rules may disadvantage drama series actors
Under the new rules, Colman would have needed at least three minutes and 36 seconds of screen time to be eligible, which she did not have. This situation has highlighted a potential flaw in the new rule as it may disadvantage actors from drama series due to their longer runtimes. For instance, Bradley Cooper was recently submitted into the guest comedy actor category for his role in ABC's mockumentary series Abbott Elementary, despite having less screen time than Colman.
