Sarah Paulson victor of the award for outstanding lead actress in a limited series or a movie for “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” poses in the press room at the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
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Leading the charge is FX’s behind-the-scenes “The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”, which won 22 nominations on the wave of a true crime trend in television coupled with a contemporary backdrop of racial tension.
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It was Paulson’s first Emmy win and came for her portrayal of prosecutor Marcia Clark, who endured widespread criticism as she tried to convict National Football League legend O.J. Simpson of double murder under the glaring spotlight of the so-called “Trial of the Century”. Tambor plays a retired professor who becomes a transgender woman.
On the red carpet, Judith Light was being fully transparent when she told bleacher fans how hard it is to walk a red carpet in heels.
“I can’t walk, but thanks”, the actress, nominated for her role in a comedy series for the Amazon Instant Video show “Transparent”, said as she responded to shouts and cheers from fans in the red-carpet bleachers.
It’s “changing the landscape of television”.
With temperatures in the 90s in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday, one woman in the fan bleachers outside the Microsoft Theater was wheeled out on a stretcher by paramedics.
As television enjoys a golden era, with more than 400 scripted series on offer, people of color were nominated this year in every leading actor category for the first time in the 68-year history of the Primetime Emmys, the highest honors in television.
Rami Malek has earned growing support for a best drama actor prize for his lead role in “Mr. Robot”, but he will have to beat out perennial contender Kevin Spacey, Bob Odenkirk from the “Breaking Bad” spinoff “Better Call Saul”, Kyle Chandler of “Bloodline”, Matthew Rhys of “The Americans” and Liev Schriber of “Ray Donovan”.
Past year the hugely popular fantasy series won 12 awards and one week ago the show won in nine technical categories at the Creative Arts Emmys. Also vying for the statuette are Keri Russell for “The Americans”, Robin Wright of “House of Cards”, Tatiana Maslany for “Orphan Black” and Claire Danes of “Homeland”. The Emmys have outpaced the much-criticized Academy Awards, and each of this year’s major acting categories includes at least one minority nominee.
Viola Davis is a good bet to repeat as best drama actress for ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder”, although Taraji P. Henson could make a run at the award for “Empire”. It revised how votes are cast and counted, switching from a ranking and points system to letting voters simply check off their top choice. But this year, FX closed the gap, coming in second place with 18.
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In another revision, this one implemented past year, voting was expanded from blue-ribbon panels to – depending on the award – giving substantially more or all of the academy’s 20,000-plus members the chance to vote for finalists.
