Biggest actor snubs of 2016 Emmy nominations

A community leader with a dark side – what’s not to love about Damian Lewis’ charitable character in Showtime’s new hit show Billions? Lewis brings shadowy charm to his role as Bobby “Axe” Axelrod, a 9/11 survivor who pays the college tuitions of the children of his deceased co-workers on a foundation of back-channel bribery and insider trading. Unfortunately for Lewis, he was unable to charm the academy into an Emmy nomination. Strange considering the academy is a huge fan of Lewis’ work in Homeland and Wolf Hall where he took home Emmy’s for both.

Paul Giamatti, Billions

Starring opposite Lewis’ intense Axelrod in Billions is the equally passionate Paul Giamatti and his role as struggling U.S. Attorney Chuck Rhoades Jr. Giamatti’s signature low-tone voice is in full effect as a ruthlessly competitive attorney with a deep loathing of Axelrod and his methods. Pepper in an overbearing father-in-law and an equally successful wife with a surprising fetish, and you have a character that should bait the academy into a nomination. Despite four previous nominations, including one win, Giamatti will not even have the chance to hear his name be called this year.

Jussie Smollett, Empire

While Taraji P. Henson continues to show out for Empire at the Emmy’s, the rest of the cast is left to fend for themselves. Terrance Howard is the big gun on set, but Jussie Smollett has put on fine performance after fine performance as not-so favorite son Jamal Lyons. Not only does he convey the struggles of being a gay son to a homophobic father, he kills it on stage with soulful songs that he performs himself. However, he found himself on the outside looking in when 2016 Emmy nominations were announced.

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Nerd comedy may be losing its touch. Despite four wins and six total nominations for his work as the quirky Sheldon Cooper in the Big Bang Theory, Parsons will not be among the faces on the animated panels when the nominees for best lead actor in a comedy are called. This isn’t a total shock as he was left off list of nominees at last years Emmy awards as well. However, his perfectly rhythmic performance as the socially awkward physicist still carries the Big Bang Theory to its current success to this day. But hey, even Kobe Bryant lost sometimes.

John C. Reilly, Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule

John C. Reilly is already treasure, but John C. Reilly with wild fro-like hair is just brilliant. The former Talladega Nights star got his own show on Adult Swim in 2010 as the slurring title character in Check It Out! with Dr. Steve Brule. However, the academy still did not recognize the comedic greatness that Reilly brings to the awkward, and at times horrifying, Brule in all of his VCR tracking glory. Without this nomination, he is one “E” short of getting the rare EGOT nomination quadfecta.

Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart in the Jungle

When it comes to in your face careers, conducting an orchestra isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Gael Garcia Bernal found a way to do it. His energetic performance as Rodrigo De Souza, the conductor with attitude, on Amazon’s Mozart in the Jungle makes the world of classical music more universal, and has unique soul in a venue where not a lot of television shows have explored before. Bernal won a Golden Globe this year for this role in January, but that may have been too long ago for the academy to remember his stellar work.

Sam Heughan, Outlander

Handsome British men tend to do well for themselves at the Emmy’s, but Sam Heughan will not be counted among them… yet. The Scottish performer was unable to impress the academy with his dashing performance as Highland warrior Jamie Fraser in Outlander. The overlooked star will have to wait until next year to add an Emmy nomination to his already accomplished career in the theater.

Mads Mikkelsen, Hannibal

When it comes to overlooked performances, there have been few that are more egregious than Mads Mikkelsen’s rendition of the skin crawling title character of Hannibal. Despite being able to make the Hannibal Lector character his own the last three years, the Emmy’s have not awarded with at least a nomination; an honor that may never as Hannibal was cancelled on NBC last year.

Christian Slater, Mr. Robot

Mr. Robot as a whole is doing well at the Emmy Awards so far with six nominations. While lead actor Rami Malek was honored with his own nomination in the lead actor category, the shows biggest name (and title character) remains on the sideline. Christian Slater’s turn as a cyber revolutionist hell bent on taking down the biggest corporations in the world is uncompromising and dark, but that wasn’t enough to garner a nomination in a supporting role. Maybe Mr. Robot will have to make a real life appearance in order for the academy to recognize this performance.

Malachi Kirby, Roots

You know something is wrong when Kunta freaking Kinte couldn’t get a nomination this year. While Roots itself was nominated for best limited series, the actors who were the heart and soul of the show were left out in the cold.  One of the more glaring omissions was the heart wrenching performance of Malachi Kirby who played the lead role of Kunta Kinte, but he couldn’t secure a nomination in the best lead actor of a limited series.