Jeffrey Wright ('Westworld') could be first black Best Drama Supporting Actor Emmy winner
Joyce Eng
April 6, 2018 12:30PM
John P. Johnson/HBO
Four of our Emmy Experts and one Top 24 User are predicting Jeffrey Wright ('Westworld') to win Best Drama Supporting Actor. If they are correct, Wright would be the first black champ of the one remaining acting category that has never had one.
After Viola Davis' drama lead actress victory in 2015 for "How to Get Away with Murder," Best Drama Supporting Actor is the only existing category that has yet to award a black performer. Eleven black actors have been nominated, including Wright last year; the others are Greg Morris ("Mission: Impossible," 1969, 1970, 1972), Taurean Blacque ("Hill Street Blues," 1982), James Earl Jones ("Under One Roof," 1995), Eriq La Salle ("ER," 1995, 1997, 1998), James McDaniel ("NYPD Blue," 1996), Steve Harris ("The Practice," 1999, 2000), Dule Hill ("The West Wing," 2002), Andre Braugher ("Men of a Certain Age," 2010, 2011), Giancarlo Esposito ("Breaking Bad," 2012) and Ron Cephas Jones ("This Is Us," 2017).
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"Westworld" Season 2 doesn't premiere until April 22, but Wright has Experts Robert Rorke (New York Post), Ben Travers (IndieWire), Chris Harnick (E!) and Matthew Jacobs (Huffington Post) backing him for the win. Top 24 User Max is also picking him. Wright is in third place in our odds, behind David Harbour ("Stranger Things") and two-time champ Peter Dinklage ("Game of Thrones").
This would be Wright's second Emmy. He previously won in 2004 for his supporting turn in the "Angels in America" miniseries, becoming the second black winner in that category after Jones won for "Heat Wave" in 1991.
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