Oscar winners Robert De Niro, Matt Damon, Emma Thompson and Jessica Lange were among the nominees as the two-night Creative Arts Emmy Awards concluded Sunday at the Microsoft Theater, but none were among the winners.
Although the awards are mainly for obscure technical categories, such as picture editing, costuming, hairstyling, makeup and sound, there are also awards for guest acting.
De Niro and Damon were nominated for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for hosting NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Luke Kirby won for his portrayal of envelope-pushing comedian Lenny Bruce on Amazon Prime Video’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
The field also included two other “Saturday Night Live” hosts, Adam Sandler and John Mulaney, Rufus Sewell, who also appeared on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and Peter MacNicol from HBO’s “Veep.”
“Saturday Night Live” hosts have won in the category a record five times, most recently Dave Chappelle in 2017.
Thompson received an outstanding guest actress in a comedy series nomination for hosting “Saturday Night Live.” Sandra Oh was also nominated for hosting “Saturday Night Live.” A “Saturday Night Live” host had won each of the past three years and a record five times.
Jane Lynch won for her portrayal of popular but dislikable comic Sophie Lennon on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
The rest of the field consisted of Fiona Shaw and Kristin Scott Thomas, who were both nominated for appearances on the BBC Three comedy “Fleabag,” which is streamed in the United States by Amazon Prime Video; and Maya Rudolph, who portrays the all-knowing judge found in the Neutral Zone between the Bad Place and the Good Place on NBC’s “The Good Place.”
The Emmy was the fifth for Lynch. Her first was in 2010 for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for portraying cheerleading coach teacher Sue Sylvester on Fox’s “Glee.”
Lynch won in 2014 and 2015 for outstanding host for a reality or reality-competition program for NBC’s “Hollywood Game Night” and in 2017 for outstanding actress in a short form comedy or drama series for her portrayal of new executive producer Olivia Vanderstein on the streaming soap opera parody “Dropping the Soap.”
Lange was nominated for outstanding guest actress in a drama for reprising the role of Constance Langdon in the FX anthology “American Horror Story: Apocalypse.” Lange received an outstanding supporting actress in a miniseries or a movie in 2012 for the role in “American Horror Story: Murder House.”
Cherry Jones won for her portrayal of the mother of June (Elisabeth Moss) in Hulu’s dystopian drama, “The Handmaid’s Tale.” Jones was also nominated in the category last year, losing to castmate Samira Wiley.
The Emmy was the second for Jones, who won in 2009 for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series for her role as President Allison Taylor on Fox’s espionage drama”24.”
The other nominees were Laverne Cox (“Orange Is the New Black”); Phylicia Rashad (“This Is Us”); Cicley Tyson (“How to Get Away with Murder”); and Carice van Houten (“Game of Thrones”).
“The Handmaid’s Tale” also produced the winner for outstanding guest actor in a drama, Bradley Whitford, who portrays Commander Joseph Lawrence, the founder of the Colonies and architect behind Gilead’s economy.
Whitford became the first winner of both the outstanding guest actor in a drama and outstanding guest actor in a comedy Emmys, which he won in 2015 for his portrayal of the best friend of Maura Pfefferman (Jeffrey Tambor) on Amazon Prime Video’s “Transparent.”
The Emmy was the third for Whitford, who also won for outstanding supporting actor in a drama series in 2001 for his portrayal of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on NBC’s “The West Wing.”
The other nominees were Michael Angarano and Ron Cephas Jones (“This Is Us”); Michael McKean (“Better Call Saul”); Kumail Nanjiani (“The Twilight Zone”); and Glynn Turman (“How to Get Away with Murder”).
To be eligible for a guest acting Emmy, an actor can appear in no more than 50 percent of a series episodes that season.
On a night dedicated to awards for scripted programming, HBO’s “Game of Thrones” led the field with 10 Emmys. The HBO miniseries “Chernobyl” was second with seven, followed by “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” with six.
HBO led the networks and streaming services with 21 Emmys Sunday, while Amazon Prime Video and Netflix each had eight
Categories primarily related to reality, variety, animation and documentary programming were presented Saturday.
The Creative Arts Emmy Awards honor programming that initially aired between 6 p.m. and 2 a.m. from June 1, 2018, to May 31, 2019.
Awards in the top 27 categories in comedy, drama, competition, limited and variety sketch and talk series will be presented at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 22.