The Primetime Emmys came very close to a huge diversity milestone this year, if only they hadn’t snubbed one of the biggest stars in the world.
The Emmy nominations for 2017 were announced Thursday and it was another record-breaking year for people of color in the acting categories. Of the 99 acting nominees this year (excluding the short form categories), there are 25 nominees of Black, Asian, Latin or Indian descent, the most in Emmy history. This continues to make the case for television as a vibrant medium in which voices from all perspectives can thrive.
Unfortunately, the Emmys were within reach of making a huge statement and just barely missed it. There is at least one person of color in every single acting category, with the sole exception of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. If the Emmys had nominated Oprah Winfrey, star of the HBO television movie The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, there would have been a representative in each category, which would have been an even more significant record. They also snubbed some major contenders that should have been among the nominees this year, including Issa Rae from Insecure, Rita Moreno from One Day at a Time, and Rami Malek for Mr. Robot.
Even still, it is worth celebrating how the Emmys embraced a variety of worthy creative talent, who also happen to be some of the best artists working today.
Below is a list of all the acting nominees at the Emmys this year, with people of color bolded. I encourage you to seek out their work if you can.
COMEDY LEAD ACTRESS
Pamela Adlon – Better Things
Jane Fonda – Grace and Frankie
Allison Janney – Mom
Ellie Kemper – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep
Tracee Ellis Ross – black-ish
Lily Tomlin – Grace and Frankie
COMEDY LEAD ACTOR
Anthony Anderson – black-ish
Aziz Ansari – Master of None
Zach Galifianakis – Baskets
Donald Glover – Atlanta
William H. Macy – Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent
COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Vanessa Bayer – Saturday Night Live
Anna Chlumsky – Veep
Kathryn Hahn – Transparent
Leslie Jones – Saturday Night Live
Judith Light – Transparent
Kate McKinnon – Saturday Night Live
COMEDY SUPPORTING ACTOR
Louie Anderson – Baskets
Alec Baldwin – Saturday Night Live
Tituss Burgess – Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Ty Burrell – Modern Family
Tony Hale – Veep
Matt Walsh – Veep
COMEDY GUEST ACTRESS
Becky Ann Baker – Girls
Angela Bassett – Master of None
Carrie Fisher – Catastrophe
Melissa McCarthy – Saturday Night Live
Wanda Sykes – black-ish
Kristen Wiig – Saturday Night Live
COMEDY GUEST ACTOR
Riz Ahmed – Girls
Dave Chappelle – Saturday Night Live
Tom Hanks – Saturday Night Live
Hugh Laurie – Veep
Lin-Manuel Miranda – Saturday Night Live
Matthew Rhys – Girls
DRAMA LEAD ACTRESS
Viola Davis – How to Get Away with Murder
Claire Foy – The Crown
Elisabeth Moss – The Handmaid’s Tale
Keri Russell – The Americans
Evan Rachel Wood – Westworld
Robin Wright – House of Cards
DRAMA LEAD ACTOR
Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us
Anthony Hopkins – Westworld
Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys – The Americans
Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey – House of Cards
Milo Ventimiglia – This Is Us
DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Uzo Aduba – Orange Is the New Black
Millie Bobby Brown – Stranger Things
Ann Dowd – The Handmaid’s Tale
Chrissy Metz – This Is Us
Thandie Newton – Westworld
Samira Wiley – The Handmaid’s Tale
DRAMA SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jonathan Banks – Better Call Saul
David Harbour – Stranger Things
Ron Cephas Jones – This Is Us
Michael Kelly – House of Cards
John Lithgow – The Crown
Mandy Patinkin – Homeland
Jeffrey Wright – Westworld
DRAMA GUEST ACTRESS
Alexis Bledel – The Handmaid’s Tale
Laverne Cox – Orange Is the New Black
Ann Dowd – The Leftovers
Shannon Purser – Stranger Things
Cicely Tyson – How to Get Away with Murder
Alison Wright – The Americans
DRAMA GUEST ACTOR
Hank Azaria – Ray Donovan
Brian Tyree Henry – This Is Us
Denis O’Hare – This Is Us
Gerald McRaney – This Is Us
Ben Mendelsohn – Bloodline
BD Wong – Mr. Robot
LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE LEAD ACTRESS
Carrie Coon – Fargo
Felicity Huffman – American Crime
Nicole Kidman – Big Little Lies
Jessica Lange – Feud: Bette and Joan
Susan Sarandon – Feud: Bette and Joan
Reese Witherspoon – Big Little Lies
LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE LEAD ACTOR
Riz Ahmed – The Night Of
Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock: The Lying Detective
Robert De Niro – The Wizard of Lies
Ewan McGregor – Fargo
Geoffrey Rush – Genius
John Turturro – The Night Of
LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Judy Davis – Feud: Bette and Joan
Laura Dern – Big Little Lies
Jackie Hoffman – Feud: Bette and Joan
Regina King – American Crime
Michelle Pfeiffer – The Wizard of Lies
Shailene Woodley – Big Little Lies
LIMITED SERIES/MOVIE SUPPORTING ACTOR
Bill Camp – The Night Of
Alfred Molina – Feud: Bette and Joan
Alexander Skarsgård – Big Little Lies
David Thewlis – Fargo
Stanley Tucci – Feud: Bette and Joan
Michael Kenneth Williams – The Night Of