Who will win? Everything you need to know about the 77th Annual Emmy Awards this Monday

Cate Blanchett, Michelle Williams, Renée Zellweger, Seth Rogen, Harrison Ford: these are the kinds of A-list names you’d more readily associate with the Oscars than the Emmys.

Yet all these Hollywood heavy-hitters will be front and centre as the 77th Annual Emmy Awards kicks off on Monday, live from The Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles

In recent years there has been an exodus of big names from the big to small screen as television has ascended to become the dominant celluloid art form — the standard of this year’s nominees, and the shows they are representing, speaks to this.

A stacked field

Leading the pack at this year’s awards is the superb Apple TV Plus series Severance, with 27 nominations. Coming up close behind is The Penguin on 24, with The White Lotus and The Studio sitting pretty on 23 nominations each.

All of these shows have huge stars attached — Adam Scott and John Turturro in Severance, Colin Farrell, complete with fat suit in The Penguin, and just about every Hollywood actress and director (including Martin Scorsese, who is hilariously nominated as a Guest Actor) in the industry-beloved satire, The Studio.

In many cases, they have already scooped the pool at the Creative Arts Emmy awards — critical favourite Severance, directed by Ben Stiller (another Hollywood heavy-hitter) has already taken out a whopping 27 wins, and it’s tipped to be rewarded richly at Monday’s ceremony.

“Television Academy voters love to heap a lot of prizes on a few shows, and this year has some strong contenders to be on the receiving end of their largesse,” TV awards commentator Steve Pond recently wrote in The Wrap.

“The Studio has already set a record for the most awards a comedy has received at the Creative Arts Emmys ceremonies, which were held last weekend, and it’s now only two awards shy of tying the record for the most comedy-series Emmys in a single year.”

Severance v The Pitt

Many watching this year’s awards race closely believe Severance will scoop the pool off the back of its exceptionally strong second season, though it could see some stiff competition from the dark horse ER-spinoff-that’s-not-a-spinoff, The Pitt, which stars Noah Wyllie.

It will be a close race.

“Some have boiled this race down to the heart (The Pitt) vs. the head (Severance), an oversimplification which ignores how smartly The Pitt wove topical issues into its storylines and how the Severance finale emotionally floored so many of us,” Los Angeles Times columnist Glenn Whipp writes.

“They’re both great shows on multiple levels.”

Adolescence still resonating

Also likely to be generating plenty of buzz at this Monday’s ceremony is the technically brilliant and critically beloved Netflix series, Adolescence.

That show, which dominated cultural conversation for months, is nominated across a number of categories, with its creator and star, UK actor Stephen Graham, scoring a nod in the hotly contested Lead Actor category.

The show’s young standout, Owen Cooper, who played the troubled teen at the centre of the story, is also nominated (in the Best Supporting Actor category) — if he wins, at just 15 years of age, he will be the youngest male winner of an acting Emmy — quite the feat.

High-profile nominees

Emmy voters love to reward well-known faces, and Oscar darling Michelle Williams is certainly a contender for her emotionally devastating, oftentimes hilarious, portrayal of a woman with terminal cancer in the under-the-radar series, Dying For Sex.

Aussie actress Cate Blanchett is up against Williams in the Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology series for Disclaimer, the Apple TV show no one seems to have watched.

Voters love a familiar face, so it’s still anyone’s game, and with Zellweger nominated for the most recent Bridget Jones movie (which went straight-to-TV in the States, thus qualifying it in the Emmys rather than the Oscars) she may well get a look-in as well.

Battle of the broads

While we’re talking about the ladies, all eyes will be on the women who checked into The White Lotus this year, with four of this season’s female stars Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, Natasha Rothwell and Aimee Lou Wood all facing off against each other for Supporting Actress In A Drama Award.

For what it’s worth, my money’s on Industry darling Parker Posey who delivered all this season’s hum-dinger lines with unmatched aplomb, though she could have some stiff competition from Carrie Coon, whose relatable performance packed an emotional punch.

As for Jean Smart — I think we can all agree this dame deserves yet another gong for her touching (and terrifying) portrayal of aging comic, Deborah Vance. She’s nominated in the Comedy Actress category, and though Ayo Edebiri’s performance in The Bear this season was top notch, Smart is a sentimental fave — all hail the queen.

Harrison’s time?

It’s harder to predict who might reign supreme in the Actor categories — it’s certainly a stacked field, though what everyone seems to agree on is that perennial favourite Harrison Ford could (and should) take it home in the Comedy Supporting Role category for his role in Shrinking. As Whipp writes in the LA Times, “Give Ford, 83, an Emmy! If not now, when?” Couldn’t agree more.

Male dominance

It’s difficult to predict who may take it home in the other male categories, though there can be no denying Severance’s Tramell Tillman gave a chilling and unnerving portrayal of Lumon employee Seth Milchick in the Apple drama. If not for his work, then surely for his faultless execution of that drum major choreography in the season two finale? Outstanding.

Also in with a strong chance is Colin Farrell for his superb performance in the dark-as-heck comic book spin-off, The Penguin — extra points for suffering what was surely hours in the makeup chair to transform into the bloated, pock-marked villain.

If he wins an Emmy, he can add it to his Globes and Screen Actors Guild award win, making the trifecta.

Need to know

Where to watch: The Emmys will be streaming live on Binge on Monday.

Red carpet: E’s Live from the Emmys 2025 Red Carpet show airs from 7.30pm aest on 7bravo and 7Plus

Who’s hosting? This year’s host is comedian Nate Bargatze, who is promising to keep his speeches short and sweet.

Key category nominees (and where to watch in Australia)

DRAMA SERIES

Andor (Disney+)

The Diplomat (Netflix)

The Last of Us (HBO Max)

Paradise (Disney+)

The Pitt (HBO Max)

Severance (Apple TV+)

Slow Horses (Apple TV+)

The White Lotus (HBO Max)

COMEDY SERIES

Abbott Elementary (Disney+)

The Bear (Disney+)

Hacks (Stan)

Nobody Wants This (Netflix)

Only Murders in the Building (Disney+)

Shrinking (Apple TV+)

The Studio (Apple TV+)

What We Do in the Shadows (Binge)

LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES

Adolescence (Netflix)

Black Mirror (Netflix)

Dying for Sex (Disney+)

Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (Netflix)

The Penguin (HBO Max)

TV MOVIE

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy (Prime Video or Apple TV)

The Gorge (Apple TV+)

Mountainhead (HBO Max)

Nonnas (Netflix)

Rebel Ridge (Netflix)

ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Sterling K. Brown, Paradise

Gary Oldman, Slow Horses

Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us

Adam Scott, Severance

Noah Wyle, The Pitt

ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Kathy Bates, Matlock (Paramount+)

Sharon Horgan, Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)

Britt Lower, Severance

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us

Keri Russell, The Diplomat

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Zach Cherry, Severance

Walton Goggins, The White Lotus

Jason Isaacs, The White Lotus

James Marsden, Paradise

Sam Rockwell, The White Lotus

Tramell Tillman, Severance

John Turturro, Severance

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES

Patricia Arquette, Severance

Carrie Coon, The White Lotus

Katherine LaNasa, The Pitt

Julianne Nicholson, Paradise

Parker Posey, The White Lotus

Natasha Rothwell, The White Lotus

Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus

ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This

Seth Rogen, The Studio

Jason Segel, Shrinking

Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES

Uzo Aduba, The Residence (Netflix)

Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

Jean Smart, Hacks

SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES

Ike Barinholtz, The Studio

Colman Domingo, The Four Seasons (Netflix)

Harrison Ford, Shrinking

Jeff Hiller, Somebody Somewhere (HBO Max)

Ebon Moss-Bachrach, The Bear

SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY

Liza Colon-Zayas, The Bear

Hannah Einbinder, Hacks

Kathryn Hahn, The Studio

Janelle Hames, Abbott Elementary

Catherine O’Hara, The Studio

Sheryl Lee Ralph, Abbott Elementary

Jessica Williams, Shrinking

ACTOR IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE

Colin Farrell, The Penguin

Stephen Graham, Adolescence

Jake Gyllenhaal, Presumed Innocent (Disney+)

Brian Tyree Henry, Dope Thief (Disney+)

Cooper Koch, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story

ACTRESS IN A LIMITED OR ANTHOLOGY SERIES OR MOVIE

Cate Blanchett, Disclaimer (Apple TV+)

Meghann Fahy, Sirens (Neflix)

Rashida Jones, Black Mirror

Cristin Milioti, The Penguin

Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex