Want to win an Emmy? It helps if you’re already famous

It’s always nice to say hello to an old friend, even one who leads you to believe you’re almost at the summit, only to serve up another dozen switchbacks before you’re at the top.

I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. Still on a (Rocky Mountain) high after the Emmy nominations? You probably were a cast member on “The White Lotus” or a guest actor on “The Studio.” Let’s talk about all the love for those shows’ ensembles.

Emmy voters’ A-list love is a little much

When you have Nicole Kidman raising her hand, saying she’d be happy to sign up for your show, you can rest assured that you will never have an issue with casting.

And that was before Mike White’s “The White Lotus” picked up a sweet 23 Emmy nominations last week, the same number it earned for Season 2 and, coincidentally, the same number that the hit Apple TV+ comedy series “The Studio” just pulled in for its freshman outing.

But is that number a coincidence? Not really. If this year’s nominations taught us anything, it’s that if you want your Emmy ticket stamped, you get your agent to call White or Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the creators and directing team behind “The Studio.”

Of course, it also helps if you’re famous in the first place, which creates a bit of a problem if you’re a journeyman actor looking for an Emmy boost. (And no, “The Bear’s” nominated guest star Olivia Colman, who has won three Golden Globes, two Emmys, an Oscar and the Volpi Cup since she was overlooked for “Broadchurch,” no longer counts.)

How can you hope to secure a nomination if voters keep flocking to the familiar?

Seven actors from “The White Lotus” ensemble — Carrie Coon, Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Sam Rockwell, Natasha Rothwell and Aimee Lou Wood — picked up supporting nominations this year, with Scott Glenn turning up in the guest actor category. The haul could have been better (or worse, depending on your perspective), as Patrick Schwarzenegger had also been expected to join the party for his turn as Saxon, the series’ wonderfully named finance bro.

“The Studio” had several members of its main team nominated — Rogen, Ike Barinholtz, Kathryn Hahn and Catherine O’Hara. But it was in the guest acting categories that the show really cleaned up, with five of the six guest actor spots going to “Studio” men and Zoë Kravitz making the cut for guest actress.

Kravitz, like nominated castmates Dave Franco, Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard and Anthony Mackie, was honored for playing a heightened version of herself. Bryan Cranston, a six-time Emmy winner, was the exception, nominated for his hilarious, “Weekend at Bernie’s”-inspired work as the drug-addled studio CEO. (He should probably make room for a seventh Emmy.)

In that respect, the nods for “The Studio’s” self-playing actors are reminiscent of what used to be a tried-and-true way to earn an Emmy nomination for guest acting: hosting “Saturday Night Live.” All you needed to do was deliver the opening monologue as yourself and then appear in sketches created to play off your persona. (This one, featuring Sydney Sweeney as a Hooters waitress, illustrates why voters have rightfully soured on “SNL” of late.)

The recognition for “The Studio” represents progress of a sort, in that the series is actually funny.

But it doesn’t address the larger issue, which is the way that Emmy voters tend to zero in on shiny, famous faces at the expense of comparative newcomers who are more deserving.

Case in point: “The Pitt” boasted the best ensemble on television this year, but voters rewarded only lead actor Noah Wyle (his sixth nomination, no wins as yet), supporting actress Katherine LaNasa (so good as the emergency room’s resilient charge nurse) and Shawn Hatosy, a terrific veteran actor who made a huge impression in his four episodes, including those two unforgettable rooftop scenes.

For “The Pitt,” the problem was partly one of quantity, not quality. There were a lot of interns and residents and nurses coming and going in that hospital during the show’s 15-episode season. And they were played by actors largely unknown to voters — a savvy casting move, as the unfamiliar faces bolstered “The Pitt’s” realistic feel.

But ignoring Taylor Dearden’s beautifully nuanced work as the neurodivergent Dr. Mel King feels more symptomatic of a pattern than an issue of numbers. Dearden’s performance was a revelation, showing a woman aware of her own limitations and using that understanding to convey empathy, love and understanding toward others. The look of joy on her face when she held the just-delivered baby should be a meme for happiness. I can’t fathom how she wasn’t nominated.

The issue in the guest acting categories is more glaring. What used to be a space populated by character actors dropping into shows for small story arcs has now become, at least for comedy, a showcase for famous people parodying themselves. Yes, Scorsese was deserving. He’s shown himself to be a fine actor over the years, and his shock and anger over having his Jonestown movie killed was priceless. I’ll also sign off on Kravitz, who was utterly convincing in her mushroom-induced mania. Added bonus: If she wins, she can thank Sal Saperstein.

But if “The Studio” runs for three, four, five seasons, it’s easy to imagine a future where the show establishes a blockade on the guest acting categories. And no matter how delightful it is to watch Ron Howard remember the time when some dolt tried to give him a “note” on “A Beautiful Mind,” we shouldn’t get carried away — even if we are kind of hoping that all this attention could prompt a studio to green-light a real version of Howard’s fictional action movie “Alphabet City.”

And, obviously, there continue to be exceptions to the fixation on the famous. Hatosy, mentioned earlier, is the definition of what a guest Emmy spot should be, as is Joe Pantoliano’s beautiful, brief turn on “The Last of Us,” playing an infected man pleading for a final moment with his wife.

It all comes back to the usual appeals to voters: Watch more shows. Cast a wider net. Honor the work, not the names.

Though if White wants to write Kidman into the next season of “The White Lotus,” I’d be willing to make an exception and look the other way.

Read more coverage of the Emmy nominations