Nominations for the 2025 Emmy Awards were announced this week, with The Penguin and The White Lotus among the top honorees and a wide slate of acting, writing and directing contenders across drama, comedy and limited series categories. The Penguin received 24 nominations, the second-most of the year, while The White Lotus landed 23 nods, and Severance, Andor and The Last of Us all appear among the Best Drama Series nominees.
The field for Best Drama Series includes Andor, The Diplomat, The Last of Us, Paradise, The Pitt, Severance, Slow Horses and The White Lotus. The limited or anthology category is anchored by Adolescence, Black Mirror, Dying For Sex, Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, The Penguin and others. Comedy nominees for Best Comedy Series range from Abbott Elementary and The Bear to Hacks, Nobody Wants This, Only Murders in the Building, Shrinking, The Studio and What We Do in the Shadows.
Major acting races mix veterans with newcomers and first-time nominees. In the Best Actor in a Drama Series category, Sterling K. Brown is nominated for Paradise, Gary Oldman for Slow Horses, Pedro Pascal for The Last of Us, Adam Scott for Severance and Noah Wyle for The Pitt. The Best Actress in a Drama Series field includes Kathy Bates for Matlock, Sharon Horgan for Bad Sisters, Britt Lower for Severance, Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us and Keri Russell for The Diplomat; Bates, at 77, is the oldest acting nominee this year.
Supporting and guest categories are heavily populated by performers from The White Lotus and Severance. Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series nominees include Zach Cherry (Severance), Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs and Sam Rockwell (all from The White Lotus), James Marsden (Paradise), Tramell Tillman (Severance) and John Turturro (Severance). Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series nominations include 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) and Aimee Lou Wood (The White Lotus).
Guest-acting nominations in drama include Giancarlo Esposito for The Boys, Scott Glenn for The White Lotus, Shawn Hatosy for The Pitt, Joe Pantoliano for The Last of Us, Forest Whitaker for Andor and Jeffrey Wright for The Last of Us. Guest-actress nominees include Jane Alexander and Merritt Wever for Severance, Gwendoline Christie for Severance, Kaitlyn Dever and Catherine O’Hara for The Last of Us, and Cherry Jones for The Handmaid’s Tale.
The limited-or-anthology acting races feature Colin Farrell, who is nominated for The Penguin, alongside Stephen Graham for Adolescence, Jake Gyllenhaal for Presumed Innocent, Brian Tyree Henry for Dope Thief and Cooper Koch for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story in the Best Actor category. The Best Actress nominees in that slate include Cate Blanchett for Disclaimer, Meghann Fahy for Sirens, Rashida Jones for Black Mirror, Cristin Milioti for The Penguin and Michelle Williams for Dying For Sex. Supporting nominees in limited series include Javier Bardem and Bill Camp, and in supporting-actress categories the field includes Erin Doherty, Ruth Negga, Deirdre O’Connell, Chloë Sevigny, Jenny Slate and Christine Tremarco.
Comedy nominations again highlight Abbott Elementary and The Bear, with Best Actress in a Comedy Series nominees including Uzo Aduba (The Residence), Kristen Bell (Nobody Wants This), Quinta Brunson (Abbott Elementary), Ayo Edebiri (The Bear) and Jean Smart (Hacks). The Best Actor comedy nominees are Adam Brody (Nobody Wants This), Seth Rogen (The Studio), Jason Segel (Shrinking), Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building) and Jeremy Allen White (The Bear). Supporting categories showcase a mix of established performers and newcomers, and guest-acting nods in comedy feature Olivia Colman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Cynthia Erivo, Robby Hoffman, Zoë Kravitz and Julianne Nicholson among the actresses, and Jon Bernthal, Bryan Cranston, Dave Franco, Ron Howard, Anthony Mackie and Martin Scorsese among the actors. The nominations mark first-time acting Emmy nods for filmmakers Ron Howard and Martin Scorsese for their guest appearances on The Studio, and Harrison Ford earned his first Emmy nomination for Shrinking in a supporting-actor slot.
Reality and television movie categories drew nominations familiar to viewers: The Amazing Race, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Survivor, Top Chef and The Traitors compete for Best Reality Competition Program, while the Best Television Movie nominees include Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, The Gorge, Mountainhead, Nonnas and Rebel Ridge.
Writing and directing nominations highlight series and episodes that have drawn awards-season attention. Best Writing for a Drama Series nominees feature Dan Gilroy for Andor, Joe Sachs and R. Scott Gemmill for The Pitt, Dan Erickson for Severance, Will Smith for Slow Horses and Mike White for The White Lotus. Best Directing for a Drama Series nominees include Janus Metz for Andor, Amanda Marsalis and John Wells for The Pitt, Jessica Lee Gagné and Ben Stiller for Severance, Adam Randall for Slow Horses and Mike White for The White Lotus. Comedy-writing nominations include Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary, the Hacks writing team of Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky, and teams from The Rehearsal, Somebody Somewhere, The Studio and What We Do in the Shadows. Comedy directing nominees include Ayo Edebiri for The Bear, Lucia Aniello for Hacks, veteran James Burrows for Mid-Century Modern, Nathan Fielder for The Rehearsal and Seth Rogen for The Studio. In limited-series directing, nominees include Philip Barantini for Adolescence, Shannon Murphy for Dying For Sex, Helen Shaver and Jennifer Getzinger for The Penguin, Nicole Kassell for Sirens and Lesli Linka Glatter for Zero Day.
The nominations reflect both recurring Emmy players and newcomers, with veteran performers and filmmakers competing alongside emerging series that have gained traction in the past year. The Academy’s selections set the field for the 2025 awards season, where final winners will be named at the ceremony later this year.