The Emmys has officially come and gone! This year, Succession turned out to be the big winners; with Kieran Culkin receiving Best Lead Actor and Sarah Snook and Niecy Nash (for Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story) winning in their respective acting categories as well. Hopefully, the careers of these actors continue to prosper for years to come.
Winning an Emmy is supposed to be the pinnacle of an actor’s career. It’s supposed to open doors for bigger and better roles. Hell, even being nominated is a huge accolade that’s meant to propel someone’s career. Unfortunately, some nominations didn’t get that luxury. Some of the past nominations either completely fell off the radar. Or have been reduced to minor roles in film or television. These five actresses suffered a major downfall following their historical Emmy nomination.
January Jones (Nominated For Outstanding Lead Actress For Mad Men)
Perhaps one of the biggest surprising hits was AMC’s Mad Men, a searing drama about New York’s most prestigious ad agencies at the beginning of the 1960s. Most eyes were on Don Draper (Jon Hamm), but the series works so well because of the complex characters surrounding the head honcho. January Jones was more than Draper’s wife and expertly displayed the ups and downs of being married to such a high-profile man.
Things seem to be moving up for Jones in film, as she played Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class. Sadly, the actress wasn’t invited back for the following sequels. Jones’s other notable role was The Last Man On Earth on Fox, but even that series wasn’t able to give her the spotlight that she earned in Mad Men. The actress remains a viable name in television, but none of the roles so far has come close to Mad Men levels of good.
Maisie Williams (Nominated For Outstanding Supporting Actress In Game of Thrones)
Perhaps the most surprising fall off on the list is Maisie Williams who played the rebellious and strong Arya Stark. Her journey to get revenge on the Lannisters was a compelling narrative that had fans rooting for her from beginning to end. Next to Tyrion and Daenerys Targaryen, Arya was one of the most popular names in the series. Ignoring the mind-boggling end to her story in season eight, the future looked bright for the young actress.
Maisie Williams still has the opportunity to escape being seen as only Arya Stark, but she hasn’t found a role as dynamic and layered as her GOT counterpart. Her most high-profile role since her time on the series was New Mutants, but that film turned out to be a major disaster. Maisie is currently a part of a series called A New Look, so hopefully, that gets her the buzz that finally separates her from Arya Stark.
Sophie Turner (Nominated For Outstanding Supporting Actress In Game of Thrones)
Sophie Turner and Maisie Williams share one thing in common: they both starred in failed and critically lambasted X-Men movies. Like Arya, witnessing Sansa’s growth throughout the series was a joy to watch. To escape the cruel tyranny of King Joffrey and evolve into a smart and cunning woman by the show’s end made for some of the show’s best moments. Sophie Turner is more than just looks, as the actress had to naturally showcase fear, and trauma in a very subtle manner. Besides Dark Phoenix, Turner has starred in several other roles that allowed her to lead, but nothing has come close to matching the success of her iconic role.
Gwendoline Christie (Nominated For Outstanding Supporting Actress In Game of Thrones)
One of the most infuriating moments was to see the writers nicely develop Brienne’s relationship with Jaime and then have the latter run back to Cersei in the end. However, Brienne of Tarth was more than just Jaime’s love interest. She was a warrior, who wasn’t afraid to fight the big boys. She was portrayed as smart and someone in tune with her feelings, which made fans slowly gravitate towards the elite warrior.
Now Gwendoline has been in more successful shows than her two co-stars; the actress had a solid role in Netflix’s Wednesday and The Sandman. She’s slowly shedding the image of only being Brienne of Tarth in the eyes of fans, but it hasn’t been easy for the actress to fully escape it since Game of Thrones was such a huge part of pop culture. If she continues to get meaty roles then she’ll surely surpass the role that has defined her career thus far.
Jennifer Garner (Nominated For Outstanding Lead Actress In Alias)
This entry may seem crazy as most people would probably point to Elektra as Jennifer Garner‘s most memorable role. However, that role never really panned out into something iconic as the spin-off film flopped hard at the box office. Jennifer Garner has been in over 60 films, yet, it feels like Alias is the one that stands out the most in her career. That isn’t throwing shade at the actress as she’s surely talented, but none of her other films have given her the flexibility to showcase her strength as a performer like Alias.
Follow Us
