Emmys 2017: Who Should Win Every Major Award (And Who Actually Will)

15. Lead Actor In A Limited Series Or Movie

Riz Ahmed Hbo The Night Of
HBO

Nominees

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

Who Should Win

Riz Ahmed

The Night Of was never quite as great as its brilliant first episode suggested it would be, but Riz Ahmed was consistently excellent. He starts off incredibly naive, using those saucer-plate eyes to convince us of his innocence. Then, over the next seven episodes, begins a remarkable physical, mental, and emotional transformation, making us think that maybe he really did do it after all.

Who Will Win

Robert De Niro

Another close race, but Robert De Niro is a massive name making a rare TV appearance, something they like to recognise - and it's also an increasingly infrequent chance to heap awards and acclaim on the actor's more recent output, of which this is one of his far stronger efforts. Cumberbatch has been a spoiler before though, while Rush has form in the category too.

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Contributor
Contributor

NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.