Cory Stillman
Limited series have become my favorite form of television storytelling, splitting the difference between the economical and urgent demands of film, as well as the patient and sprawling opportunities of traditional TV. This past year handed us several great limited series, not to mention a litany of excellent lead performances in those shows. The category for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at this year’s Emmys features five standouts, including Colin Farrell, Stephen Graham, Brian Tyree Henry, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Cooper Koch.
As we look towards this weekend’s exciting reveal, the Before Emmy Gold series will be highlighting each of the nominees by reflecting on their standout projects before they earned their 2025 nomination.
Colin Farrell
Nominated For: The Penguin
Previous Nominations: None.
Hidden Gem: Horrible Bosses
The Penguin has clear momentum going into this year’s ceremony, having won in several categories at last weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys, including Outstanding VFX and Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup. Underneath all that impressive makeup is an equally as impressive performance from Irish star Colin Farrell, utterly unrecognizable as Oz Cobb. Farrell has built a career off such harrowing and idiosyncratic performances, with powerful turns in Yorgos Lanthimos films like The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. But fans of Farrell should not overlook his hilarious performance in the criminally underrated 2011 studio comedy Horrible Bosses, a delicious departure from the decidedly darker material that has come to define the actor’s illustrious career. Farrell is a likely frontrunner in this category.
Stephen Graham
Nominated For: Adolescence
Previous Nominations: None. Also nominated this year for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
Hidden Gem: Boiling Point
Adolescence remains the most powerful piece of television I have seen this year, due in large part to the immensely moving performance co-creator Stephen Graham gives as father Eddie Miller. His anxious evaluation of his son in the show’s first episode is appropriately chilling, but it is the emotional journey that Graham takes us on in the series’ final episode that makes him the most deserving performer in this category. If you are a fan of the show’s stunning one-take cinematography, check out Graham’s previous collaboration with director Philip Barantini in the chaos-fueled Boiling Point.
Brian Tyree Henry
Nominated For: Dope Thief
Previous Nominations: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series – 2017, 2018
Hidden Gem: Child’s Play (2019)
Brian Tyree Henry has very quietly carved out a career as one of the most acclaimed actors in Hollywood. After leveraging his breakout role on Atlanta into a career filled with performances in both box office hits (Bullet Train, Godzilla vs. Kong) and awards season contenders (Causeway, for which Henry received an Oscar nomination), Henry returns to the Emmys with his third career nomination, this time for the Apple TV+ series Dope Thief. The Philly-set crime drama features terrific work from both Henry and his co-star Wagner Moura. It can be hard to identify a hidden gem in a career as fruitful as Henry’s, but fans should revisit his supporting role in 2019’s underrated Child’s Play remake. Believe it or not, that was the film that made me believe the man formerly known as Paper Boi was going to be a star.
Jake Gyllenhaal
Nominated For: Presumed Innocent
Previous Nominations: None.
Hidden Gems: Source Code
Jake Gyllenhaal is an Emmy nominee for the first time in his career! It feels like ages since we were all debating that wild ending to Apple TV+’s Presumed Innocent, but Gyllenhaal fortunately hung in there as a deserving nominee for his work on the series. I have always felt that Gyllenhaal’s performance in the Duncan Jones thriller Source Code is criminally underrated.
Cooper Koch
Nominated For: Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
Previous Nominations: None.
Hidden Gem: Artificial
In a lineup packed with Hollywood A-listers, Cooper Koch is an exciting addition to this category. The relative newcomer quickly gained a massive fanbase after starring in the latest season of Netflix’s Monsters as Erik Menendez. Koch effectively conveyed the complexity of Erik’s journey, and has parlayed his breakout into an upcoming role in Luca Guadagnino’s Artificial. It may not be in theaters anytime soon, but let’s consider it a not-so-hidden gem in the burgeoning career of Cooper Koch, whose brother Payton is also an Emmy-nominated picture editor!
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