Emmys 2026 Supporting Actor In A Drama Dream Nominees: Our 8 Favorites

Of the seven gentlemen who scooped up an Emmy nod last year for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, only one of ’em — “Paradise” actor James Marsden — has the chance to make a repeat appearance in the category this time around.

The other six, including eventual champ Tramell Tillman, hailed from either Apple TV’s “Severance” or HBO’s “The White Lotus,” neither of which will be competing this year. Fortunately for Emmy voters, they don’t need to look far for the actors they ought to nominate in 2026; they need only scroll down to see our complete list of Dream Emmy Nominees, then cast their ballots accordingly.

Check out all of our Supporting Actor in a Drama picks below (remember, these aren’t predictions; they’re wish lists), then tell us if our picks warrant a “Heck, yes!,” “Um, no,” or “How could you leave off so-and-so?!”

For the record, 2026 Emmy nominations will be voted on from June 11-22, and unveiled on July 8. The 78th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is scheduled to air on Monday, Sept. 14, on NBC.

WHY HE DESERVES A NOD: Unrequited yearning, Murtagh Fitzgibbons be thy name. For all of the Starz drama’s first season, we were treated to the sweet agony of watching Alexander’s character pine for the woman he couldn’t have: his cousin/best friend’s love. Alexander was excellent in the role, keeping a tight rein on Murtagh’s delicate feelings only to have them explode in drunken violence (like at the Beltane festival) or tears (like a little later at the Beltane festival). In “Outlander,” Murtagh was introduced as a hardened, taciturn wingman of few words. How lovely to see Alexander’s nuanced take on the younger version of the character, a performance marked by rogue humor and a tender, loyal heart. — Kimberly Roots

WHY HE DESERVES A NOD: Amid the flashier material tackled by co-stars Noah Wyle and Katherine LaNasa this season, it would have been easy to overlook the remarkable performance Ball delivered as Dr. Frank Langdon. Following a 10-month stint in rehab and his devastating fall from grace at the end of Season 1, Langdon returned to work carrying equal measures of guilt, uncertainty, and determination. Ball never overplayed the character’s recovery, instead relying on a series of carefully calibrated choices: the subtle flashes of pain that signaled Langdon had reinjured his back, stirring fears that he might relapse, and the flicker of hope that followed a successful high-risk procedure once Robby instructed him to “doctor the f*** up.” The result was a performance that made every triumph feel fragile, every setback feel consequential, and every step forward feel earned. — Ryan Schwartz

WHY HE DESERVES A NOD: Early on in FX’s sci-fi series, we considered Ceesay’s gruff cyborg Morrow as much of a villain as those flesh-eating xenomorphs, since we watched him ruthlessly sacrifice his human crew to preserve the alien specimens. And Ceesay indeed projected a terrifying menace as Morrow let nothing and no one stand in his way. (The way he intimidated and then sweet-talked Slightly into doing his bidding was fascinating… and frightening.) But the actor also layered in hints of Morrow’s former life as we learned his 65-year space mission meant that everyone he once knew — including his young daughter — was long dead by the time he returned home. Morrow may be half-robot, but Ceesay made sure that he was always compellingly human. — Dave Nemetz

WHY HE DESERVES A NOD: As we saw in the “Yellowstone” prequel “1883,” Taylor Sheridan’s writing plus Elliott’s acting makes for powerful TV. Such is the case again in Paramount+’s “Landman,” in which Elliott shines as the gruff Norris patriarch, T.L. In other hands, the character might’ve been a one-note grump. But Elliott’s performance is a prism showing the hurt underneath the harsh words, the love shining through the defensive strikes, all of it blended together in the body of a man who kinda can’t believe he’s getting a second chance at having a family. Elliott makes T.L.’s sorrows piercing and his joy infectious, sometimes just with a minute shift of those bushy white brows. — K.R.

WHY HE DESERVES A NOD: All the money in the world couldn’t protect an aristocrat from generational trauma and mental illness struggles, as evidenced by Harington’s run in the HBO drama’s fourth season. The actor’s Episode 2 showcase put Henry through the wringer on the eve of his 40th birthday, allowing Harington free range to oscillate between rage, depression, and heartbreak. The emotional depths the actor waded through only elevated the excellent material, as the character continued feeling the effects of Whitney and Yasmin’s manipulation and whiplash. — Nick Caruso

WHY HE DESERVES A NOD: “Task” creator Brad Ingelsby specializes in humanizing his characters, good or bad; though Robbie is a thief and a killer, we couldn’t help but empathize with him, thanks to Pelphrey’s deeply felt performance. A robbery gone wrong led Robbie to take an orphaned boy home with him, and Pelphrey let us see the tender father Robbie could be apart from his criminal life. But he held tightly to a grudge against the people who killed his brother, and Pelphrey allowed the simmering rage inside Robbie to boil over in unpredictable ways. Still, he was a charmer, and he managed to find common ground with Mark Ruffalo’s FBI agent Tom in a philosophical chat during a long car ride. We almost rooted for Robbie to get away with it, which tells you how much Pelphrey’s dynamic work won us over. — D.N.

WHY HE DESERVES A NOD: Whenever Skarsgård’s Pennywise pops up on screen, it’s all we can do not to hide our face with our hands until he’s gone — and yet, when he’s not there, we’re somehow left eagerly awaiting his next visit. Such is the genius of Skarsgård’s portrayal of the dancing clown, which only got more bone-chilling in HBO’s prequel to the “It” films where his Pennywise first appeared. The actor has routinely established that a run-in with Pennywise would be the stuff of nightmares, with a distinct malevolence radiating off even the clown’s most benign behaviors. But how can we not be entranced by Skarsgård’s mischievous line readings, his no-holds-barred physicality, that haunting laugh? Plus, Episode 7 allowed Skarsgård to show us Bob Gray, the mild-mannered carnival performer who later became Derry’s most infamous sewer resident — a reminder, for us and Emmy voters alike, that Skarsgård’s range is seemingly limitless. — Rebecca Luther