Television history overflows with lawmakers and lawbreakers, sheriffs and outlaws, cops and criminals. In the first half-century of the medium, characters moral standings were as black-and-white as the TV sets that contained them. Heroes and villains were easily sorted, their motives clear and unyielding. But 21st-century prestige dramas and comedies trained us to identify with antiheroes, to crave complex evocations of human experience. The old categories have been corroded, until all thats left is a murky gray area, which todays Emmy nominees have exhibited. Jeff Daniels is nominated for playing men on both ends of the legal spectrum: an F.B.I. agent who warns about al-Qaeda in Hulus *The Looming Tower, * and an outlaw in Netflixs Western Godless. Neither character fits the old good/bad dichotomies. The twisted villain nurtures an orphan, while the lawman, as Daniels points out, “has a wife, a family, and two mistresses, and a bull-in-a-china-shop approach to bureaucracy and diplomacy. This is your hero?” Some of the “outlaws” this season have gone rogue as a form of political resistance, as in Hulus The Handmaids Tale. Others, as in Showtimes comedy Shameless, have followed perilous paths shaped by poverty or substance abuse. And then theres Ed Harriss Man in Black of HBOs Westworld, who created his own alternative universe in which the limits of good and evil are put to the test. Edie Falco, who played defense lawyer Leslie Abramson in NBCs Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders, says shes grateful to “have been plopped down in the industry” during an era that celebrates beautifully flawed characters. “People are wanting to see that … rather than an ideal.”
Jeff Daniels and Jason Bateman.
Photograph by Art Streiber.
Jeff Daniels / The Looming Tower (Hulu) / Godless (Netflix)
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie; Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
“Being around those [F.B.I. agents], you understand that they have been in life-or-death situations. These guys are dictated by the rule of law.”
Jason Bateman / Ozark (Netflix)
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
“There is certainly a lot of corner-cutting happening in our political climate. Thats kind of what happened with Marty and Wendy Byrde—they tried to cheat a little bit.”
Michael Stuhlbarg, Darren Criss, and David Harbour.
Photograph by Art Streiber.
Michael Stuhlbarg / The Looming Tower (Hulu)
Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
“Its very humbling to even try to walk in [Richard A. Clarkes] shoes, because the things hes seen and the events over the last 30, 40 years that hes been a part of are staggering. Hes had a hand in an awful lot of history.”
Darren Criss / The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)
Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
“The whole show is about the haves and the have-nots, and how they affect each other. Andrew Cunanan was definitely a have-not who found a couple of routes to make him feel like he had something more than he did.”
David Harbour / Stranger Things (Netflix)
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
“Ive so often played the bad guy in my career. I actually very much embrace the bad stuff, the stuff that bucks society, like, Why should I behave the way you think I should behave?
John Leguizamo, Ed Harris, and Edie Falco.
Photograph by Art Streiber.
John Leguizamo / Waco (Paramount)
Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie
“The gangster role is always a lot more fun because rules are made to be broken. But in our dark times in this country, being a Latin man and playing the wrong side just plays into the administrations negative diatribe about us.”
Ed Harris / Westworld (HBO)
Lead Actor in a Drama Series
“In the second season, I get the shit kicked out of me quite a bit, so it was kind of fun. [My character] definitely gets paid back by a number of people. You get all bruised up falling around, but you just give over to it.”
Edie Falco / Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders (NBC)
Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
“I think the way [Leslie Abramson] was brought up, her sense of justice really was huge. She was a person who thought it mattered that the right thing get done.”
William H. Macy.
Photograph by Art Streiber.
Mandy Patinkin.
Photograph by Art Streiber.
William H. Macy / Shameless (Showtime)
Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
“The Gallaghers live right on the edge of the law, and they have to skirt the law a lot to make it. Theyre one paycheck away from homelessness.”
Mandy Patinkin / Homeland (Showtime)
Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
“Saul Berenson is a moral, ethical man, and I love playing someone right now who is the kind of person I would like to be.”
Samira Wiley.
Photograph by Art Streiber.
Samira Wiley / The Handmaids Tale (Hulu)
Guest Actress in a Drama Series
“Its unfortunate that [our show] is so parallel to what is going on in our world, but its also fortunate. Theres something that we can look to for inspiration in terms of these womens resolve.”
Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.
[contf] [contfnew] 
Vanity Fair
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
