Will third time be the Emmy charm for Brian Tyree Henry (‘Atlanta’)?
“Atlanta” wrapped up with its final, fourth season last year and, with that, comes the hope of fresh Emmys support after the show has so far proven popular with voters, claiming six wins overall.
One performer hoping to make good on past awards history for his role in this series (more on that later) is the enigmatic Brian Tyree Henry, who is searching for his second bid for this show and his third Emmy nomination overall. “Atlanta” follows the down-on-his-luck Earn (Donald Glover), who works as the music manager for his rapper cousin Alfred AKA Paper Boi (Henry). Together, they traverse Atlanta as they deal with societal and economic issues in the city.
While Glover, who also wrote, directed, and created the show, is the belle of the ball here, Alfred remains, consistently, the most under-appreciated character in the whole series. As Alfred, Henry communicates so much with few words and just his expressions. Alfred is ambitious, yes, but also down to Earth, real, and tired of the years of hardship he has lived through. The character looks and feels so fed up with the shenanigans he finds himself in but, through Henry’s comedic timing, is one of the funniest characters in the series as well as the most touching. And critics agree.
Robert Daniels (The Playlist) observed: “Over the last four-year season, Tyree Henry’s ability to thread lived-in emotions through the series’ ever-tenuous narrative direction has grown immeasurably. The forlornness blooming from him papers over whatever shortcomings exist in the script (of which there are many). ”
Ben Travers (Indie Wire) claimed: “As usual, Alfred (and the magnetically demonstrative Brian Tyree Henry) carries the most compelling arcs. His lengthy stint overseas elevated Paper Boi to a new level of fame, but Alfred’s trepidation over what to do with it persists.”
Chase Hutchinson (Collider) explained: “Uniting them all is the irreplaceable Henry’s sense of presence and vulnerability he conveys as an actor, an element of the show that would not be the same without him. It makes him one of the best parts of the series and one of the best actors working today for all he manages to do in even the simplest of moments.”
Henry was previously nominated for this role in 2018 for Best Comedy Supporting Actor, whereby he lost to Henry Winkler for “Barry.” He will hope to earn his second nomination for “Atlanta” this year but, currently, we do not predict that he will reap such a nomination. Instead, he sits outside of our predicted eight nominees for Best Comedy Supporting Actor: Ebon Moss-Bachrach (“The Bear”), Nick Mohammed (“Ted Lasso”), Tony Shalhoub (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Harrison Ford (“Barry”), Anthony Carrigan and Winkler (both “Barry”), Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”), and Tyler James Williams (“Abbott Elementary”). Henry isn’t far off a nomination, however, so don’t rule him out just yet.
Along with that aforementioned 2018 bid, Henry was also nominated at the Emmys in 2017 for Best Drama Guest Actor for “This Is Us” (losing to his co-star in that show, Gerald McRaney). Henry is also a two-time Critics Choice Awards nominee, a SAG nominee, and an Academy Award nominee. Henry can clearly gain the backing of various awards bodies — he’s a well-liked actor across the board. This will help him here if he hopes to pull off a surprise and earn a third Emmy bid.
But surprises seem to be his thing. That aforementioned Oscar nomination came last year for Best Supporting Actor for “Causeway.” This nomination came completely out of the blue — no one was predicting he’d pull that bid off, but he did. He beat out the likes of Ben Whishaw (“Women Talking”), Paul Dano (“The Fabelmans”), Woody Harrelson (“Triangle of Sadness”), and Eddie Redmayne (“The Good Nurse”). Ke Huy Quan (“Everything Everywhere All at Once”) won the award, but Henry proved that he can pull off a surprise nomination. Who’s to say he can’t do it again this year at the Emmys?
And why not? Because Emmy voters have shown that they already like him and his performance in “Atlanta.” He’s been nominated for this role of Alfred already, so he’s got the awards credentials here no problem. And the Emmys love this show. So far, it has won six awards — Best Comedy Director and Best Comedy Actor for Glover in 2017; Best Comedy Guest Actor for Katt Williams, Best
And they may well seek to reward it again — season four was the final series of the show. If they want to recognize this show once more, this is their last chance to do so. Previously, actors in this category have reaped nominations for starring in their show’s final seasons. Dany Levy won in this category for the final season of “Schitt’s Creek” in 2020. Paul Reiser was nominated here in 2021 for the last season of “The Kominsky Method” and William Jackson Harper was nominated for the final season of “The Good Place” in 2020.
Henry could easily join this trend, particularly as “Atlanta” season four goes out on a bang. Season three has been somewhat criticized by fans for straying from the successful formula of the first two seasons. The third outing sees the gang on a trip to Europe, away from the location and title of the show. That is why season three has the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of all four seasons (96%, still excellent!) and why the season also earned the lowest amount of Emmy bids, too — only two, while seasons one and two reaped six and 16 (!!!) bids respectively. Season four saw the show return to the successful formula of the first two outings and the Rotten Tomatoes score picked back up to 98% — the same score that seasons one and two earned. It’s more than reasonable, then, to suggest the show’s Emmys haul will pick back up to the same heights as those seasons, too. And Henry could be a beneficiary of that. His competitors should watch out.
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