Emmys: 15 Actresses We're Rooting For

We all know that Psycho‘s Norman Bates famously had mommy issues — and now we know why, thanks to Farmiga’s full-bodied performance as mama Norma to teenage Norman (Finding Neverland‘s Freddie Highmore) on A&E’s prequel series Bates Motel. Desperately clinging to her son like a manic depressive lioness, she portrays both a formidable heroine and an unstable mess. —Tim Stack

Imagine Lady Macbeth styled by Prada — that’s Wright’s Claire Underwood. The power-hungry wife of the equally Machiavellian Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey), Claire was never more terrifying than when she paid a visit to Frank’s source and mistress Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara) and cowed the young blogger in one quick lap around her apartment. —Tim Stack

Like her monetary namesake, Penny Hartz is shiny, cheap (in the sluttiest sense of course!) and often undervalued — but only because her ah-mahz-ing alter ego, Wilson, plays her so effortlessly. Penny’s streak of bad luck — landing in a body cast and being Misery‘d to ”health” by her best friend, breaking off an engagement with a perfect guy — has been comic copper for viewers. So Emmy voters, heed the penny’s motto and, ”E pluribus unum!” — which, roughly translated from the Latin means ”Pick Penny!” or ”The Year of Penny” or ”Happy Endings rules!” We think. We were never real good at Latin. —Henry Goldblatt

No show casts guest stars quite like the CBS legal drama. Fellow Wife guest Martha Plimpton won last year, and Preston’s brilliant take as the quirky redheaded lawyer Elsbeth Tascioni deserves recognition too. She flawlessly balances Elsbeth’s genius with her crazy, giving Wife some of its best one-liners (”I don’t know how I know half the things I know!”) and scene-stealing moments. —Breia Brissey

For five seasons, King has harmonized the ferocity of a take-no-prisoners L.A. cop with the fragility of an unmarried workaholic. This year, King’s Lydia lost her mother and was left to raise a newborn son alone. Her fearless (and criminally unrecognized) portrayal of a crumbling woman with a touch exterior was simply heartbreaking. —Samantha Highfill

As country-pop starlet Juliette Barnes, Panettiere is such a spoiled brat you can practically see the evil gleaming off her freshly whitened teeth. So when her mother falls off the wagon at Deacon’s (Charles Esten) party, you’d be forgiven for bracing yourself for a big, reserve-my-Emmy-now! melodramatic crying scene. But Panettiere swings the other way instead, matter-of-factly admitting that she once left her drugged-out mother behind in a house fire: ”I wanted her to die.” She does it without an ounce of remorse or self-pity, and that restraint makes this scene way more chilling than any breakdown would. Bless her heart, this sweet little blonde thing is cold. —Melissa Maerz

By the end of Asylum‘s 13 episodes, Paulson’s Lana Winters — the survivor of both Briarcliff Manor and a serial killer named Bloody Face — had emerged as the soul of the series. The actress delivered a tour de force performance, playing the cunning reporter at various stages of her life, including a ripe (yet still feisty) 75 years old. —Tim Stack

In a show that involves far-flung lands, multiple invented languages, and dragons, it can be hard for a mere mortal to stand out. As the slyly manipulative Margaery Tyrell, Dormer has always been entertaining, but now that she’s made the move to King’s Landing she has a far more elevated stage on which to charm and seduce. With a twitch of her nose and a few scraps of fabric, she’s made one of the most interesting dynamics on the show — that of cruel Queen Regent Cersei (Lena Headey) and her sociopath of a son King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) — even more compelling. As the scene where Margaery takes Joffrey’s crossbow out for a spin proves, the girl’s got game. —Meeta Agrawal

Potter doesn’t deserve an Emmy because her character Kristina Braverman has cancer. She deserves an Emmy because she takes a wordless scene — shaving her head of hair that is rapidly falling out on its own, thank you very little, chemo — and turns it into a display of bravery, sadness, inspiration, destruction, resignation, and defiance. The camera lingers on her face as she confronts each different emotion because it can. She’s that good. Even with the worst prosthetic bald head since Coneheads. —Jessica Shaw

When you first see Spencer’s Amantha Holden, she’s such a chain-smoking nervous wreck, you’d think she was the one on death row. But all that frenetic energy is just her way of being excited, terrified, and overjoyed that her brother is being released from nearly two decades behind bars. Even in a miniseries about death, Spencer steals every scene as a riveting force of life. —Jessica Shaw

In Jane Campion’s tense and stellar detective mystery, Moss is equal parts fierce and wounded. Never more so than during a scene at her hometown bar when she confronts a dirtbag who raped her years ago. First she’s flirtatious, willing the sod to drop his guard, and then she smashes a glass on him, letting loose a guttural howl of rage. It’s a primal, perfectly calibrated performance, and one that proves Moss is so much more than our beloved Peggy on Mad Men. —Karen Valby

Is this woman a genius or a crazy person? You’ll ask yourself that question many times while watching Posey’s can’t-tear-your-eyes-away performance as a freakshow bookstore clerk on a date with the show’s leading man Louie (comedian Louis C.K.). She makes this character so deeply layered that you’ll keep changing your answer, whether she’s declaring with wild-eyed delight, ”You’re fat, and I have no tits — let’s be honest!” (genius!) or forcing Louie to try on a cocktail dress and then laughing maniacally at him for complying (crazy/genius!) or leaning just a little too far over the edge of a rooftop (just crazy!). ”I don’t want to jump?I would never do that,” she insists, as her expression slowly changes from happy to borderline suicidal, then back to normal again. Right up until the credits roll, you’re wondering: Would she? —Melissa Maerz

You know that friend you have who everyone else hates? And you know how sickening it feels every time that friend drops by to strike up a (totally passive-aggressive) conversation, while you sit there and suck it up? Well, imagine that happening when you’re nine months pregnant and just had a seizure and absolutely cannot handle any more stress. As Krista — the former assistant of human powder keg Amy (Laura Dern) — Burns captures that experience in all its cringe-worthy glory. When Amy drops by to visit Krista in the hospital, Burns’ expression slowly transitions from confused, to panicked, to incredulous, to utterly terrified, all without saying much at all. If there was an Emmy for face acting, she would’ve won five by now. —Melissa Maerz

USA’s soapy summer series about a dysfunctional-but-powerful D.C. family may have only had one brief, six-episode run, but Weaver deserves Emmy recognition for her bold, lively turn as matriarch and Secretary of State Elaine Barrish. The actress was touchingly moving and inherently believable as a woman struggling between her job ambitions — which included running for President — and her family’s best interest. —Tim Stack

Jax’s old lady Tara has always been the character to whom viewers relate most: As long as this strong, intelligent woman is willing to stay in this outlaw world, it’s safe for us to play in it, too. In season 5, Siff had to simultaneously steel and unravel Tara to the point that we wanted her to get out — with or without Jax. Even as she lost her chance to flee in the finale, she could only show cracks. ”He’s crying,” she said, struggling to comprehend that Tara couldn’t go comfort her baby because she was being led away in handcuffs. In that moment, we also felt punished. —Mandi Bierly