Martin Short attends the 8th annual Love Rocks NYC concert benefiting God's Love We Deliver at the Beacon Theatre on Thursday, March 7, 2024, in New York. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP
Ryan Gosling, Sandra Oh and Lorne Michaels are among the Canadians up for Emmy Awards this year, with veteran star Martin Short and relative newcomer D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai set to face off in the race for best lead actor in a comedy.
Short was nominated Wednesday for his turn as grandiose theatre director Oliver Putnam in “Only Murders in The Building,” available in Canada on Disney Plus and CTV, while Woon-A-Tai earned his first Emmy nomination for portraying Bear Smallhill on FX’s “Reservation Dogs,” about a group of Indigenous teenagers in rural Oklahoma.
It’s the biggest TV role to date for the 22-year-old, who grew up in Toronto and is of Oji-Cree, Anishinaabe and Guyanese descent. He previously played smaller parts on series including CBC’s “Murdoch Mysteries” and APTN’s “Tribal.”
Woon-A-Tai and Short are up against Matt Berry from FX’s “What We Do In The Shadows,” Larry David from HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” Jeremy Allen White for “The Bear” and Short’s “Only Murders” co-star Steve Martin.
Disney Plus’ historical saga “ShÅgun” leads the drama category with 25 nominations while Disney Plus’ culinary dramedy “The Bear” scored a record 23 nods among the comedies, including for best comedy series. “The Bear” notably claimed that trophy at the most recent ceremony in January when Canadian celebrity chef-turned-actor and executive producer Matty Matheson stole the show with an onstage kiss with co-star Ebon Moss-Bachrach.
Meanwhile, Gosling of London, Ont. is up for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series for his April stint hosting NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” in which he and Mikey Day dressed as the iconic characters from “Beavis and Butt-Head.”
Ottawa’s Oh scored her nom as a producer and star of “Quiz Lady,” which is up for best TV movie. The comedy, which also stars Awkwafina and Jason Schwartzman, is about a game show-obsessed woman and her estranged sister who work together to help cover their mother’s gambling debt.
Canadians among those nominated for best talk series include Toronto’s Lorne Michaels, executive producer of NBC’s “Late Night With Seth Meyers,” and Montreal’s Barry Julien, co-executive producer of CBS’ “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.” Michaels is also up for best scripted variety series as executive producer of “Saturday Night Live,” best writer for a variety series and best short form non-fiction or reality series for “Saturday Night Live Presents: Behind The Sketch.”
Montreal’s Kevin O’Leary and Toronto’s Robert Herjavec are nominated for best reality show host for their roles on ABC’s “Shark Tank,” along with fellow sharks Daymond John, Barbara Corcoran, Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner.
Canadian composer Jeff Toyne is up for two awards for his work on Apple TV Plus’s “Palm Royale” – best music composition for a series and best original main title theme music.
Meanwhile, a viral commercial starring Brampton, Ont.’s own Michael Cera was nominated for outstanding commercial. The campaign, “Michael CeraVe,” saw the film and TV star try to take credit for developing skincare brand CeraVe.
The 76th Emmy Awards are set for Sept. 15.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2024.
