Every pop culture fan is bothered by at least one Emmy decision.
For some, one annoyance is the fact that Steve Carell never won an Emmy for playing Michael Scott on “The Office.” For others, it’s that “The Wire” never won any Emmys.
But the most recent Emmy decision that annoys me is that Eva Green will never be nominated for an Emmy for her performance on “Penny Dreadful.”
“Penny Dreadful” was a gothic horror show on Showtime that aired for three seasons. It was like “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” but with more complex female characters and infuriating plot decisions. The quality of the show would oscillate, but the one infallible element was Green’s performance as the protagonist, Vanessa Ives.
Ives was a woman with special abilities, and a different type of sinister, supernatural force hunted her each season. Portraying her, Green effortlessly cycled through a wide range of emotions in every episode and sometimes in a single scene. Ives was the type of ideally complex character that you would build a show around.
Green and Ives were a perfect match of actor and material.
Green has a knack for playing complex characters, which she proved to a wide audience when she played Vesper Lynd in “Casino Royale.” She can also bring out the vulnerability of someone pretending to be courageous, as she did in the underrated “Cracks.”
Green’s acting was as good in the final season season of “Penny Dreadful” as it had ever been. She delivered an excellent performance in “A Blade of Grass,” an episode where she acted with just two other people. Even when Ives made decisions that felt rushed or out of character, Green somehow made them feel organic.
The Emmys have never been great at honoring fantasy or science-fiction series. The so-called genre slot in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category has belonged to Tatiana Maslany for the last two years.
I have heard that her performances as clones on “Orphan Black” are excellent. But “Orphan Black” is going to have another season, while “Penny Dreadful” is not.
With the show ending after its third season, I had especially hoped Green would be nominated this year. I wanted her to win an Emmy that would recognize both her performance this season and those that came before it. It would have been similar to the way Jon Hamm won an Emmy for “Mad Men” in his last eligible year.
I’m looking forward to the Emmys, despite the fact that this snub bothers me.
Nominating Green would have shown the Emmys are willing to recognize excellent work in television no matter the genre. At least those who watch “Penny Dreadful” will know that Ives is one of the most interesting protagonists in recent years.
Jesse Pasternack
jpastern@indiana.edu
@jessepasternack
