‘SNL’ hosts Rudolph, Chappelle win guest actor Emmy honors
LOS ANGELES – Claire Foy, Courtney B. Vance, Maya Rudolph and Dave Chappelle won guest actor Emmys at Sunday’s creative arts awards ceremony.
On the drama series side, Foy was honored for “The Crown” and her reprisal of Queen Elizabeth II, the role that won her a lead actress Emmy in 2018. Vance won for his part in “Lovecraft Country,” which was canceled after one season.
Rudolph and Chappelle earned comedy series guest acting trophies as hosts of “Saturday Night Live.” For Rudolph, it was a repeat of her victory in the category last year, also for “SNL.”
In the short-form comedy or drama series, the winners were J.B. Smoove for “Mapleworth Murders” and Keke Palmer for “Keke Palmer’s Turnt Up with the Taylors.”
All the awards, except for that earned by Foy, went to Black actors. While that appeared to signal a trend toward diversity for this year’s Emmys, the guest actor awards have proved more inclusive than the top acting honors in recent years.
The creative arts awards were presented in non-televised weekend ceremonies that will be part of a special Saturday on FXX. The awards are precursors to the main Emmy ceremony airing Sunday, Sept. 19, on CBS, with Cedric the Entertainer as host.
Emmanuel Acho, executive producer of “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man,” which won for short form nonfiction or reality series, wore a suit that bore that names of Black men and women killed at the hands of police.
“The Queen’s Gambit,” a coming-ofage tale set in the world of championship chess, emerged with a leading nine creative arts awards, including for best casting, cinematography and music composition for a limited or anthology series.
“The Mandalorian,” a live-action series set in the “Star Wars” universe, was in second place (tied with “Saturday Night Live”) with seven awards. It’s vying for best drama series honors next weekend, while “The Queen’s Gambit” is a best limited series contender.
Streaming services dominated the awards tallies so far, with Netflix on top with 34 honors, followed by Disney+ with 13 and HBO Max combined with cable channel HBO at 10.
Other weekend winners included “Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square” as best TV movie; Lateef Crowder for best stunt performance and Ryan Watson, stunt coordinator, both for “The Mandalorian”; the James Corden-produced “Carpool Karaoke: The Series,” for best short form comedy, drama or variety series.