Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie is stacked at the Emmys this year, but Carrie Coon nonetheless stands out for her dynamic work on FX’s Fargo.
Usually, two shows and a movie wouldn’t be enough to label someone one of our best working actors. That such a label doesn’t seem hyperbolic for Carrie Coon is a testament to the excellence of her performances in The Leftovers, Gone Girl, and, most recently, Fargo. Yes, she excelled for years on stage, earning a Tony nomination for playing Honey in a revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? But to those outside theatre circles, she burst onto the scene in 2014 like a storm –surprising, mesmerizing, and ultimately awe-inspiring.
If it were up to me, the Emmys would have nominated Coon for The Leftovers. As Nora Durst, she created the kind of character that actresses dream of, full of complications and nuances and thorns, alternately audacious and sensitive, sympathetic and alienating. She made acting truly look like art, and she did it for three seasons.
Carrie and Fargo
Still, she deserves recognition for Fargo as well. For a while, the role of Gloria Burgle appeared somewhat shallow. She was too similar to Molly and Lou Solverson – yet another noble cop puzzled yet undeterred by humanity’s dark side. I worried that Coon’s talent would go to waste.
However, as the season progressed, it became clear that there was more to the character than met the eye. The task of peeling back Gloria’s layers fell largely to Coon, who accomplished it with self-assurance that Gloria herself would admire. Gone was the percolating fury that defined her performances in The Leftovers and Gone Girl; in its place was sadness. Coon’s genius lies in her ability to distinguish the various strains of sadness: grief from mourning her stepfather; bitterness from watching her professional and personal lives unravel; regret from no longer quite understanding her son; despair from realizing the world isn’t what she thought it was; loneliness from realizing that she doesn’t belong in this world.
Coon’s ability as an actress
Like with Nora, Coon made it impossible to pity Gloria. She instilled the police chief with steely resolve and deadpan humor, at odds with but not out-of-place among the quirkier characters that flitted in and out of her orbit. Look at the interrogation scene in “Aporia”, which she shares with fellow Emmy nominee Ewan McGregor. Or the closing scene of the season finale, which puts her opposite David Thewlis (also nominated for his work here). In both cases, she not only holds her ground against more famous actors but also challenges them. As Vulture’s Jen Chaney said in a 2016 article about Coon, she has a way of bringing out the best in her costars, of taking them to new heights. Probably, they’re as excited to be working with her as we are to be watching her.
To be fair, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie is arguably the strongest of any acting category. Coon’s competition consists of American Crime’s Felicity Huffman, Big Little Lies’ Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon, and Feud’s Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange. As the only nominee who doesn’t also have an Oscar nomination, Coon is at a disadvantage. But she is also the only nominee who gave two award-worthy performances. That counts for something, right?
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The 69th Emmy Awards air Sunday, Sept. 17, at 8 p.m. EST on CBS.