Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon in Big Little Lies. Photo credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle / HBO.
The 2016-17 television season has been a star-studded affair, so we decided to take a closer look at our favorite TV performances from movie stars this year.
Even for the Peak TV era, the 2016-17 season has been an embarrassment of riches — our Emmys coverage is evidence enough of that. I mean, you know it’s a good year when both Carrie Coon and Ann Dowd are killing it on The Leftovers and somehow find the time to turn in excellent performances on Fargo and The Handmaid’s Tale, respectively. Or when Matthew Rhys takes a break from The Americans in order to creep everyone out on Girls. Or when Insecure manages to provide some razor-sharp social commentary on its show within the show. Obviously, we could go on.
But perhaps the reason this year in TV has felt so revolutionary is because it was as star-studded as the red carpet at the Oscars. From Big Little Lies to Feud to Fargo, big name movie stars have dominated television series lately.
In no particular order, here are 15 of our favorite turns from big stars on the small screen from the past year.
Note: Many of the following performers are Emmy contenders, but nominations weren’t a requirement for this list.