The 75th Emmy Awards revealed its nominations on July 12, and a video game adaptation is one of the most nominated shows of the year. HBO’s The Last of Us, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, has 24 total nominations, second only to HBO’s other powerhouse show, Succession, which has 27. The third-most nominated series at the 2023 Emmys is The White Lotus—yet another HBO series. It’s a weird time for HBO Max, the company’s affiliated streaming service, to change its name and marketing materials, but it did, anyway.
According to Variety, Succession’s notable nominations have also made Emmy history, with Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, and Jeremy Strong all earning nods for lead actor in a drama—the most ever for a single series.
But it’s The Last of Us’ noms that many of us will find the most interesting. After all, video game adaptations are rarely successful (save for the more youth-focused ones like The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Sonic), and they are almost never critically acclaimed. The Last of Us, which was written by Naughty Dog’s Neil Druckmann and Chernobyl’s Craig Mazin, is both.
Notably, the episode that broke everyone’s hearts received nominations for the actors who play Bill and Frank, while Henry and Sam, another heartbreaking duo, were honored as well—and Keivonn Montreal Woodard, who plays Sam, is only 10 years old. It’s a little frustrating to see Ramsey, who is non-binary, thrust into the “actress” category, but awards shows are still rather antiquated in that regard.
Here are the series’ 24 nominations:
The Last Of Us Emmy nominations
- Outstanding Drama Series
- Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, Pedro Pascal
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, Bella Ramsey
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, Murray Bartlett
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, Lamar Johnson
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, Nick Offerman
- Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, Keivonn Montreal Woodard
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, Melanie Lynskey
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, Anna Torv
- Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, Storm Reid
- Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program
- Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Contemporary Costumes for a Series
- Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Picture Editing for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling
- Outstanding Main Title Design
- Outstanding Contemporary Makeup (Non-Prosthetic)
- Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup
- Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
- Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score)
- Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series
- Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series
- Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Season or a Movie
What this means for the future of video game adaptations is unclear, but expect the Discourse to get spicy yet again.
Update 07/12/2023 at 2:30 p.m. ET: Updated title to include “live-action.”
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