Two of the biggest Emmy category switches this year come in the form of The Pitt‘s Shawn Hatosy (from guest actor to supporting actor) and Elsbeth‘s Carrie Preston (from drama actress to comedy actress). Emmy history reveals that such savvy moves often pay off with nominations — if not wins — suggesting that Television Academy voters are willing to adapt to changing fields.
Hatosy won Best Drama Guest Actor last year for playing Dr. Jack Abbott on the inaugural season of HBO Max’s medical series. Hatosy was eligible as a guest star once again, but he opted to compete in the Best Drama Supporting Actor race instead, which is arguably a more prestigious category. Now, he faces off against The Pitt co-stars Patrick Ball (Dr. Frank Langdon) and Gerran Howell (Dr. Dennis Whitaker).
Emmy Awards Nominations 2026
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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – JULY 25: Jeffrey Dean Morgan poses in the IMDboat Exclusive Portrait Studio at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 at The IMDb Yacht on July 25, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for IMDb)
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SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 27: Jessie T. Usher attends the Los Angeles screening of Paramount’s “Smile” at Aero Theatre on September 27, 2022 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
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William Fichtner
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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – DECEMBER 09: Park Sung-hoon attends the global premiere of “Squid Game Season 2” on December 09, 2024 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
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Anders Holm
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John Cho
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Bertie Carvel
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 09: Finn Bennett attends the Los Angeles premiere of Warner Bros.’ “True Detective: Night Country” at Paramount Theatre on January 09, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images)
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PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 24: Alex Lawther attends the “The French Dispatch” – Paris Gala Screening at Cinema UGC Normandie on October 24, 2021 in Paris, France. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE – APRIL 11: Rob Corddryattends the 2022 CMT Music Awards at Nashville Municipal Auditorium on April 11, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 13: Ashton Kutcher attends the 2025 Disney Upfront at Javits Center on May 13, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
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TORONTO, ONTARIO – SEPTEMBER 08: Jeremy Pope attends the “The Inspection” Premiere during the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival at Royal Alexandra Theatre on September 08, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Leon Bennett/Getty Images)
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Anthony Ramos
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Simon Pegg
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LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 20: David Gyasi attends the Jameson Empire Awards 2016 at The Grosvenor House Hotel on March 20, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 23: Rory Kinnear attends the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on February 23, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 18: Actors Louisa Krause and Aaron Clifton Moten attend The 2013 Steinberg Playwright “Mimi” Awards presented by The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust at Lincoln Center Theater on November 18, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Brian Ach/Getty Images for The Harold And Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust)
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LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 12: James Norton attends Charles Finch x CHANEL – The Night Before BAFTA Dinner at Hertford Street Club on March 12, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
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LONDON, ENGLAND – NOVEMBER 15: Fionn O’Shea arrives at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2023 at The Royal Opera House on November 15, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
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TORONTO, ONTARIO – SEPTEMBER 12: Simon Baker attends the “Limbo” premiere during the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival at Scotiabank Theatre on September 12, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Brian de Rivera Simon/Getty Images)
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PARIS, FRANCE – OCTOBER 02: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau poses backstage prior to the “Le Defile Walk Your Worth” By L’Oreal Paris Womenswear Spring/Summer 2023 show as part of Paris Fashion Week on October 02, 2022 in Paris, France. (Photo by Francois Durand/Getty Images for L’Oréal Paris)
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MONTE-CARLO, MONACO – JUNE 17: Matthew Fox and Taylor Fay attend the opening ceremony during the 61st Monte Carlo TV Festival on June 17, 2022 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
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Gil Birmingham
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LOS ANGELES, CA – JANUARY 06: Actor Sam Anderson (left) arrives to the Season 5 premiere of FX’s “Justified” at DGA Theater on January 6, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
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ATLANTA, GEORGIA – FEBRUARY 29: Michael Imperioli attends SCAD aTVfest 2020 – “Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt For The Bone Collector” Press Junket on February 29, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for SCAD aTVfest 2020)
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WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 08: Ren Watabe attends Apple TV+ New Series “Monarch: Legacy Of Monsters” Photo Call at The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills on December 08, 2023 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
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HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 12: Nestor Carbonell at PaleyFest LA 2024 – “The Morning Show” at Dolby Theatre on April 12, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 14: Boyd Holbrook attends the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny U.S. Premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on June 14, 2023. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)
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Gold Derby’s odds give Hatosy a 65% chance of receiving a nomination, placing him in the Top 7 of the supporting contest. Notably, he is up 16% from a week ago and has been consistently rising ever since the announcement was made that he was shifting categories.
Preston took home a 2013 Emmy for playing quirky crime-solver Elsbeth Tascioni in The Good Wife. She later appeared in spin-off The Good Fight, before headlining her own show on CBS. Preston is out there campaigning to help make voters aware that Season 3 is shifting genres from drama to comedy. She even stopped by Pink’s Hot Dogs in Los Angeles to launch the official Elsbeth dog — yum!
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Currently, Preston has a 2% shot of earning an Emmy nod for Best Comedy Actress. That seems low considering the Elsbeth genre swap has already paid off at the Critics Choice Awards, where Preston and the show both received their first nominations as a comedy.
Two of the most well-known examples of performers changing categories at the Emmys came in 2002.
Allison Janney for The West Wing and Jennifer Aniston for Friends both jumped from supporting to lead that year, and both ended up claiming victory. (All of the Friends cast made the move in a show of solidarity, but only Aniston prevailed.) Janney’s triumph came after two prior supporting wins for the political drama; Aniston had previously earned a pair of supporting noms for the buddy sitcom.
Janney tried the same strategy a decade later for the family sitcom Mom. After two wins as a supporting actress (2014 and ’15), she moved to the leading category where she earned three additional nominations, but no victories.
Preston’s former leading lady on The Good Wife, Julianna Margulies, initially rose to fame on ER, where she won the supporting Emmy on her first career nomination. Two years later in 1997, she received the first of four consecutive leading nominations, but wasn’t able to win a bookend trophy for the hospital drama. Of course, Margulies later won twice as the face of The Good Wife (2011 and ’14).
At the height of Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington decided to exit the supporting contest and declare themselves leads of the fantasy ensemble. It paid off with their first leading nominations in 2019, though they both lost. Prior to that, Clarke and Harington had received three and one supporting bids, respectively.
More recently, Ayo Edebiri won Best Comedy Supporting Actress for the first season of The Bear in 2023. Due to a combination of factors, including in part to help out co-star Liza Colón-Zayas (who went on to win in 2024), Edebiri started campaigning in the Best Comedy Actress race thereafter. Unfortunately, she has lost to Jean Smart (Hacks) each time.
Shameless had no shame in the mid 2010s and made waves with a memorable Emmy switcheroo. After competing as a drama for its first three seasons and only nabbing guest noms for Joan Cusack, the show successfully petitioned to the TV Academy to switch to the comedy genre. That resulted in 13 additional nominations over the next eight seasons, including one win for Cusack (2015) and three for stunt coordination (2016, ’17, and ’20). In addition, William H. Macy was nominated six times as a comedy actor following three snubs in drama.
