According to Gold Derby’s current predictions, Beef is expected to win Emmys for Best Limited Series, Best Movie/Limited Actress for Carey Mulligan, and Best Movie/Limited Actor for Oscar Isaac. If all goes according to plan, it would mark the sixth time within the last 27 years that the Best Limited Series winner also swept the lead acting categories.
The second season of Netflix’s anthology serie stars Oscar Isaac as Joshua Martín, the general manager of a country club in California. Carey Mulligan plays his wife, Lindsay Crane-Martín, who works as an interior designer. The two of them are blackmailed by a younger couple (Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny) with footage of a heated argument that would threaten their image.
In 2023, Beef‘s first season became the fifth Best Limited Series winner of the 21st century to also take home prizes in both lead acting categories for Ali Wong and Steven Yeun. Prior to that, the following limited series winners managed to pull off that feat:
- Angels in America (2004), Al Pacino, and Meryl Streep
- John Adams (2008), Paul Giamatti, and Laura Linney
- Olive Kitteridge (2015), Frances McDormand, and Richard Jenkins
- The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016), Sarah Paulson, and Courtney B. Vance
Beef Season 2 is the front-runner to win Best Limited Series with 62%. Trailing behind are DTF St. Louis in second place, All Her Fault in third, The Beast in Me in fourth, and Love Story in fifth. If the second season proves to be as strong as expected, voters may likely view Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan as a packaged deal. How could they award one without the other?
Isaac was previously nominated in 2022 for Scenes from a Marriage, but came up short to Michael Keaton in Dopesick. Mulligan scored her first Emmy nomination after having previously earned three Oscar bids for An Education (2009), Promising Young Woman (2020), and Maestro (2023), in addition to a Tony nod for Skylight in 2015.
Critics agree that both performances are worthy of Emmy wins. The Hollywood Reporter‘s Daniel Fienberg (Hollywood Reporter) says: “Mulligan delivers lacerating fragility, while Isaac turns Josh’s accommodating nature into a pathology.” IndieWire‘s Ben Travers notes: “Isaac’s taut encapsulation of misery complements a series that feeds on tension” while “Mulligan wields her words with immaculate precision.” And USA Today‘s Kelly Lawler writes: “Isaac, easily one of the most magnetic actors of his generation,… can play revolting just as easily as heroic” while “Mulligan, who similarly usually gives off a warm presence on screen, is icy and sharp here.”
Movie/Limited Actress
1.
2.
Sarah Snook
All Her Fault
3.
4.
Sally Field
Remarkably Bright Creatures
5.
Claire Danes
The Beast in Me
Mulligan is being predicted to win Best Movie/Limited Actress with 59%. Behind her are Sarah Snook (All Her Fault) in second place, Sarah Pidgeon (Love Story) in third, Sally Field (Remarkably Bright Creatures) in fourth, and Claire Danes (The Beast in Me) in fifth.
Movie/Limited Actor
1.
2.
Matthew Rhys
The Beast in Me
3.
4.
Charlie Hunnam
Monster: The Ed Gein Story
5.
Jason Bateman
Black Rabbit
Meanwhile, Isaac is currently out front with a 74% chance of winning Best Movie/Limited Actor. Behind him are Matthew Rhys (The Beast in Me) in second place, Riz Ahmed (Bait) in third, Charlie Hunnam (Monster: The Ed Gein Story) in fourth, and Jason Bateman (Black Rabbit) in fifth.
