Once upon an Emmys, that seasoned veteran on a victory lap was new to the party.
No matter how many times an actor gets nominated by the Television Academy for small-screen excellence, they’ll never forget their first nod. Neither should today’s up-and-comers. Before the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards air on Sept. 14, let’s look back at the debut nominations for six major contenders. Everyone started somewhere.
Noah Wyle’s baby doctor
Emmys track record: 10 nominations, two wins
First nomination: 1995, outstanding supporting actor in a drama series, “ER”
Latest nomination: 2026, outstanding lead actor in a drama series, “The Pitt”
A 24-year-old Wyle notched his first nomination for playing medical student John Carter on the first season of “ER,” Michael Crichton’s long-running drama. He’d go on to tally four more in the role—none resulting in hardware, though the early accolades catalyzed a lasting career in front of and behind the camera.
Thirty years later, Wyle finally won his first Emmy for a similar role: Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch on “The Pitt,” R. Scott Gemmill’s HBO Max smash. If you watch first-season episodes of both shows in one sitting, Wyle’s evolution is immediately apparent. On “ER,” Wyle brought wide-eyed altruism to John. It’s like watching “Bambi,” if deer studied medicine. Flash-forward to “The Pitt.” Wyle plays Robby with the same sense of duty to patients—but now heavily tinted by the weary cynicism befitting a lifer.
Wyle shows how to think of an acting career as a conversation. Each role informs the next.
Jean Smart’s sitcom siren
Emmys track record: 15 nominations, seven wins
First nomination: 2000, outstanding guest actress in a comedy series, “Frasier”
Latest nomination: 2026, outstanding lead actress in a comedy series, “Hacks”
By the time the Emmys showed Smart some love, audiences knew her as an old pal, notably from the ’80s sitcom “Designing Women.” It’s easy to see why her unforgettable guest role as Lana Gardner on “Frasier” changed her award fortunes.
On the seventh season of the comedy, created by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee, Smart oozes easy sex appeal as the love interest of Kelsey Grammer's title character. Her first time was the charm at the Emmys; she took home a second trophy for the role in 2001.
As a TV queen, Smart enjoys a small circle of peers, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Edie Falco among them. Her Emmy portfolio added a 2008 supporting actress win for “Samantha Who?” and nods in subsequent years for “Watchmen,” “Fargo,” and more.
Then “Hacks” gave Smart her golden ticket: acid-tongued comedy legend Deborah Vance. The HBO comedy from Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky has delivered lead actress wins for Smart every season since its 2021 start.
Try to guess which Smart character says this: “I'll tell you what we are going to do: You’re going to take my arm, you’re going to escort me in that room, we’re going to dance, make out like freshmen, and leave with your hand on my ass, you got it?”
OK, it was Lana. But you can also hear it in Deborah’s voice, right?
Observers can draw a straight line from Lana’s hilariously abrasive outbursts to Deborah’s fabulous putdowns. Both hinge on flawless timing and fearless bravado.
Sally Field’s girl in trouble
Emmys track record: 10 nominations, three Emmys
First nomination: 1977, outstanding lead actress in a limited series, “Sybil”
Latest nomination: 2026, outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie, “Remarkably Bright Creatures”
Field conquered ’60s airwaves on frothy comedies “Gidget” and “The Flying Nun.” Then she shattered the limits of her teen-idol image with a disturbing turn in Daniel Petrie’s “Sybil.”
Playing Sybil Dorsett, a young woman suffering from dissociative identity disorder, Field inhabits several personas in a single harrowing performance. That go-for-broke work won her a first Emmy.
Field has built a formidable résumé playing countless women with their hearts on their sleeves. This year she once again balances strength and fragility as Tova Sullivan, a stubborn widow with an octopus fixation in Olivia Newman’s Netflix drama “Remarkably Bright Creatures.”
The journey from Gidget to Sybil to Tova teaches this: Great risks can lead to great rewards.
Sterling K. Brown’s courtroom firebrand
Emmys track record: 14 nominations, three wins
First nomination: 2016, outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie, “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story”
Latest nomination: 2026, outstanding lead actor in a drama series, “Paradise”
Brown was grinding away for years before the Television Academy got on board. He racked up credits on everything from “NYPD Blue” to “Supernatural” to “Army Wives.”
In 2016, one role woke the academy up: prosecutor Christopher Darden on the FX anthology series “American Crime Story.” That sealed Brown’s debut Emmy nod and win. He adeptly humanized Darden, a real-life figure who became controversial for his tactics in prosecuting O.J. Simpson.
The actor has continued to inhabit difficult characters with gravitational pull. As embattled Secret Service agent Xavier Collins on “Paradise,” Dan Fogelman’s Hulu thriller, he again grapples with moral ambiguity and strained loyalty—while kicking ass in a post-doomsday America.
Take notes on Brown’s path of consistency and confident craft—and how he’s unlocked truth across genres and mediums.
Julie Andrews’ slippered songbird
Emmys track record: 13 nominations, three wins
First nomination: 1958, best single performance by a lead or supporting actress, “Cinderella”
Latest nomination: 2026, outstanding character voiceover performance, “Bridgerton”
Of course Dame Julie claimed her first nomination with fairy tale magic. No recording of CBS’ live color broadcast of the “Cinderella” musical exists, though a black-and-white kinescope version survives. Even through that grainy blur, Andrews floats on air as the princess, singing Rodgers and Hammerstein songs with sparkling clarity and effortless grace.
She didn’t win for “Cinderella,” but the performance remains early proof of the otherworldly talent later immortalized in “Mary Poppins” and “The Sound of Music.”
Simply put: For a certain style of elegantly whimsical acting, Andrews is the royal blueprint. That’s why her genteel delivery sounds so perfect narrating the sweeping Regency romance of Chris Van Dusen’s “Bridgerton.” Last year, her fourth voiceover nomination as Netflix’s Lady Whistledown notched a win.
Claire Danes’ Gen X icon
Emmys track record: 12 nominations, three wins
First nomination: 1995, outstanding lead actress in a drama series, “My So-Called Life”
Latest nomination: 2026, outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie, “The Beast in Me”
At 16, Danes scored her first nod by giving voice to a generation’s angst on Winnie Holzman’s teen drama “My So-Called Life.” Her performance as high schooler Angela Chase resonated with viewers for its relatability. She played crushes, friend breakups, and other rites of passage with an emotional intensity that broke through the screen.
Danes harnessed that raw, expressive energy—now her calling card—for “The Beast in Me.” Playing Aggie Wiggs on Gabe Rotter’s Netflix thriller, she wears grief, tenacity, and fear on her face, sometimes all at once. Few actors better demonstrate how to hone your instincts over decades.
