An Emmy favorite has made a category decision that could have a huge impact on this year’s awards. Gold Derby has exclusively learned that Allison Janney will submit as Best Drama Supporting Actress for the second season of The Diplomat. She is already a seven-time winner in acting categories at the Primetime Emmys, so an eighth win would tie her for the record with TV Hall of Fame inductees Cloris Leachman and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
Janney joined the Netflix series for its second season, which began streaming on Oct. 31. She only appeared in two episodes as U.S. Vice President Grace Penn, giving her the option to submit either as a guest actress or supporting actress.
Her role in The Diplomat previously earned nominations for supporting actress at the 2025 Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. She was also nominated at the SAG Awards against costar Keri Russell despite the Screen Actors Guild only offering one category which combines lead and supporting.
The Best Drama Supporting Actress field is expected to be extremely competitive when nominees are announced in July. Gold Derby odds currently have Janney in third place behind The White Lotus costars Carrie Coon and Parker Posey. Others in the top 10 include Kaitlyn Dever and Isabela Merced (The Last of Us), Aimee Lou Wood and Natasha Rothwell (The White Lotus), Patricia Arquette (Severance), Taylor Dearden (The Pitt), and Kristin Scott Thomas (Slow Horses).
