On Monday (for whatever reason Monday), the Primetime Emmys will be handed out in Los Angeles – and Toni Collette is among the nominees this year as Outstanding Lead Actress for “The Staircase”. Since this marks Toni’s fifth Emmy nomination, it’s about time to revisit her previous roles that got her on the ballots. Getting recognition for your work is wonderful – and with the abundance of great tv series being nominated is great – but winning is about keeping your narrative, and since Toni doesn’t exist in the public eye, except when she’s promoting her work (which has become quite rare), I don’t think that a) her performance in “The Staircase” will be named a winner and b) she will be attending the ceremony, since she has only attended two times out of her five nominations. I stand corrected if she does.

Tsunami: The Aftermath (2006)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie

Toni received her first Emmy nomination in 2007 as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for the miniseries “Tsunami: The Aftermath”, a fictional drama intertwining a dozen characters affected by the devastating tidal wave that laid waste to great swathes of the Asian coast on Boxing Day 2004. HBO received quite some criticism back then, as they started production in Thailand only a year after the tsunami, when most of the residents were still dealing with personal loss and homelessness. The two-part series, co-produced by BBC Two features Toni as an aid worker who pushes an initially reluctant British official, played by Hugh Bonneville, to greater heights of commitment. “Tsunami: The Aftermath” received three Emmy nominations for Outstanding Directing, Sound Editing and Supporting Actress – the sole acting nominee of a great ensemble cast. Toni shared the acting category with Anna Paquin (Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee), Greta Scacchi (Broken Trail), Samantha Morton (Longford) and Judy Davis (The Starter Wife), who eventually won the category. It has been quite some time since I last watched “Tsunami”, but I do remember that Toni wasn’t given the meatiest role out of the ensemble. Of the nominees, I still remember Samantha Morton giving a chilling turn in “Longford”.

United States of Tara, Season 1 (2009)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Still ranking high among Collette’s career highlights, “United States of Tara” saw her playing a suburban woman with four alternate personalities due to a Dissociative Identity Disorder rooted in adolescent trauma. The Showtime series ran for three seasons and featured a wonderful ensemble cast that included future Oscar winner Brie Larson and Rosemary DeWitt, who’s been a frequent co-star again thanks to performances in “The Staircase” and the upcoming “The Estate”. While the series wasn’t a univseral frontrunner on any awards season, Toni’s lead characters were a look for the first season and took home the Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2009. The other nominees were Christina Applegate (Samantha Who?), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (The New Adventures of Old Christine), Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Sarah Silverman (The Sarah Silverman Program) and Tina Fey (30 Rock). A great company and a much deserved win.

United States of Tara, Season 2 (2010)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

The second season of “United States of Tara” upped its original premise with more drama, more alters – and the genius move of having them interact with each other. It also featured Viola Davis in a story arch – right after her film breakout with “Doubt” and just before her well-deserved super stardom. Many admirers of the series, including Toni, had wished for it to go on. Personally, by the third season I was crossing my fingers for Tara to finally get help and get rid of the alters who, by then, had started to literally kill each other. The front runner spot for 2010 was easily taken by Edie Falco, who would rack up six consecutive nominations for seven seasons of “Nurse Jackie” – a show that also brought Emmy gold for Toni’s co-star of her next nominated series, Merritt Wever.

Unbelievable (2020)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Toni has been a steady presence on tv screens throughout the 2010s – from a botched CBS attempt (Hostages) over celebrated Australian miniseries that weren’t shown outside the country (Devil’s Playground, Blue Murder: Killer Cop) to a laid back grown-up dramedy for Netflix and BBC2, which suffered from horrible promotion (Wanderlust). It took 10 years after Toni was on the Emmy ballot again – for 2020’s “Unbelievalbe”. The story of a young woman’s rape, her environment’s disbelief and two very different detectives connecting the dots – a no-nonsense thinker (Collette) and a faithful empathist (Merritt Wever). “Unbelievable” received four nominations for Outstanding Limited Series, Writing, Casting and another Support nomination for Collette. Surprisingly, or better said, unbelievably, her co-stars were omitted nominations. Both Dever and Wever would have been deserving winners in the lead or supporting acting fields. The Emmy went to Uzo Aduba for “Mrs. America”

The Staircase (2022)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie

A limited series based on a documentary based on a true crime that may be never solved. Many wondered what the HBO Max series could add to the Peterson saga. For Collette, playing the woman everyone’s talking about – the “dead wife” – it was an opportunity to give her voice to the voiceless – a woman at the center of a crime who couldn’t speak for herself. While well researched and featuring a top-notch cast, Antonio Campos adds only a fictional dose of family drama to a case still too odd to be true. Upon its premiere in May, “The Staircase” had all the buzz on its side… but it didn’t last long. Come Emmy time, the series received nominations for Firth and Collette, but was left out in all other categories. Neither is treated a frontrunner in their respective categories, yet it’s a well deserved recognition for headlining such a subject heavy series.

May 20th, 2022

“The Staircase” screencaptures episode 1: 911

March 24th, 2022

“The Staircase” starring Colin Firth and Toni Collette comes to Sky and NOW this Spring

September 8th, 2016

First look: Toni Collette invites you to Fun Mom Dinner