Emmy 2023 nominations include shows, stars with Oregon connections

Nominations for the 75th annual Emmy Awards were announced Wednesday, and among the multiple 203 Emmy nods for such hits as “Succession,” “The Last Of Us,” “The Bear” and more, were nominations for shows and stars that have an Oregon connection.

Most notable were the four nominations earned by “Jury Duty,” an unconventional comedy that, when it premiered on the Amazon-owned, ad-supported streaming service Freevee, didn’t arouse much initial interest. But the show gained a following among fans who were entertained by its premise, in which an ordinary guy named Ronald Gladden found himself appearing in what he thought was a documentary about the judicial process.

Unbeknownst to Gladden, however, everyone else on the show was an actor, the case was fake, and even the best-known cast member, actor James Marsden, was playing a comically exaggerated version of himself.

Since “Jury Duty” became a sleeper hit, more attention has focused on Gladden, who, as he said in an interview, hails from “a very small mountain town called Wallowa in Oregon.” Gladden, who now lives in San Diego, has said his family was amazed by his overnight celebrity. “Nobody can believe it,” Gladden said in the iHeartRadio interview. It was a complete shock to everybody. Like, I never had aspirations to be on TV.”

While “Jury Duty” has become popular, entertainment sites are calling its Emmy nominations a surprise, with The Hollywood Reporter reflecting widespread opinion in a piece that observes that “Jury Duty” “did much better than many pundits expected.”

The complete list of 2023 Emmy Award nominations

“Jury Duty” was nominated as best comedy series, going up against “Abbott Elementary,” “Barry,” “The Bear.” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Ted Lasso” and “Wednesday.”

Marsden was nominated in the category of supporting actor in a comedy series, with fellow nominees including Anthony Carrigan (”Barry”), Phil Dunster (”Ted Lasso”), Brett Goldstein (”Ted Lasso”), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (”The Bear”), Tyler James Williams (”Abbott Elementary”) and Henry Winkler (”Barry”).

“Jury Duty” was also nominated for its writing, and its casting.

The Hulu series, “Tiny Beautiful Things,” inspired by Portland-based author Cheryl Strayed’s writing, also earned two nominations, in acting categories. Her book, “Tiny Beautiful Things,” was a collection of advice columns and essays that Strayed wrote for years under the pen name, “Dear Sugar.”

In the Hulu series, Kathryn Hahn starred as a character who is a creation that combines fact and fiction. Like Strayed, Hahn’s Clare is a woman who, at a young age, lost her much-loved mother to cancer. Though she ultimately decides to write the “Dear Sugar” column, other aspects of Clare’s life are very different from Strayed’s own.

Hahn is nominated for a 2023 Emmy for her role as Clare, in the category of Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie. Hahn’s fellow nominees are Lizzy Caplan (”Fleishman Is In Trouble”), Jessica Chastain (”George & Tammy”), Dominique Fishback (”Swarm”), Riley Keough (”Daisy Jones & The Six”) and Ali Wong (”Beef”).

Also nominated for “Tiny Beautiful Things” is Merritt Wever, for playing a role inspired by Strayed’s late mother. In the movie version of “Wild,” Strayed’s memoir about her life and transformative experiences hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, Laura Dern played the character based on Strayed’s mother.

Wever’s fellow nominees in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie are Annaleigh Ashford (”Welcome to Chippendales”), Maria Bello (”Beef”), Claire Danes (”Fleishman Is In Trouble”), Juliette Lewis (”Daisy Jones & The Six”), Camila Morrone (”Daisy Jones & The Six”) and Niecy Nash-Betts (”Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”).

In another example of an Oregon connection, “The 1619 Project,” Hulu’s documentary series based on former Oregonian reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones’ influential New York Times project, received three nominations, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. Other nominees in the category are “Dear Mama,” “100 Foot Wave,” “Secrets of the Elephants,” and “The U.S. and the Holocaust.”

(You can stream “Jury Duty” on Amazon Prime Video; stream “Tiny Beautiful Things” on Hulu; and stream “The 1619 Project” on Hulu.)

More of our coverage:

Cheryl Strayed on Hulu’s ‘Tiny Beautiful Things,’ and ‘embracing that messiness’

Nikole Hannah-Jones’ ‘The 1619 Project’ gets a powerful Hulu documentary adaptation

— Kristi Turnquist

503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist

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