Noah Wyle, Lisa Kudrow, Jamie Lee Curtis and More: Variety’s ‘Actors on Actors,’ Cover Stars and Podcast Guests Score Emmy Nominations

Variety is celebrating the 2026 Emmy nominees who have appeared on the magazine’s covers, participated in Actors on Actors and the Awards Circuit Podcast.

The nominations for the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards were announced Wednesday morning, with “The Pitt” leading the pack with 25 nominations, followed by “Hacks” with 24.

The 2026 Primetime Emmy Awards will be hosted by Mariska Hargitay and will air Sept. 14 on NBC.

Revisit Variety’s coverage and interviews with the nominees below.

Actors on Actors

Patrick Ball (“The Pitt”) – supporting drama actor; (Paul Anthony Kelly and Patrick Ball on Surviving ‘The Pitt’ Panic Attacks, Going Left-Handed to Become JFK Jr. and Playing Emotional TV Heartthrobs)

Jamie Lee Curtis (“The Bear,” “Scarpetta”) – guest comedy actress (‘We’re Sisters From Another Mother’: Jamie Lee Curtis and Mariska Hargitay on Their Deep Hollywood Bond and ‘Law & Order: SVU’ Finally Being Run by a Woman After 26 Years)

Claire Danes (“The Beast in Me”) – lead actress (limited); (‘You Mastered the Guttural Sob’: Claire Danes and Richard Gadd on Body Transformations, Acting Nerves and Moving Past ‘Baby Reindeer’)

Colman Domingo (“Euphoria,” “The Four Seasons”) – guest drama actor; supporting comedy actor; (Colman Domingo Tells Sarah Pidgeon He Wishes ‘Euphoria’ Season 3 ‘All Came Out at Once’ as They Unpack Ali and Rue, ‘Love Story’ Fashion and More)

Sally Field (“Remarkably Bright Creatures”) – lead actress (limited); (Noah Wyle and Sally Field on ‘The Pitt’ Exhaustion, CGI Co-Stars and Their ‘ER’ History: It Was a ‘Big Gamble’ Once for an Oscar Winner to Do TV)

Richard Gadd (“Half Man”) – supporting actor (limited), writing (limited), outstanding limited or anthology series; (‘You Mastered the Guttural Sob’: Claire Danes and Richard Gadd on Body Transformations, Acting Nerves and Moving Past ‘Baby Reindeer’)

Lisa Kudrow (“The Comeback”) – lead comedy actress, writing (comedy);  (Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow’s ‘Friends’ Reunion: The Emmy Winners on Funniest Moments, Learning About AI and Making Another Sitcom With Courteney Cox)

Sarah Pidgeon (“Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette”) – lead actress (limited); (Colman Domingo Tells Sarah Pidgeon He Wishes ‘Euphoria’ Season 3 ‘All Came Out at Once’ as They Unpack Ali and Rue, ‘Love Story’ Fashion and More)

Rhea Seehorn (“Pluribus”) – lead drama actress; (Bryan Cranston and Rhea Seehorn on ‘Pluribus’ Twists, Landing ‘Breaking Bad’ Right After ‘Malcom in the Middle’ and Playing Catherine O’Hara’s Husband Three Times)

Noah Wyle (“The Pitt”) – lead drama actor, outstanding drama series, directing (drama), writing (drama); (Noah Wyle and Sally Field on ‘The Pitt’ Exhaustion, CGI Co-Stars and Their ‘ER’ History: It Was a ‘Big Gamble’ Once for an Oscar Winner to Do TV)

Bowen Yang (“Saturday Night Live”) – supporting comedy actor; (Bowen Yang Tells Rachel Sennott About Delaying ‘SNL’ Exit After a Surprise Lorne Michaels Phone Call as the Duo Discuss Their Comedy Starts, ‘I Love L.A.’ and More)

Awards Circuit Podcast

Cynthia Erivo (“78th Annual Tony Awards”) — outstanding variety special (live); (Cynthia Erivo on Hanging Up the ‘Wicked’ Broomstick, Whether Glinda Knows Elphaba Is Alive and What Ariana Grande Whispers in the Final Picnic Scene)

Elle Fanning (“Margo’s Got Money Troubles”) — lead comedy actress; (Elle Fanning on ‘Sentimental Value,’ Learning to Say No and Finally Making ‘The Nightingale’ With Dakota)

Richard Gadd (“Half Man”) – supporting actor (limited), writing (limited), outstanding limited or anthology series; (‘Half Man’ Creator/Star Richard Gadd on His Physical Transformation, Taking a Beat After His Back-to-Back Series and His Hot Take on Tuna and Peanut Butter)

Colin Hanks (“John Candy: I Like Me”) – documentary or nonfiction special, (Colin Hanks and Ryan Reynolds on the Struggle to Find Dan Aykroyd for Their ‘John Candy: I Like Me’ Doc)

Gerran Howell (“The Pitt”) – supporting drama actor; (‘The Pitt’ Stars Isa Briones and Gerran Howell on Who Gets Squeamish on Set, Season 3 Expectations and the Unlikely Santos/Whitaker Friendship)

Chase Infiniti (“The Testaments”) — lead drama actress; (Chase Infiniti Says Regina Hall Is the ‘Central Force’ of ‘One Battle After Another’ and Teyana Taylor Made Perfidia ‘Even More Colorful’)

Oscar Isaac (“Beef”) — lead actor (limited); (Oscar Isaac on Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Latin American Telling’ of ‘Frankenstein,’ Channeling Prince and Jimi Hendrix, and Why He Now Chooses Projects for the People, Not the Script)

Michael Patrick King (“The Comeback”) – writing (comedy); (‘The Comeback’ Creators Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King on Ending the Series, the AI Threat, Valerie Cherish’s Evolution and Why Ice Cream as a Dessert ‘Is B.S.’)

Lisa Kudrow (“The Comeback”) – lead comedy actress, writing (comedy); (‘The Comeback’ Creators Lisa Kudrow and Michael Patrick King on Ending the Series, the AI Threat, Valerie Cherish’s Evolution and Why Ice Cream as a Dessert ‘Is B.S.’)

Marc Maron (“Panicked”) – variety special (pre-recorded); (Marc Maron on the Last-Minute Joke That Elevated His Latest HBO Special, Why He Doesn’t Miss His Podcast and How His Cats Are Doing)

Ashley Padilla (“Saturday Night Live”) – supporting comedy actress; (Ashley Padilla on Writing a Book With Diane Keaton, Staying Off Social Media and Becoming an ‘SNL’ Breakout Star: ‘I Assumed People Would Go, We Hate Her!’)

Michelle Pfeiffer (“Margo’s Got Money Troubles”) – supporting comedy actress; (Michelle Pfeiffer on Taking TV by Storm, Working With Husband David E. Kelley, Roughing It for ‘The Madison’ and Appreciating ‘Grease 2’)

Ryan Reynolds (“John Candy: I Like Me,” “Welcome to Wrexham”) – documentary series, outstanding unstructured program; (Colin Hanks and Ryan Reynolds on the Struggle to Find Dan Aykroyd for Their ‘John Candy: I Like Me’ Doc)

Rhea Seehorn (“Pluribus”) – lead drama actress; (‘Pluribus’ Star Rhea Seehorn on Why She Hasn’t Grilled Vince Gilligan and the Writers About Season 2 Just Yet)

Variety Cover Stars

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“Wonder Man”) – lead comedy actor; (‘Get Kevin Feige on the Phone’: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II on Taking Control of His Marvel Offer and What’s Next for ‘Wonder Man’)

Linda Cardellini (“DTF St. Louis”) – supporting actress (limited); (Linda Cardellini on Pulling Off Her ‘Impossible’ Role in ‘DTF St. Louis’: ‘Everybody Longs for Some Kind of Intimacy’)

Jamie Lee Curtis (“The Bear”) – Power of Women LA – guest comedy actress; (‘I Can’t Not Be Who I Am’: Jamie Lee Curtis on Her 47-Year Career, Falling in Love With Christopher Guest and Why She Hopes Charlie Kirk Found God)

David Harbour (“DTF: St. Louis,” “Stranger Things”) – outstanding limited or anthology series, supporting actor (limited); (David Harbour Is Ready to Talk About His Mental Health, Lily Allen’s ‘West End Girl’ and the End of ‘Stranger Things’)

Shawn Hatosy (“The Pitt”) – supporting drama actor; (Shawn Hatosy on Playing a Flirt on ‘The Pitt,’ Taking a Social Media Break and Embracing His Sex Symbol Status: ‘I Don’t Know How This Happened’)

Charlie Hunnam (“Monster: The Ed Gein Story”) – lead actor (limited); (How Charlie Hunnam Became the Serial Killer From Hell: Inside the Voice Recordings, Psychotic Breakdowns and Terrifying Murders in Ryan Murphy’s New ‘Monster’)

Chase Infiniti (“The Testaments”) – lead drama actress; (Chase Infiniti on Hiding ‘One Battle After Another’ Role From ‘The Testaments’ Co-Stars and Becoming Elisabeth Moss’ Daughter for Gilead’s Teen-Girl Wasteland)

Oscar Isaac (“Beef”) – lead actor (limited); (Jacob Elordi and Oscar Isaac on Netflix’s $120 Million ‘Frankenstein’ Gamble: 10 Hours in Makeup, a Misunderstood Monster and Why It’s Not a Horror Movie)

Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon (“Love Story: John F. Kennedy and Carolyn Bessette”) – lead actor (limited) and lead actress (limited); (Sex, Lies and Politics: How FX’s ‘Love Story’ Brings Back the Doomed Romance of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette)

Nick Offerman (“Death by Lightning,” “Margo’s Got Money Troubles”) – supporting actor (limited); supporting comedy actor; (‘I Negotiate With Hugging’: Nick Offerman Sounds Off on Toxic Masculinity, Turning Down Ron Swanson Roles and ‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’)

Jean Smart and Hannah Einbinder (“Hacks”) – lead comedy actress and supporting comedy actress; (From Jean Smart’s Heart Surgery to a Shocking Lesbian Episode, ‘Hacks’ Ends — and Cements Its Legacy as One of TV’s Best Comedies)

Survivor 50 Illustration (“Survivor”) – outstanding competition program; (Untold Tales of ‘Survivor’: Players and Producers Dish on Season 50, Editing Controversies, Brutal Betrayals and the Real Lion That Could’ve Killed the Show)

Wanda Sykes (“Wanda Sykes: Legacy”) — outstanding writing (variety) (Everybody Loves Wanda Sykes: The Comedy Legend on Ending ‘The Upshaws,’ Why Her Character Is Straight and Why She Won’t Censor Herself in Trump’s America)