The State of the EGOT 2016

This fall, Disney will release its latest animated feature Moana. Featuring the voice talents of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Moana will tell the tale of a young Pacific Islander who sets her sights on finding a fabled island. Johnson plays demi-god Maui, who helps her out. It sounds lovely and Disney is hoping they have another Frozen on their hands. That movie, aside from breaking box-office records and dominating the lives of every parent in America for the past three years, won an Academy Award for songwriter Robert Lopez. And it was that Oscar that got Lopez his EGOT.

The EGOT, for anybody who didn’t watch 30 Rock, stands for the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony, the four pinnacle awards in the entertainment business. Supposedly, Miami Vice star Phillip Michael Thomas coined the acronym as it was a career goal of his. That goal proved elusive. In fact, only 12 people have ever completed the EGOT in competitive (i.e. non-honorary) categories: Richard Rodgers, Helen Hayes, Rita Moreno, John Gielgud, Audrey Hepburn, Marvin Hamlisch, Jonathan Tunick, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Whoopi Goldberg, Scott Rudin, and the aforementioned Bobby Lopez. If you include honorary awards, then Liza Minnelli, Barbra Streisand, James Earl Jones, and Harry Belafonte get roped in. And that’s it. It’s one of the most exclusive clubs in Hollywood.

I mentioned Moana at the start because that film seems very likely to be the vehicle which brings a 13th member to the EGOT table: Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, who’s written songs for Moana, and who by virtue of the year he’s been having seems already posed as the frontrunner in Best Original Song for … well, for whatever song Disney wants to push for awards. Miranda has previously won multiple Tony Awards for Hamilton and In the Heights, a Grammy for the Hamilton cast recording, and an Emmy for writing songs for Neil Patrick Harris-hosted Tony Awards.

But Miranda isn’t the only person who’s just one award away from an EGOT. All told , there are over 40 living actors, composers, writers, and directors who are one trophy short of the milestone. Some are more likely than others.

Most Likely to EGOT

Lily Tomlin
Award Needed: Oscar
Upcoming Projects: An indie called The Road Home that does not sound Oscar-bound.
Why She’s Likely:  Every year that passes sees Tomlin become more and more of a living legend of comedy acting. She’s exactly the kind of performer who could pull off a Christopher Plummer-style supporting win given the right role. Last year’s Grandma had people talking her up as a dark horse Oscar contender.

Kate Winslet
Award Needed: Tony
Upcoming Projects:  No theater projects on the horizon.
Why She’s Likely:  Winslet has said that she’d love to do theater once her children are older and the time commitments for a play wouldn’t be so taxing on her parenting. Once that happens, though, I’d be on the lookout. The Broadway community won’t always roll out the red carpet for movie stars — the likes of Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks have learned that one firsthand — but there’s no doubt that being a big star does help you get those Tony-worthy roles, as big stars Denzel Washington, Scarlett Johansson, and Catherine Zeta-Jones have learned recently.

Helen Mirren
Award Needed: Grammy
Upcoming Projects:  She’s in the next Fast and Furious movie, but unless that one has a soundtrack on which she sings Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car,” it probably won’t be the Grammy bait she needs.
Why She’s Likely:  Helen Mirren works, my friends. Helen Mirren will take that job. Narrate an audiobook? Attempt a torch ballad on your cast album? Freestyle a verse on a Kanye album that won’t win Album of the Year and he’ll rush the stage? Helen will do that job. She’s bound to land on something that works out, Grammy-wise on a long enough timeline.

Jeremy Irons
Award Needed: Grammy
Why He’s Likely:  That voice! Have that voice narrate any spoken-word recording and reap those awards. Also, it’s probably worth mentioning the Grammy rules that kind of screwed Irons here. When the Hamilton cast recording won the Grammy this year, every principal cast member got an award. If the same template had been followed for the Lion King soundtrack when it won its Grammy, Irons would already be sitting pretty with an EGOT.

Julie Andrews
Award Needed: Tony
Why She’s Likely:  She’s Julie Andrews! Beloved icon of musicals! She infamously had her singing voice damaged by throat surgery in the 1980s, and she’s essentially retired BUT if she ever came out of that retirement — and it’s not like she’s in seclusion or anything — you could easily see voters rallying to give her that Tony Award she inexplicably lacks. It should be noted that Andrews declined a Tony nomination in 1996 for Victor/Victoria because the rest of the production wasn’t nominated. How can we give you an EGOT if you won’t let us help you, Julie??

Audra McDonald
Award Needed: Oscar
Upcoming Projects: Beauty and the Beast; Hello Again
She’s won SIX Tony Awards, an Emmy, and a Grammy. She’s certainly talented enough, and obviously awards voters love her. But she’s only been in a handful of movies. Last year’s Ricki and the Flash was a great sign that McDonald’s star power certainly translates to the big screen; when you’re stealing scenes from Meryl Streep you’re doing something right. It’s just a matter of getting the right role. Playing the wardrobe in the live-action Beauty and the Beast is probably not a big enough role. She’s the lead in Hello Again, but that may not be a big enough movie. If she’d played the Witch in the Into the Woods movie …

Alan Menken and Tim Rice
Award Needed: Emmy
Upcoming Projects: They’re both working on new music for the Beauty and the Beast live-action movie, so no television in the pipeline yet.
Why They’re Likely: Menken has the best chance of EGOT-ing of anybody on this list simply because he’s nominated this year. He’s up for writing songs for ABC’s Galavant, though he’s up against Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Empire, and the Lady Gaga song that didn’t win the Oscar (but should have). Tough competition, but it could happen.

Less Likely But Intriguing

Martin Scorsese
Award Needed: Tony Award
Here’s a fun way to spend your weekend: what Scorsese movie should be adapted into a stage musical so that Marty can complete his EGOT? Like, sure, Hugo seems like the most likely, but would that really be the best one? How much fun would it be to cast the Sharon Stone role in a Casino musical? How great would the dance numbers be in Gangs of New York: The Musical? Let’s make this happen!

Cher
Award Needed: Tony Award
Let’s also make THIS happen: cast Cher in a musical that would win her the Tony she needs to EGOT. It’s been a few years since the last Gypsy revival — isn’t it Cher’s turn? Or maybe she goes for a play? Cher as Ouisa in Six Degrees of Separation? This would work!

Jessica Lange, Frances McDormand, Al Pacino …
Award Needed: Grammy
The most common missing ingredient for actors seeking to EGOT is, unsurprisngly, the Grammy. The only way for a non-hyphenate actor to get that “G” fulfilled is by recording a “spoken word” album (Hillary Clinton’s Grammy is for the audiobook of It Takes a Village) or being part of a cast album. It’s a long shot for a LOT of talented actors. In addition to Lange, McDormand, and Pacino, there’s Ellen Burstyn, Vanessa Redgrave, Christopher Plummer, Geoffrey Rush, Maggie Smith — the whole lot of them ought to record the same audiobook and knock a whole lotta names off this list.

Cynthia Nixon
Award Needed: Oscar
The Sex and the City alum might end up being too TV for an Oscar, but those lines are blurring more and more every year. She gave an acclaimed performance in the indie James White last year, but that movie was too small to ping on Oscar’s radar. Could be a good sign for things to come, though.

Cyndi Lauper
Award Needed: Oscar
Why She’s Likely:  Cyndi’s a talented songwriter and a magnetic personality. It’s easy to see her writing a song for a movie that gets traction in Best Original song. If that Kinky Boots musical that won Lauper her Tony ends up getting made into a movie, Hairspray-style, that could be the ticket.

Elton John
Award Needed: Emmy
Being a musician gives Elton John a lot of flexibility when it comes to awards. The live-musical trend could end up paying off for him too. Bill Elliott: The Musical – LIVE! would probably win something.

Stephen Sondheim
Award Needed: Emmy
There are eight billion Emmy categories. At least one of them must be able to accommodate a musical genius like Sondheim. NBC Presents Assassins: LIVE! That’d do it.