“The Great Lillian Hall” is a showcase for brilliant acting. Of course, the HBO TV movie, which is directed by Michael Cristofer, is about an actress, so great acting is to be expected. Jessica Lange features as fictional Broadway legend Lillian Hall, who is a powerhouse on stage but a nervous wreck suffering from dementia off of it.
Lange gives another tour de force performance while her “American Horror Story” co-star Kathy Bates matches her step for step. Bates plays Edith Wilson, Lillian’s longtime assistant and she shines in this role, shading the character with color and charisma while also imbuing her with a steely loyalty that bonds the two women. Bates and Lange are electric together and the prove that they are still at the very top of their game, as noted by critics.
Caryn James (The Hollywood Reporter) stated that the TV movie boasts “a cast in first-rate form. Kathy Bates plays Edith, Lillian’s irreverent longtime assistant. Bates makes the character colorful but real, brusque yet with evident deep affection for her friend.”
Pete Hammond (Deadline) observed: “Bates is terrific as always, really nailing the persona of someone who is always there through many decades, but is also a genuine friend, especially when she comes up with a hearing device in order to deliver Lillian her lines.”
Roger Friedman (Showbiz 411) explained: “The actresses give the kind of performances — Lange and Bates — that got them Oscars. All three actresses – Lange, Bates, Rabe — are sublime. Bates is a national treasure, of course.”
Our current predicted nominees for Best TV Movie/Limited Supporting Actress are Kali Reis (“True Detective: Night Country”), Jennifer Jason Leigh (“Fargo”), Jessica Gunning (“Baby Reindeer”), Aja Naomi King (“Lessons in Chemistry”), Diane Lane (“Feud: Capote vs the Swans”), Nava Mau (“Baby Reindeer”), and Sandra Oh (“The Sympathizer”). But rule Bates out at your peril — this is a beloved Emmys legend we’re talking about.
Bates has 13 nominations and two victories to her name. Her first nomination came for Best TV Movie/Limited Supporting Actress in 1996 for “The Late Shift” before she was cited for directing the TV movie “Dash and Lily” in 1999. That same year, she picked up a Best Comedy Guest Actress bid for “3rd From the Rock.” A year later, she was nominated for Best TV Movie/Limited Supporting Actress again for “Annie.” Bates then landed a Best Drama Guest Actress nomination in 2003 for “Six Feet Under.” This was followed by a Best TV Movie/Limited Supporting Actress bid in 2005 for “Warm Springs” and a Best TV Movie/Limited Actress citation in 2006 for “Ambulance Girl.” Another Best TV Movie/Limited Supporting Actress followed in 2010, this time for “Alice” while she was twice nominated for Best Drama Actress (in 2011 and 2012) for “Harry’s Law.
She won her first Emmy in 2012 — for Best Comedy Guest Actress for “Two and a Half Men.” Bates then reaped three more nominations for Best TV Movie/Limited Supporting Actress, this time for three different “American Horror Story” seasons — “Coven” in 2014, “Freak Show” in 2015, and “Hotel” in 2016. She won for “Coven.”
Seven of those nominations and one of those wins came for this very category of Best TV Movie/Limited Supporting Actress. Bates is a limited series supporting actress specialist and voters nominate her in this category every chance they get. It would make sense if they were to namecheck her again here. In fact, Bates holds the record for the most amount of nominations in this category with seven bids. She could extend her own record here with an eighth citation, which would rank her two above the actress with the second most amount of nominations in this category (Mare Winningham, with six). If Bates were to win, she would become the joint-most awarded actress in this category alongside Jane Alexander, Judy Davis, Colleen Dewhurst, Regina King, and Winningham, who have all won twice.
Bates is also the exact profile of actress who gets nominated in this category. Firstly, she is a veteran — and we know how much Emmy voters admire veterans in this category. Winningham (“Dopesick”), Jennifer Coolidge (“The White Lotus”), Jean Smart (“Mare of Easttown” and “Watchmen”), Tracey Ullman (“Mrs. America”), Holland Taylor (“Hollywood”), Margo Martindale (“Mrs. America”), and Patricia Clarkson (“Sharp Objects”) have all been nominated here.
Secondly, she is an Oscar winner, having won Best Actress in 1991 for “Misery.” Other Oscar winners who have been nominated in this category include Penélope Cruz (“The Assassination of Gianni Versace”), Melissa Leo (“All the Way”), Julia Roberts (“The Normal Heart”), Mo’Nique (“Bessie”), Maggie Smith (“Downton Abbey”), Susan Sarandon (“You Don’t Know Jack”), and Bates herself for the various aforementioned projects.*
*A note: Olivia Colman, Laura Dern, and King were all nominated in this category but before they won their respective Oscars.
Plus, “The Great Lillian Hall” depicts showbusiness. This category often nominates actresses for performances in shows about showbiz, such as Juliette Lewis (“Welcome to Chippendales”), Annaleigh Ashford (“Welcome to Chippendales”), Taylor (“Hollywood”), Margaret Qualley (“Fosse/Verdon”), Davis (“Feud: Bette and Joan”), and Jackie Hoffman (“Feud: Bette and Joan”).
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