Missing Recognition: Harrison Ford Snubbed in 2023 Emmy Nominations
LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 26: Harrison Ford attends the UK Premiere of Lucasfilm’s ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ at Cineworld Leicester Square on June 26, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer / Getty Images for Disney)
Harrison Ford turns 81 and Hollywood is wasting an opportunity to give him the best gift ever. Because as much as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Fate has been the main topic of conversation around him in recent weeks, we cannot forget that he comes from a stupendous creative streak.
However, the voting members of the Emmys – which are awarded each year by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences – have decided to ignore him, leaving him out of the 2023 nominations when his best works were precisely in the western Yellowstone (Paramount +) and the comedy Terapia sin filtro (Apple TV+).
And in the process, they’ve wasted the opportunity to give Harrison Ford what he’s never achieved in five decades in the industry. Because despite having honorary awards dedicated to his long career, the actor born July 13, 1942 never won a prominent award for a specific performance.
He may have been the most intrepid adventurer in the seventh art, the most mischievous pilot in outer space and the highest grossing star in history (he won the Guinness in 2016 for it), but his own industry never recognized a particular work. He was nominated for an Oscar and the BAFTA for Witness in Danger in 1986, and the Golden Globe four times (in addition to the same film, he was also nominated for The Mosquito Coast, The Fugitive and Sabrina). But he didn’t win any, and the Emmy would have been his first chance in more than 23 years to win a prestigious award valuing an acting effort.
Harrison Ford in ‘Unfiltered Therapy’
While Harrison Ford isn’t the unique, but there are other names unfairly forgotten in this year’s nominations (such as his partner Helen Mirren in Yellowstone, Elizabeth Olsen for Love & Death or the unfair disparagement of the Black Bird series: confessions of a murderer), without a doubt, it is the most prominent oblivion.
Basically, because since we saw his work on television, many critics took it for granted that he would be among the favourites. Not so much for Yellowstone, where his dramatic work is notable but doesn’t make much of a difference to the rest of his career. But yes for Therapy without a filter, where many of us assumed that he already had the award for Best Supporting Actor in a comedy series in his pocket.
I confess that I was sad to see that his name was not among the nominees. Because in this series, Harrison Ford dared with a genre in which he had never fully delved. We’ve seen him get all the mischief out of him with Han Solo and Indiana Jones, or the romantic hero charm of him in Sabrina or Executive Secretary, but he’s never made us laugh out loud. Until he jumped into the pool of the difficult comic genre at the age of 80.
The plot of this 10-episode series revolves around the existential crisis of a therapist played by Jason Segel, who breaks the ethical rules of his profession by deciding who needs to act, intervene and advise their patients to achieve changes in their lives. He’s sick of hearing about his problems and seeing them never get anywhere. Mainly because he doesn’t either. He has been stuck in mourning for a long time after the death of his wife, estranged from his teenage daughter and lost in the inertia of routine while his emotions turn him off inside.
However, in this equation other characters emerge that complement and improve the story. And that’s the case with Harrison Ford. The Indiana Jones star brings out his famous grumpy side to play the mentor of Jason Segel, a seasoned, by-the-book therapist who is quick to analyze the situations around him but who also suffers inside. In his case, through the first symptoms of Parkinson’s and the loss of independence and identity. But at all times, Harrison Ford is in charge of disguising the drama with a colloquial, natural and rabid humor that makes him an endearing figure and one of the most addictive characters in this series.
That’s why it strikes me that the Emmys have nominated Jason Segel for Lead Actor and Jessica Williams for Supporting Actress – both in the category of comedy series -, but they have left out Harrison Ford. Because the best sequences in the series are those that all three share in unison, forming an effective trio that makes Unfiltered Therapy worth it. I mean, if they deserve a nomination, so does Harrison Ford.
I understand that you can’t nominate everyone. That they can only choose seven candidates in each category and that, in the modern streaming war, there are too many options. However, I think the choice to nominate Harrison Ford should have been one of the obvious ones. Let’s just say it’s as if Succession and all of its starring cast weren’t nominated. It was so obvious that Harrison Ford should be included.
And although the actor has in his showcases the honorary awards at Cannes (2023), the César from the French Academy (2010) or the Cecil B. DeMille from the Golden Globes (2002 ), his industry did not reward him with outstanding awards for his individual performances. He will be one of the most acclaimed actors by the public, owner of an outstanding career, but he does not have an award that his colleagues have celebrated for a particular effort. And I think that, at this point, it was the right time to pay the debt.
This article was written exclusively for in Spanish by Cine54.
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