King’s victory for “Watchmen” marks her second career Emmy in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie category after being honored at the 2018 ceremony for her performance in the Netflix crime series “Seven Seconds.” The actress has now won four Primetime Emmys over her career. King’s additional Emmys are for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie, a category she won back-to-back in 2015 and 2016 for her performance on the ABC crime drama “American Crime.” King was nominated in 2017 for “American Crime” but lost to Laura Dern for “Big Little Lies.”
In an interview with IndieWire earlier this year, King said of her now Emmy-winning “Watchmen” role, “I feel like roles find people. The simple, cosmic answer at the same time is the role chose me, but getting into the weeds of it, Damon [Lindelof] sent the script and I was on board before I even read it, because Damon wrote it. I had not seen the film at that time. I’d never read the comic books, but I had been a fan of Damon’s work. And my experience working with him on ‘Leftovers’ was exceptional.” IndieWire’s Oscar pundit Anne Thompson wrote out of Venice that King’s ensemble cast will be formidable contenders in the acting races this upcoming Oscar season, while noting that “if King lands a directing nomination for her elegant directing of this testosterone-charged talk-fest she’d be the sixth woman and the first Black woman nominee in the category in 92 years.” “It may be King’s time,” Thompson added. “Like previous directing nominee Greta Gerwig (‘Lady Bird’), King gets a celebrity boost on the popularity scale and has been on a roll, taking home her first Oscar for Supporting Actress for Barry Jenkins’ ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ (after not landing a SAG or BAFTA nomination) and winning an Emmy for Limited Series ‘Seven Seconds.’ This year, she’s a leading contender for the Best Actress Emmy for her kick-ass role in HBO’s popular limited series ‘Watchmen.’”
King’s “Watchmen” Emmy is secured. Now she’s back in the Oscar race. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.