Emmy Winner Anna Sawai Wasn’t the Most In-Demand Nominee in Her Category — But She Scored Huge in Another Metric | Chart

This year, fewer franchise shows were nominated at the 76th Emmy Awards, which aired on Sunday, leaving room for other high-profile series to shine, such as FX’s “Shogun” and “The Bear,” two titles with a leading number of nominations.

One of the most anticipated categories of the night was Best Actress and Actor in a Drama Series.

Among the 10 nominated actors, the question arises: Who has made the most impact on audiences? Popularity alone isn’t enough to determine this. It’s also essential to consider audiences’ sentiments about each actor. That’s where Parrot Analytics’ Audience Solutions data comes in, revealing the emotions driving demand for each talent.

By combining demand data with audience sentiment, Jennifer Aniston emerged as the most in-demand actress during the first half of 2024 and had the second-highest level of positive sentiment. Aniston, a household name for over 25 years since her role as Rachel on “Friends,” was nominated for her performance in Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show.”

Donald Glover, the most in-demand male actor, nominated for Prime Video’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” highlighted a different trend. Despite his high demand, Glover had the lowest level of positive sentiment among the nominees. (Audience sentiment is divided between positive, neutral and negative sentiments. The chart shows only the share of positive sentiment. This means that the remaining sentiment share for each actor is divided between neutral and negative.)

When multiplying demand by the share of positive sentiment to create a combined metric of popularity and sentiment, Glover still ranked highest among the male nominees but trailed Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon overall. His co-star, Maya Erskine, had the second-lowest positive sentiment.

Actors who have both high demand and high positive sentiment were positioned in the top right quadrant of the analysis. Beyond Aniston, this group included well-known names like Reese Witherspoon, Gary Oldman, Walton Goggins and Idris Elba.

A surprising standout was Anna Sawai, who took home the prize for her role in “Shōgun,” beating out both Aniston and her cast mate Witherspoon. Sawai had the highest level of positive sentiment among all nominees, despite having lower demand than most. Though not as widely known as her peers, she has an engaged and growing fan base. That deep, positive sentiment can be a powerful force, even with a smaller fan base.

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