Our personal Emmy ballot series continues with Drama Lead Acting. Ranked alphabetically, here are the six actors and actresses who'd make our list:
Lizzy Caplan for Masters of Sex: Lizzy Caplan grew right along with her character in Masters of Sex’s uneven second season. While I was a fan of hers from the start, the actress turned brilliant this year, asserting Virginia’s quest for independence with vulnerability, seductiveness and an unwavering core of strength. Deep, emotional work.
Kyle Chandler for Bloodline: Initially, it’s not clear what Kyle Chandler is doing so differently in Bloodline from his iconic Friday Night Lights turn -- but you know it’s something. Episode by episode, Bloodline peels back layer after layer until its characters rest bare. Along those lines, Chandler unveils his character’s simmering rage, buried wistfulness and unconcealable darkness masterfully. 
Jon Hamm for Mad Men: Eight years of Mad Men in, it’s easy to take for granted just how good Jon Hamm is as Don Draper. His swagger and his impulses are by now as familiar to us as they are to his portrayer. But Hamm is always ravishing in this part, giving one of the fullest and most complex performances on the big- or small-screen. In this final season, he journeyed Don Draper to the end of his road beautifully, right to his sobbing embrace of a nearby stranger.
Taraji P. Henson for Empire: Another thing we might not value as much as we should in performance: fun. Taraji P. Henson is alive and vivacious as the instantly-classic Cookie Lyon, chewing on zingers and playing with outfits with absolute hyperbolic aplomb. There’s an utter joy to her work, careening through unflattering stereotypes and with a glorious IDGAF attitude. And what results is a character creation of great fun, yes, but also surprising resonance. A tour-de-force.
Elisabeth Moss for Mad Men: Elisabeth Moss’ meticulous and precise performance as Peggy Olson in Mad Men is among the past decade’s most impressive and underrated. She kept her character’s immense personal growth in intimate, recognizable perspective. She was as good as ever in the final Mad Men run, including an awkward, tender profession of love that’s one for the ages.
Bob Odenkirk for Better Call Saul: It’s hard not to like Bob Odenkirk, whether he’s popping up in bizarre guest turns on The Sarah Silverman Program or, as audiences came to know him, infusing some comic relief into a dark drama like Breaking Bad. But the comedian turned an unexpected corner with Better Call Saul, taking on a dramatic leading role and absolutely crushing it. 
Matthew Rhys for The Americans: In what’s probably my favorite continuing performance on TV, Matthew Rhys is pure brilliance on The Americans. As the show wears on, his (and Keri Russell’s) performance feels more and more like a full-fledged embodiment of the human condition, exploring its maddening contradictions, moral obligations and profound vulnerabilities. It’s a performance of deep sympathy, dramatic intensity and breathtaking intelligence.
Keri Russell for The Americans: Keri Russell is often tasked with playing a bit more dour than her Americans co-star, as year by year she slowly reveals Elizabeth Jennings’ tragic, damaged core. But this was Russell’s most impressive season yet; her work is always subtle and always immaculately controlled, but as Elizabeth was faced with the impending death of the mother who abandoned her, Russell finally let it out -- and my goodness was it wrenching to watch.
Michael Sheen for Masters of Sex: Michael Sheen is a lauded actor giving a fascinating performance on a well-regarded cable drama. It’s a mystery, then, why he’s not generating more attention. William Masters promises a character transformation as intriguingly drastic as Walter White’s, and Sheen never loses sight of the goal. In this second season, Dr. Masters confronted his sexual limitations and familial history, and Sheen’s conveyance was as viscerally powerful as it was emotionally devastating.
Abigail Spencer for Rectify: I’d argue that Abigail Spencer is supporting on Rectify, but Sundance placed her in lead. No matter, Spencer -- like pretty much everyone on Rectify, let’s be clear -- is plain amazing as troubled sister Amantha in Ray McKinnon’s sublime Southern Gothic. McKinnon’s writing gives Amantha ample definition, but from her cigarette posturing to her vocal inflections to her emotional volatility, Spencer breathes total, complicated life into the character. 
Aden Young for Rectify: Now onto Rectify’s true lead. At the very least, Aden Young is pulling off TV’s most difficult performance with complete success. At most, he’s doing better work than just about anyone right now. His task is to drag a man who’d been stripped of his sense of self and the world back into the world, as he becomes reacquainted with love, hate and everything in-between. Daniel Holden woke up in Season 2, and Young simply stunned. A spellbinding effort.