BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2021: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited/Anthology Series

Today's award is Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited/Anthology Series!

Check out the nominees and winner from 2020!

This year's nominees are...

ZOE CHAO as Sara Yang in Love Life (HBO Max)

KAT DENNINGS as Darcy Lewis in WandaVision (Disney+)

KATHRYN HAHN as Agnes/Agatha in WandaVision (Disney+)

T'NIA MILLER as Mrs. Grose in The Haunting of Bly Manor (Netflix)

JULIANNE NICHOLSON as Lori Ross in Mare of Easttown (HBO)

JEAN SMART as Helen Fahey in Mare of Easttown (HBO)

And the Winner Is...

KATHRYN HAHN

WandaVision (Disney+)

For the better part of seven episodes, Kathryn Hahn's Agnes was the wacky neighbor hopping through decades in WandaVision. She captured the broad character type in very effective ways no matter what era she was channeling. It was a funny side character but even this non-Marvel watcher knew there was more to her story. That was revealed at the end of the seventh episode and Agnes (now Agatha) became a very key character over the last couple episodes. Kathryn Hahn proved that she could do it all. She could do broad comedy, she could do tense dialogue, she could do menacing. Of course she rose to the occasion in her featured episodes but I think it's impressive how much of an impact she made when she didn't have as much to do in the early episodes. If Hahn didn't make a big impact with a small role, the end of the season wouldn't have worked at all. But because Hahn used every opportunity possible to be a memorable character, the entire story worked. It's great to see her getting the acclaim she deserves.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:

The biggest competition for Hahn came from someone who had a similar trajectory on her show. Julianne Nicholson was an auxiliary character in Mare of Easttown for much of the series but made a tremendous impact when given the opportunity in the finale. Kathryn Hahn's co-star Kat Dennings brought a lot of humor to the less interesting (to me) scenes of WandaVision when we weren't stuck in sitcom land. Jean Smart has been having quite a year between Mare of Easttown and Hacks and here Mare role brought some much needed levity to the dark story. T'Nia Miller had a really interesting story arc on The Haunting of Bly Manor and had some really nice showcases. And Zoe Chao was a really interesting character in Love Life going through the ups and downs of being in and out of a major relationship.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series!