BENJAMONSTER AWARDS 2021: Outstanding Guest Actor or Actress in a Limited/Anthology Series

Today's award is for Outstanding Guest Actor or Actress in a Limited/Anthology Series! To qualify for this category, they had to appear in a maximum of four episodes. 

Check out the nominees and winner from 2020! 

This year's nominees are...

BILL CAMP as Mr. Shaibel in The Queen's Gambit (Netflix)

JIN HA as Augie Jeong in Love Life (HBO Max)

MARIELLE HELLER as Alma Wheatley in The Queen's Gambit (Netflix)

ISLA JOHNSTON as Young Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit (Netflix)

LILY RABE as Ethel in The Underground Railroad (Amazon)

BENJAMIN WALKER as Terrance Walker in The Underground Railroad (Amazon)

And the Winner Is...

ISLA JOHNSTON

The Queen's Gambit (Netflix)

This was a pretty easy choice as Isla Johnston was responsible for much of the brilliant first episode of The Queen's Gambit. We had only seen breakout star Anya Taylor-Joy for a fleeting scene before the entire first hour was devoted to the younger version of her character, played by Johnston. The entire series wouldn't have worked if Johnston wasn't up to the task. She most certainly was with a steely determination and a healthy amount of spunk. She turned up a couple times more in the series but this was really all about her performance in the first episode. It was perfect casting but Isla Johnston embodied a character we got to know much more as an adult and it was entirely believable that they were the same person.

Thoughts on the Rest of the Nominees:

Although Johnston was the easy choice here, that doesn't mean there weren't other strong performances. Johnston shared a lot of scenes with Bill Camp and he provided a great counter for her. Also on The Queen's Gambit, Marielle Heller really added a lot to every scene she was in and felt like a main character despite only appearing in a couple episodes. For shows not named The Queen's Gambit, there were also worthy nominees. The scenes with Jin Ha were the best moments of the first season of Love Life and he was definitely the one who had the most chemistry with Anna Kendrick. Finally, both Lily Rabe and especially Benjamin Walker were chilling on The Underground Railroad.

Tomorrow: Outstanding Guest Actor or Actress in a Comedy Series!