The 2025 Emmy nominations are in, and some notable Australian and New Zealand names have been confirmed.
Cate Blanchett is a Primetime Emmy nominee again. For the third time in the 2020s, the Australian actor has been recognised by the Television Academy, earning her 2025 nomination for her leading role in the Alfonso Cuarón-directed 2024 Apple TV+ miniseries “Disclaimer.”
The two-time Oscar-winner previously received the nod twice in 2020, for both starring in and executive producing “Mrs America.” In 2025, Blanchett is competing for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie, with “Sirens” star Meghann Fahy, “Black Mirror’s” Rashida Jones, Cristin Milioti from “The Penguin” and “Dying for Sex’s” Michelle Williams also nominated in the same category.
Blanchett is among a number of nominees, spanning both talents and titles, with Australian and New Zealand ties among this year’s Emmy contingent. After collecting a 2020 BAFTA Best Director nomination for Australian film “Babyteeth,” filmmaker Shannon Murphy is now a first-time Emmy contender for her work on “Dying for Sex.”
Cinematographer Zoë White is also nominated for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program for “Will & Harper,” after previously being among the finalists in 2019 in the Single-Camera Series (One Hour) field for “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
Co-created by Australians Karina Holden and Cian O’Clery, produced by Australian production company Northern Pictures and featuring a largely Australian team, “Love on the Spectrum” picked up five nominations for its third season. Alongside Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program, the series received nominations for Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program, Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program and Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program — with O’Clery recognised for all three — as well as Outstanding Picture Editing for an Unstructured Reality Program.
“We’re beyond excited ‘Love on the Spectrum’ has been recognised with five Primetime Emmy nominations,” said Holden and O’Clery in a statement.
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“This series is a labour of love — for the incredible people who’ve shared their stories with us, and for the team who’ve worked with such care to bring those stories to life. A huge thank you to the Academy for recognising the passion that goes into making our show.”
One of two TV spinoffs so far from Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s 2014 film alongside the NZ-made “Wellington Paranormal,” the US “What We Do in the Shadows” television series was named among the Outstanding Comedy Series contenders for the first time in its six-season run, which wrapped up at the end of 2024. Clement created the Staten Island-set vampire sharehouse sitcom, and both wrote and directed a selection of earlier episodes, with Waititi also helming three across the show’s lifespan.
Aotearoan visual-effects company Wētā FX is in the running for 2025 Outstanding Special Visual Effects Emmys, for its work on season two of “Game of Thrones” prequel “House of the Dragon” and the second season of game-to-screen adaptation “The Last of Us”.
Australian actor Dichen Lachman isn’t among the acting nominees for “Severance,” but was a pivotal part in helping the sci-fi/thriller sensation become 2025’s most-recognised Emmy series with 27 nods. Season two episode “Chikhai Bardo,” which puts Lachman’s character Ms Casey/Gemma Scout at its centre, received four of “Severance’s” nominations, including for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.
Australian streaming platform Stan is also celebrating, with RuPaul’s achievement as the most-nominated host in reality television a coup for the service that airs the “RuPaul’s Drag Race” franchise locally.
