Kate Winslet’s ‘Mare of Easttown’ roots may stop her from winning an Emmy

When this year’s Emmy nominations were announced, it quickly became clear that the category for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie was the one to watch.

Michaela Coel finally snagged the recognition that she was ungraciously denied during Golden Globes season for her devastatingly brilliant I May Destroy You (stream now on Crave). Anya Taylor-Joy was rightfully recognized for her role as a chess prodigy in The Queen’s Gambit, Elizabeth Olsen was a no-brainer for WandaVision, and Cynthia Erivo’s performance in Genius: Aretha is right there in the title.

Then there is the A-lister who finally followed the rest of Hollywood to the small screen – Kate Never-Not-Great Winslet. Think of a role that Winslet didn’t absolutely embody to the point of perfection. We’ll wait.

It doesn’t exist.

Winslet has only stepped away from feature films a handful of times in her career. The last time was in 2011, when she starred in the HBO miniseries Mildred Pierce (stream now on Crave) and played a mother who was in a romantic relationship with Guy Pearce. For those in the back, once again that was an HBO miniseries, played a mother, relationship with Guy Pearce. Check, check, check, and she won an Emmy. It feels like a winning formula for Winslet, right? Except for one major difference. This was Winslet’s hair in Mildred Pierce.

Image courtesy of HBO

This is her hair as Mare Sheehan in Mare of Easttown (stream now on Crave).

Image courtesy of HBO

Both styles were appropriate for the role, but only one looks good. No one is seeing Winslet as Sheehan on screen and not thinking, "Ooof, this woman lives in a rough and tough town, puts herself last, probably eats cheese out of a can, has seen some stuff, and should not be crossed."

It’s the perfect non-dye job for a grieving detective in small town Pennsylvania. But the Emmys don’t like bad hair and hair is everything.

Let’s examine the facts.

Shailene Woodley, Big Little Lies

There were many tragic things that happened in Season 1 of Big Little Lies (stream now on Crave) and Shailene Woodley’s bangs land somewhere between murder and assault.

Woodley’s bangs were part of her character Jane’s persona as the young, poor single mom who had just moved to a fancy California zip code. With all the house porn on Big Little Lies, Jane’s tiny one bedroom house was enough to convey everything we needed to know about her character’s social and financial standing, so Woodley’s face didn’t deserve that curtain of sad.

The first season of Big Little Lies became an award show darling and Woodley earned an Emmy nomination, but lost out to co-star Laura Dern, whose hair looked flawless in every scene. Dern is also one of the greatest actors of her generation, but her soft blow out didn’t hurt either.

Image courtesy of HBO

Courteney Cox, Friends

Throughout its 10 seasons on air, Friends (stream now on Crave) was nominated an incredible 62 times for Primetime Emmys and took home six wins. On the acting side, both Jennifer Aniston and Lisa Kudrow won from the main cast, while Bruce Willis and Christina Applegate took home Emmys for their guest appearances. What did they all have in common? Great hair. Well, not Willis, but his eyebrows were always on point.

The only main cast member of Friends to never receive an Emmy nomination during the show’s run was Courteney Cox. We know! The woman danced with a chicken on her head and was peed on. What more could Emmy voters want?

Maybe better hair. While Kudrow rocked fun updos as Phoebe and Aniston literally had a hairstyle named after her, Cox was subjected to several questionable bang styles, some rough bobs, and the dreaded braids episode that resulted in a full head of frizz. Hair is the only thing that makes sense when trying to figure out how Cox was the sole Friend who was never nominated for an Emmy.

Image courtesy of NBC

Keri Russell, Felicity

Keri Russell quickly became TV’s "It" girl following the first season of the college drama Felicity (stream now on Crave), even earning a Golden Globe for her role as the NYC co-ed. But at the end of season one, Russell’s Felicity did something that shocked audiences so much that ratings dropped – she cut her hair. (Hold for gasp). The long-locked Golden Globe win would become the last award Russell would earn for her time as Felicity, with the Emmys extremely quiet that year in relation to the hugely popular series. Russell eventually received her first Emmy nomination in 2016 for The Americans and was nominated again in 2017 and 2018.

Admittedly, The Americans is more of an Emmy-friendly show (spies!), but don’t think we didn’t notice how great Russell’s hair looked while she played Elizabeth Jennings.

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Rainn Wilson, The Office

Rainn Wilson has no one to blame but himself for being stuck with Dwight Schrute’s horrendous middle part for all nine seasons of The Office. The method actor went full-nerd for his craft and during a 2015 Reddit AMA discussion, Wilson admitted he was the one to give himself the "Dwight."

“I tried to purposefully create the UGLIEST haircut I could possibly design for my ungainly enormous head and forehead,” Wilson told fans while promoting his memoir Bassoon King, adding that he also borrowed the look from the original Dwight, McKenzie Crook, who played Gareth in the UK version of The Office. Dwight can and did cut his own hair, much to Wilson’s dismay.

During its run, The Office was nominated for 42 Emmys, three of which belonged to Wilson for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Wilson never took home an Emmy for his role as the Dwight Schrute and we can’t help but think it was the hair. As the saying goes, always the assistant to the regional manager, never the assistant regional manager.

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Sarah Michelle Gellar, Buffy The Vampire Slayer

Maybe it was all the time spent fighting the undead that made Buffy feel like she was going to live forever and therefore could trying every hairstyle possible. That’s the best reason we can come up with when attempting to understand why the Buffy hair department would do this to Sarah Michelle Gellar’s hair. We know Buffy was just a show (slash religion), but Gellar could still throw down when necessary. Whoever was holding the scissors was very brave.

Over seven seasons, Buffy The Vampire Slayer only won two Emmys and neither were for acting. Still considered one of the biggest Emmy snubs in TV history, it’s tough to not think Gellar’s hair may have had something to do with the gross oversight. And yeah, Buffy knows the bangs were bad.  

Winona Ryder, Stranger Things

Are there no good roles in Hollywood for women over 40, or are actors rightly terrified the hair department is going to do them dirty? It’s like the creators of Stranger Things decided that a show in the 1980s must have at least one mullet and then made the cast pull straws. Winona Ryder and her hair lost that day.

Ryder’s role as a single mom Joyce Byers has earned her a SAG and Golden Globe nomination, but nada from the Emmys. Interestingly, Ryder signed a contract with L’Oreal Paris shortly after the first season of Stranger Things, which gave the actor the chance to show off her naturally luscious locks. It was nice to see one company put respect on Ryder’s mane (come on, Netflix!).

Image courtesy of Netflix

Kaley Cuoco, Big Bang Theory

Kaley Cuoco spent 12 seasons playing Penny (knock knock Penny, knock knock Penny) on The Big Bang Theory and took home several awards for her role, including a Critic’s Choice Television Award, two People’s Choice Awards and a Satellite Award. As for the Emmys, the only regular cast member to win during the show’s tenure was Jim Parsons.

Could it have been Cuoco’s pixie cut in Season 8 that kept her shut out from the Emmys? We’ll never know. But we do know that it only took one season and some great curtain bangs on The Flight Attendant (stream now on Crave) to earn Cuoco her first Emmy nomination this year. Our hair never looks that good when we’re hungover. It doesn’t even look that good when we’re not hungover.

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Admittedly, the tone of our argument thus far has been more deflating than a blow out with no root-lifter mousse. But there is hope for Kate Winslet’s Emmy chances this year. We present - the exceptions.

America Ferrera, Ugly Betty

God bless America (Ferrera) and her willingness to not only don a terrible wig in the name of art, but also fake braces as an adult. Her bravery as Betty Suarez and her willingness to push through the boundaries of conventional beauty on TV to deliver a character that was smart and charming landed Ferrera a well-deserved Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series after the show’s first season. Frizzy hair sufferers around the world cheered for Ferrera, who rightfully got to leave her braces at home for the Emmys and look like the bombshell that she is.

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Edie Falco, The Sopranos

Carmela Soprano was wronged by many people in many ways throughout all six seasons of The Sopranos (stream now on Crave), but the biggest perpetrator may have been the hair department. Were Falco’s harsh bangs and heavily hair-sprayed flip accurate to her role as a New Jersey housewife in the 2000s? Yes. Has it aged well? No. When it comes to Falco’s early hairstyles as Carmela, the actor likely wants to fuhgeddaboutit. Still, Falco was able to push through the helmet hair updos and fake nails to dominate every scene she was in, winning three Emmys for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series. You don’t mess with the Sopranos.

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