Nikolaj Coster-Waldau - "Jamie Lannister", Game of Thrones
Noah Emmerich - "Stan Beeman", The Americans
Jack Huston - "Richard Harrow", Boardwalk Empire
Vincent Kartheiser - "Pete Campbell", Mad Men
Mads Mikkelson - "Hannibal Lecter", Hannibal
Corey Stoll - "Peter Russo", House of Cards
Anyone who's read A Storm of Swords suspected a standout year was coming for Jamie Lannister, but Coster-Waldau made one of those glorious adaptive leaps and delivered tenfold, seeming capable of accessing emotional spaces even Martin didn't know about. Emmerich's performance made The Americans a vitally three-part show instead of a duet. Stan was one of the most fascinatingly gray characters of this year in television - not an idealist but neither fully hardened by his experiences, dedicated to his job but undermined by his heart. Emmerich found a place right in the middle all its own. I feel like I gush about Huston and Kartheiser every year - they're my favorites in two stacked ensembles. What hasn't already been said? Huston, with his now-trademark low affect, drew the audience in to Richard's relationship with Julia and his quest to keep Tommy's parents alive in his memory, but never without the undercurrent of doom suggesting it could all fall apart as so many things have for him. Kartheiser spent the season at a low boil - Pete's impotent rage, barely contained behind a mask of civility, felt like it could suddenly blow up and take the whole agency, if not the entire Time-Life building, with it. Mikkelson proved another adaptive standout - it's not just that he formulated something entirely separate from the legacy of Anthony Hopkins, but the pairing of faux amiability and creeping chilliness that convinces you that no one would take too close a look at Dr. Lecter until it was already too late. In a show that could frequently feel too cold, too glossy, and too calculated, Corey Stoll's performance felt like a real, beating heart. Russo's earnestness alongside his inability to keep from defeating himself placed a real note of tragedy amid the endless strategizing of House of Cards.
Honorable Mentions: Jonathan Banks, Breaking Bad; Bobby Cannavale, Boardwalk Empire; Jim Carter, Downton Abbey; Josh Charles, The Good Wife; Kim Coates, Sons of Anarchy; Charlie Cox, Boardwalk Empire; Alan Cumming, The Good Wife; Matt Czuchry, The Good Wife; Guillermo Diaz, Scandal; Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones; Jay R. Ferguson, Mad Men; Jordan Gavaris, Orphan Black; Walton Goggins, Justified; Tony Goldwyn, Scandal; Stephen Graham, Boardwalk Empire; Rick Hoffman, Suits; Rob James-Collier, Downton Abbey; Michael Kelly, House of Cards; Dean Norris, Breaking Bad; Mandy Patinkin, Homeland; Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad; Jeff Perry, Scandal; Kevin Rahm, Mad Men; Nick Searcy, Justified; John Slattery, Mad Men; Eamonn Walker, Chicago Fire
I wouldn't be surprised to see: Michael Cudlitz, Southland; Larry Hagman, Dallas; Freddie Highmore, Bates Motel; Gabriel Mann, Revenge; David Morrissey, The Walking Dead; Ryan Philippe, Damages; Norman Reedus, The Walking Dead; Michael Rooker, The Walking Dead
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