Twelve times Game of Thrones stars should’ve won Emmys but didn’t
By Dan Selcke
Image: Game of Thrones/HBO
Diana Rigg: Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series — “The Queen’s Justice”
Was there ever a more crowd-pleasing character than Olenna Tyrell? With every cutting remark and bracing bit of shade, Dame Diana Rigg earned chuckles, smiles, and sometimes outright wails of laughter from viewers at home, with the occasional “yas queen” thrown in for good measure. Who doesn’t like a sassy grandma?
But that was only the window dressing. Olenna Tyrell was a schemer second to none, and had a killer instinct honed by years of careful application. She could poison a king to death and act incredulous that people weren’t moving more quickly to help him. Those two sides of her met in her final scene, where she lobbed delicious bon mots at Jaime Lannister before dropping the bomb: she killed his vile son Joffrey, and there was nothing he could do about it.
This is a classic Game of Thrones scene down to its bones, and one that relied on character rather than pyrotechnics. Rigg is at its center, sending off her complex character in style. It would have been wonderful to see for honored for her performance.
