Emmys 2021: Supporting Actress In A Drama — Our 8 Dream Nominees!

When it comes to this year's unpredictable and wide open Emmy race for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, here's something we can say with absolute certainty: Julia Garner is not going to make it three in a row.

After picking up gold statues in 2019 and 2020 for her scene-stealing work in Netflix's Ozark, Garner is not in the running this year. (The pandemic pushed Ozark's fourth and final season to late 2021.)

That's not to say there isn't a frontrunner, however. The Crown's Gillian Anderson — who has already picked up a Golden Globe and a SAG Award for her uncanny portrayal of Margaret Thatcher — is arguably the category's odds-on favorite.

The X-Files vet already cleared one hurdle on her way to a second Emmy trophy: She made TVLine's Dream Emmy wish list! But she has some very formidable company.

Scroll through the list below to review all eight of our Dream Nominees (remember, these aren't predictions; they're wish lists) and then tell us if our picks warrant a "Hell, yes!," "Um, no" or "How could you leave off so-and-so?!"For the record, 2021 Emmy nominations will be voted on from June 17-28, and unveiled on July 13. The 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony is scheduled to air on Sunday, Sept. 19 on CBS.

Scroll down for links to our previous Dream Emmy categories:

Outstanding Drama Series — Our 7 Dream NomineesOutstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Our 7 Dream NomineesOutstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series — Our 8 Dream Nominees

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was known as the Iron Lady, and Anderson certainly showed us why in Season 4. The X-Files star was nearly unrecognizable as the fearsome politico, adopting a tough veneer and a pinched manner of speaking to match Thatcher's commanding air. But Anderson also gracefully let us see the tiny gaps in Thatcher's emotional armor, poignantly capturing her crushing disappointment as her political allies deserted her and the whole country turned against her.

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: She may have been a supporting character, but Lady Danbury felt every bit a key player in Bridgerton's first season. That's due to Andoh's commanding and unforgettable presence while navigating prickly social dynamics throughout the Regency-era drama. Radiating fierce authority as she went toe-to-toe with Lord Hastings in flashbacks, and exuding pure elegance while dropping much-needed wisdom to her peers in present day, Andoh's shrewd doyenne was undoubtedly a highlight of the Netflix drama's eight episodes.

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: We've always loved Brewer's portrayal of Janine, the off-kilter handmaid who bears some of Gilead's most visible scars. But Season 4 of the Hulu drama has set up some of Janine's best stuff yet, and Brewer has been sublime. Her work in Episode 4 showcased both Janine's plainspoken hurt over the deaths of her friends and, via flashback, her stalwart ability to do what was necessary for her son's well-being. Blessed be the Brewer!

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: Even while portraying a deadly fox spirit called a kumiho in HBO's fantastical series, Chung always rooted her scenes in honest emotion, particularly in the Ji-Ah-centric sixth episode. As we learned Ji-Ah's secret — that she's a supernatural creature who murders men during sex — Chung kept the storyline's campier aspects at bay with her deliberate, delicate acting choices. And when Ji-Ah fell in love with Atticus, foiling her plan to destroy him, the actress' full-fledged commitment to showing Ji-Ah's anguish over her choice was breathtaking to witness.

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: Ellis convincingly transformed from a wounded widow to an unfettered seeker of science as Hippolyta Freeman on HBO's sci-fi series. But it was Episode 7, titled "I Am," that really allowed Ellis and her large, expressive eyes to make us feel all the feels. She inspired us as a Josephine Baker background dancer, made us cheer for her as a Dahomey warrior, and was at her most relatable as a woman who simply wanted her late husband to truly see her.

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: Hyatt is no stranger to beloved cable dramas about crime families in urban enclaves: She co-starred on The Wire, where she also had a son and brother wrapped up in the drug game. What makes her portrayal of Snowfall's Cissy Saint uniquely wonderful are the touching bonds she shares with her brother Jerome, her son Franklin and her husband Alton, underscored by Hyatt's stirring countenance. In Season 4, she even extended her maternal embrace to Leon, who quietly sobbed as Cissy braided his ha​ir.

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: In the Paramount Network smash's third season, badass Beth Dutton warned sparring partner Roarke, "You are the trailer park, I am the tornado." But her portrayer might as well have been speaking directly to viewers, because she never fails to blow us away. This season alone, she not only dug deep to reveal the vulnerability hidden beneath her character's granite-hard exterior — that proposal to Rip... sigh — but she delivered as many reminders of Beth's ruthlessness and cunning as she did meme-worthy insults. And there were a lot of those.

WHY SHE DESERVES A NOD: The veteran actress wasn't merely good or even great in the fifth and final season of the OWN drama, she was downright divine. For heaven's sake, as she steered Lady Mae away from the sins of the past and toward the uncertainty of the future, Whitfield repeatedly made us want to leap off the couch and cry "Amen!" For her bravura work in the series-ending sermon alone, she deserves not only a spinoff but an Emmy nod — and praise the TV gods, the spinoff's already a lock.