Jeffrey Tambor’s ‘Arrested Development’ Performance Submitted for Emmys Consideration, Despite ‘Transparent’ Exit
A month ago, it wasn’t even official that “Arrested Development” would be a part of the awards race this year. But now Season 5A is coming in hot on May 29, and as Deadline reports the cast has been submitted for Emmys consideration — including controversial star Jeffrey Tambor, who will compete in the Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy race.
Thanks to his work playing the transgender matriarch of “Transparent,” Tambor has dominated the awards conversation in recent years. (Aziz Ansari went so far as to bring a prop book entitled “Losing to Jeffrey Tambor With Dignity” to the 2016 Golden Globes.)
While Tambor’s work on “Transparent” Season 4 is technically eligible for Emmys consideration this year, Amazon will not be submitting him, following reports of sexual misconduct that led to his firing from the show. (A fifth season of “Transparent,” without Tambor, is currently in progress.)
Academy voters will still be able to consider Tambor’s work in “Arrested Development,” though, which doesn’t come as a huge shock given that creator Mitch Hurwitz and the cast have largely stood behind him. They’ve stated there were no complaints about his behavior on the “Arrested” set. Theoretically, in fact, if Netflix had chosen to leave Tambor out of the submission process it would have been a signal of their concerns regarding the negative publicity surrounding his continued role on the show.
The entire “Arrested” cast could fill the remaining Supporting Actor slots on their own, as Tony Hale (also a past winner for “Veep”), Will Arnett, Michael Cera, and David Cross will also be submitted. Meanwhile, Portia de Rossi, Jessica Walter, and Alia Shawkat will compete in the Supporting Actress category, and Bateman will stand alone in the Lead Actor category (while also campaigning for his dramatic work as the star of Netflix’s “Ozark”).
Critics haven’t highlighted Tambor’s performance in Season 5, so the issue may be moot. But the new episodes do include references to his role in “Transparent.”
