Kidman, Rush among Aussies with Emmy nods

Australian stars Nicole Kidmanm Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis and Ben Mendelsohn have been nominated for Emmy Awards.

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman is in the running to win an Emmy, with her HBO series proving popular. (AAP)

Australia will have a strong presence at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards, with Nicole Kidman, Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis and Ben Mendelsohn nominated for their dramatic work on the small screen.

The US Television Academy announced its nominees early on Thursday, with HBO sci-fi drama Westworld and sketch show Saturday Night Live leading the nominations with 22 apiece in a list stuffed with new contenders.

Kidman was given a limited series actress gong for her role in Big Little Lies, an adaption of the novel by Australia's Liane Moriarty.

"When we started on this journey we never thought the series would connect on such a big way worldwide," said Kidman, who was among four actresses on the series to get a nomination.

Similarly, Rush has been nominated for the limited series actor award for his role as physicist Albert Einstein in National Geographic's Genius.

"For me (the nomination) is not only a celebration of having failed so badly in physics at high school but also great for Nat Geo entering a new playing field and bringing Einstein and the crucial value of scientific questioning into the spotlight," Rush said in a statement.

Kidman's Big Little Lies is up for 16 nominations all up and the HBO show faces off with Rush's Genius in the best limited series category.

Davis received a best supporting actress nod for her role in FX drama Feud: Bette and Joan, which portrays warring Hollywood legends Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.

Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon were both nominated for their roles as Crawford and Davis.

Mendelsohn has been nominated for his guest role in Netflix drama Bloodline.

With reigning Emmy champ Game of Thrones ineligible this year after it moved its seventh season to this summer, the door opened to five new shows vying for the top prize of best drama series.

The crowded race includes British royal series The Crown and supernatural mystery Stranger Things, both on Netflix; Hulu's breakout dystopian women's series The Handmaid's Tale starring best actress nominee Elisabeth Moss; and NBC's emotional family drama This Is Us.

Among networks, HBO again had the highest overall tally, with 111 nods, mostly because of multiple nominations for crime drama The Night Of and Big Little Lies.

NBC's Saturday Night Live, which has been on a ratings roll with its parodies of US President Donald Trump and key figures in his administration, earned nods for Alec Baldwin, Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Vanessa Bayer as well as a best variety sketch series nomination.

Talk show hosts Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee and John Oliver, who also have mercilessly skewered Trump, won nominations in the variety show category.

The Emmys will be presented at a ceremony hosted by Stephen Colbert in Los Angeles on September 17.


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Source: AAP



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