Kenna Moon's Emmy Nomination: Anna Torv

The Emmy Award nominations were announced last week, and I'm starting to wonder who did the nominating. I wouldn't consider myself at all qualified to make a decision on something like this - I have a handful of shows that I watch regularly, which I've managed to keep to less than seven before this year, and I can only state my opinions on the shows that I am seeing. I can't say which shows last season were the best in whatever category, as there are several dozen I have absolutely no experience with.

If I did have any nominating powers, however, there's at least one nomination I would have been totally comfortable making; for Best Actress in a Drama, I would definitely have chosen Anna Torv, who played FBI Special Agent Olivia Dunham on J.J. Abrams' sci-fi drama Fringe.

Of course, that's only part of it. At the same time, Anna Torv also played another version of Olivia Dunham, who was born in an alternate universe (Fringe is one of those shows). The alternate version of Olivia, dubbed 'Fauxlivia' for clarity's sake, is pretty similar to the character we got to know through the first two seasons, but with distinct personality differences. Olivia herself remained very guarded for the first two seasons, driven in her work but withdrawn, not easily trusting or forthcoming with personal information. Fauxlivia, on the other hand, had different childhood experiences, which lead her to be more open and friendly, though still a determined worker.

Anna Torv definitely took on double duty this year to portray the two different versions of her character, and she was spot on. Both characters were totally believable, and I can't even describe what it was that she did to make them both so similar and yet so distinct. The costume people did help out a lot, for those viewers who needed the extra help; the audience never sees Olivia wearing anything but black and white, yet the first time we see Fauxlivia, she's wearing a red sweater. There's also the obvious differences in hair color and style to set them apart.

Olivia meets Fauxlivia - 'Well, this is awkward.'

However, even when they switch hair and clothing styles, the viewer can still easily tell Anna Torv's two characters apart. That's right; without spoiling too much, there are several episodes in Season 3 where Fauxlivia dresses and acts like Olivia, changing her hair color back to blonde and attempting to act the same way Olivia did. The subtle differences between Anna Torv playing Olivia, and Anna Torv playing Fauxlivia-pretending-to-be-Olivia, are amazing, and truly a credit to Anna Tov's acting talent.

Finally, on top of the two fully fleshed out versions of Olivia that she had to portray this year on Fringe, Anna Torv was given one more angle to play (more minor spoilers); for two or three episodes, she played a version of the original Olivia, who happened to be possessed with the soul of William Bell (another character on the show, who had previously been portrayed by Leonard Nimroy).

If this blog is all you ever know about Fringe, I'm sure that I've made it sound very confusing. Let me take this paragraph to promise you that it's nowhere near as confusing as Lost, but it's definitely not as simple and straightforward as your average, formulaic crime-solving 'whodunit'. Fringe is a show that makes you pay attention, but not so much that your head hurts.

Anna Torv's portrayal of William Bell was, admittedly, a bit awkward. It may have been the fact that she was pretending to be male, or it may have been her attempt to emulate Nimroy's voice, which I felt was a touch unnecessary (he'd have been using her normal vocal cords, so they should sound the same). On the other hand, it was also amazing. Torv acted the same way Nimroy had acted when he was on screen, copying his mannerisms and rhetoric to the letter.

I don't know if Anna Torv really was the best 'Actress in a TV Drama' this year - I only saw 4 actresses playing main characters this past year, and I'm not even sure if Yvonne Strahovski's show (Chuck) counts as a drama or a comedy. I'm almost positive that Anna Torv at least deserves a nomination. There are six nomination spots in the Emmys, and I highly doubt that all six of the actresses chosen did a better job in the face of more challenges this year that Anna Torv.