Last year, Margo Martindale triumphed in this category with her turn on “The Americans,” a show that has been woefully underrepresented at the Emmys. While she could repeat this year, she will have to battle some fierce competitors in the form of previous winners.

Both Allison Janney [“Masters of Sex”] and Carrie Preston [“The Good Wife”] have won for their roles before. And several potential nominees are previous winners. Ellen Burstyn [“House of Cards”] is an Emmy winner in this category for “Law & Order: SVU,” and has seven noms and two wins total. [Don’t forget Burstyn is beloved; she was famously nominated for her work in “Mrs. Harris,” which consisted of fewer than 20 seconds of screen time.] Laurie Metcalf has three Emmys from “Roseanne,” but her work as the ex-wife of Louis C.K. in “Horace and Pete” is unlike anything we’ve seen her in before. Stockard Channing has won two Emmys, both in 2002, and could score a third for the final season of “The Good Wife.” Cynthia Nixon also has two Emmys — one in this category for “Law & Order: SVU” — but her work in “The Affair” could score her third. And Cicely Tyson could add a fourth trophy for her work as Viola Davis’ mother on “How to Get Away With Murder.”

Among the competition are ladies who are legends, including Patti LuPone [“Penny Dreadful”] and Carrie Fisher [“Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce”]. Who wouldn’t love to hear Fisher’s acceptance speech?

Frontrunners



Ellen Burstyn

HOUSE OF CARDS

Stockard Channing

THE GOOD WIFE

Allison Janney

MASTERS OF SEX

Patti LuPone

PENNY DREADFUL

Margo Martindale

THE AMERICANS

Laurie Metcalf

HORACE AND PETE

Cynthia Nixon

THE AFFAIR

Carrie Preston

THE GOOD WIFE

Cicely Tyson

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

On the Bubble



Ana de la Reguera

NARCOS

Carrie Fisher

GIRLFRIENDS’ GUIDE TO DIVORCE

Whoopi Goldberg

LAW & ORDER: SVU

Arielle Kebbel

UNREAL

Natasha Lyonne

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

Lena Olin

VINYL

Sarah Silverman

MASTERS OF SEX

Mary Steenburgen

ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK

Marisa Tomei

EMPIRE

Kathleen Turner

THE PATH

Cicely Tyson

HOUSE OF CARDS

Mare Winningham

THE AFFAIR

Dark Horses



Debbie Allen

GREY’S ANATOMY

Shiri Appleby

CODE BLACK

Aidy Bryant

HORACE AND PETE

Rosario Dawson

MARVEL’S DAREDEVIL

Frances de la Tour

OUTLANDER

Kim Dickens

HOUSE OF CARDS

Linda Emond

THE KNICK

Melissa Errico

BILLIONS

Tovah Feldshuh

THE WALKING DEAD

Judy Greer

MASTERS OF SEX

Famke Janssen

HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER

Annet Mahendru

THE AMERICANS

Rita Moreno

GREY’S ANATOMY

Molly Parker

HOUSE OF CARDS

June Squibb

CODE BLACK

Sarah Steele

THE GOOD WIFE

Annabelle Wallis

PEAKY BLINDERS

Alicia Witt

THE WALKING DEAD