Film To Television: Five Movies To Watch Before The Emmys Air

Celebrating the big-screen work of this year’s TV stars

On Sunday September 22, the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards will honor the best and brightest that TV has to offer. As the worlds of film and television grow closer and closer, many of those who will be on the red carpet Sunday have already trod similar press lines for their movie premieres or on Oscar® night. Downton Abbey, which won ten Emmys®—and was nominated for countless more—brings back much of the same cast and crew for the film Downton Abbey (now playing in theaters). Some nominees, who worked so brilliantly in TV, will soon be bringing their considerable talents to the big screen. Up for two Emmy nominations for Killing Eve—Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series and Outstanding Drama Series (as an executive producer)—Emerald Fennell will be making her feature debut as the writer and director of the upcoming Promising Young Woman. As you get ready to watch the Emmys on TV this weekend, check out the outstanding film work of five of this year’s nominees.

Get tickets to see Downton Abbey today.

The official trailer for Downton Abbey

Don Cheadle | Black Monday & Talk To Me

Don Cheadle is nominated for Lead Actor in a Comedy for his portrayal of the high-flying Wall Street trader Maurice "Mo" Monroe on Black Monday. While the character is fictional, the show’s central event, the stock market crash of October 19, 1987, is real. To see Cheadle in a similar real-world comedic role, catch his mesmerizing turn as Petey Greene in Talk to Me. Directed by Kasi Lemmons—whose new film Harriet opens on November 1—Talk to Me captures the hilarious and tumultuous career of a real-life ex-con who became one Washington, D.C.’s most popular shock jocks. “Demonstrating why he's one of the most versatile actors around, Don Cheadle gives another prize-worthy performance as Ralph Waldo 'Petey' Greene Jr.,” writes The Hollywood Reporter.

Get Talk to Me on iTunes or at Amazon.

The official trailer of Talk To Me with Don Cheadle

Kristin Scott Thomas | Fleabag & Darkest Hour

For her role in Fleabag, Kristin Scott Thomas has been nominated for Outstanding Guest Actress In A Comedy Series. Thomas plays a successful business woman who inspires Fleabag (played by the show’s creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge) with a stirring speech on being a woman in today’s world. Two years earlier, Thomas played the woman behind the man famous for giving an equally moving speech in Joe Wright’s Darkest Hour. Fighting to unite England during one of its lowest times, the surly Winston Churchill (in an Oscar®-winning performance by Gary Oldman) finds warm comfort and stern counsel in his wife Clementine (Thomas), who, according to The Guardian, “is a crisp and crucial antidote to all the pugnacious growling.”

Get Darkest Hour now on iTunes or at Amazon.

See Kristin Scott Thomas and Gary Oldman in this select clip from Darkest Hour 

Jason Bateman | Ozark & Bad Words

In the crime drama Ozark, Jason Bateman plays Martin Byrde, a financial planner who crosses over to the wrong side of the law to protect his family and appease a Mexican drug cartel. At this year’s Emmys®, Bateman will be a triple threat with three nominations for Ozark: one for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series; another for Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series; and finally for Outstanding Drama Series as one of the show’s executive producers. This is not the first time the comic actor has shown his dark side, or his multiple talents. Bateman also starred in, directed, and produced the black comedy Bad Words about an adult man hell-bent on winning a children’s spelling bee. “In this profanely funny comedy of bad manners and hurts that won’t heal, Bateman shows the same skill as a filmmaker that he does as an actor," exclaims Rolling Stone. “And that’s something to see.”

Get Bad Words now on iTunes or at Amazon.

See this special featurette on Jason Bateman directing Bad Words

Amy Adams | Sharp Objects & Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

For her role as crime reporter Camille Preaker in Sharp ObjectsAmy Adams is up for two Emmys: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and Outstanding Limited Series as one of the show’s executive producers. As a woman who must confront her past and present demons when she returns to her hometown, Adams has been praised by Indiewire for her ability to “imbue Camille with a fearless spirit and a broken one, sometimes simultaneously.” In Bharat Nalluri’s 2008 comedy Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, Adams demonstrated a similar range, albeit in a role more flighty than fierce. As the glamorous and giddy actress Delysia Lafosse in Depression-era London, Adams is ably assisted by Miss Pettigrew (Frances McDormand), an out-of-work governess who keeps Lafosse’s many suitors at bay. For The Los Angeles Times, “Adams is amazingly adept at playing smart playing dumb—there’s more to her flaky actress than meets the eye.”

Get Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day now on iTunes or at Amazon

See Amy Adams in the official trailer for Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Viola Davis | How to Get Away With Murder & Far From Heaven

As Annalise Keating, the tough-talking law professor in How To Get Away With Murder, Viola Davis is up for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. This is not her first time at the ceremony. She has already being nominated five times, winning the award in 2015 for Murder. Long before she took home an Oscar®, an Emmy®, and a Tony®, Davis was an up-and-coming actress who brought decisive grace and depth to various supporting roles. In 2002, Davis was cast as Sybil, the housekeeper for and confident of Cathy Whitaker (Julianne Moore) in Todd HaynesFar From HeavenWhile small, her part demonstrated the principled empathy that would become the hallmark of her characters. (Haynes’ new film Dark Waters with Anne Hathaway and Mark Ruffalo will be in theaters November 22).

Get Far From Heaven now on iTunes or at Amazon.

Viola Davis shows up in this select clip from Far From Heaven

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