Murray Bartlett has added his name to Australia’s list of Emmy winners, taking home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie for his role as highly strung hotel manager Armond on HBO’s The White Lotus.
Bartlett beat out co-stars Jake Lacy and Steve Zahn, as well as Dopesick‘s Will Poulter, Michael Stuhlbarg and Peter Sarsgaard, and Pam & Tommy‘s Seth Rogen to win the first of five Emmys for the comedy-drama, which was also crowned Outstanding Limited Series.
It’s been a long road for the Sydney-born actor, whose career began more than three decades ago with roles on The Flying Doctors and Home and Away, and continued with recurring appearances in E Street, Neighbours, and The Secret Life of Us, among others.
Since relocating to the US in 2000, he has had regular roles on HBO’s Looking and Netflix’s Tales of the City reboot, and can also be seen alongside fellow Aussie Rose Byrne in Apple TV+’s Physical.
In accepting his award, Bartlett started by paying tribute to series creator Mike White for giving him “one of the best experiences of his life” and finished with a special thank you to his mother for providing him with the “most wonderful foundation of unconditional love” and inspiring him to believe “we can all do that for each other”.
Of the other local acting hopes, The Staircase‘s Toni Collette lost out in the Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie category, with the award going to Amanda Seyfried for her depiction of disgraced entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes in The Dropout.
It was a similar story for Succession‘s Sarah Snook, who could not upset Ozark‘s Julia Garner to win the Supporting Actress in a Drama, as the 28-year-old secured her third win for the character of Ruth Langmore.
Succession was however crowned Outstanding Drama Series ahead of Ozark in the final award of the night, while Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso was a repeat winner in the Outstanding Comedy Series category.
It capped off a triumphant night for HBO, which recorded 11 wins, more than twice that of its nearest competitors Disney and Apple, who each ended with four. Netflix finished with three.
The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Microsoft Theatre in LA.
Monday’s ceremony (US time) followed the Creative Arts Emmy Awards earlier this month, in which Love on the Spectrum US, produced by Northern Pictures, was among the big winners, taking home three awards.