Changes to the eligibility of guest stars and directors

Maybe we should call it the “Queen Elizabeth Rule.” The Television Academy has unveiled a few new tweaks to the Emmy Awards rules, including one that should impact guest performer categories. Under the new rule, any artist who has previously been nominated or won in a main or supporting category will no longer be able to move into any of the guest artist races in the same role in future years.

That’s increasingly common in this prestige TV era, where actors often take on high-profile roles for a few years before leaving — with the promise of still making brief cameo appearances in subsequent seasons.

A good example is Claire Foy, who won the lead actress Emmy for “The Crown” in 2018. She left that show after two seasons (as her role as Princess Elizabeth/Queen Elizabeth was given to Olivia Colman and then to Imelda Staunton). But Foy would continue to appear in flashback form as the younger Elizabeth, earning her an Emmy nomination for guest drama actress in 2021, which she won, and another nomination in the category in 2024.

Similarly, “This Is Us” star Ron Cephas Jones was nominated in the supporting drama actor category in 2017, when he was a regular cast member. Transitioning to recurring, the thesp was nominated for Guest Drama Actor in 2018, 2019 and 2020. (He won in both 2018 and 2020.)

Here’s the rule change: “If an artist is nominated or wins in a Lead or Supporting Artist category, the artist will not be eligible for a Guest Artist category in a subsequent Emmy year for playing the same character role in the same category. series. However, they can continue to compete in a leading or supporting category.”

That change will take effect in time for the 77^e Emmy Awards Competition in 2025. This year also sees a shift in directorial races, with “an eligible individual or same team may now enter multiple performances per category if the performances are for different programs.” According to the Academy, directors could previously only submit one entry per category.

“This change will allow the director to submit an episode of each of the programs he directed,” the Academy said.

There are also several changes planned to be implemented for the 78^e Emmys in 2026.

In casting: “To streamline the number of reality cast titles eligible for Emmy consideration, the following titles will be eligible beginning with the 2026 Emmy competition:”

And in the main title theme race, which begins in 2026, “a main title theme must appear in 50% or more of the eligible episodes submitted for the 2026 Emmy competition. The main title theme is further defined as a musical fingerprint and calling card that is identifiable and unique to a show, drawing in an audience by setting the tone of the show and what’s to come.