Despite heading into the 2025 Creative Arts Emmys with 13 nominations (tied for fourth), The Last of Us saw only one winner on the night. The sole prize, for Outstanding Sound Editing, puts HBO’s flagship zombie drama in a particularly bad place. By comparison, Season 1 picked up eight wins in its first year and still went home without a single win in the Primetime broadcast. With that in mind, let’s check to see where the series sits in each of its remaining nominations.
The Last of Us Primetime Emmy Nominations
Outstanding Drama Series
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series — Bella Ramsey
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series — Pedro Pascal
The Case for Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal
While a series with only three nominations at the Primetime Emmys might be easily written off, there is some room to see how The Last of Us can take home the acting awards. While it does not appear likely, neither of the acting categories is so sealed up that they preclude Pascal or Ramsey from breaking into the top spot.
First, Ramsey has the cleaner path to Emmy glory. The majority of Season 2 focused on them without Pascal’s Joel character. This meant they were forced to carry the burden of the show while Ellie was holding secrets yet to be revealed to the audience. That is not always an easy performance to pull off, but Ramsey did a particularly good job in that regard.
The issues that the internet picked with the writing on the series do not come into play here either. Ramsey instead inhabited the character and took Ellie from an angry young teen into a vengeful adult. The range they displayed as a performer was never in doubt.
2025 Emmy Nominations: Winners and Losers
Finally, Ramsey has the benefit of the weakest category in this year’s awards. Right now, the argument is between veteran Kathy Bates and newcomer Britt Lower. Bates’ path is based on precursor success, but TV does not have the same precursor path that the TV world does. Bates is also the only nominee for her show, a huge mark against her when you factor in all the non-actors voting in the category.
Meanwhile, Lower is a first-time nominee for Severance. I would say Lower would be the favorite, especially if Severance is going to win Outstanding Drama Series. Still, Ramsey has multiple nominations and was widely considered the runner-up for their last nomination. If they carry goodwill over to this group of nominees and Severance finds itself struggling against The Pitt, the voters may look for Ramsey’s more traditional performance.
Looking at Pascal, he has a more challenging road ahead of him. With The Last of Us officially leaving Joel behind (outside of a potential flashback cameo or two), this will be the final chance to nominate the beloved actor for this role. Pascal has gone on to become a movie star this summer, and the goodwill of the TV Academy may want to crown him as one of their own before he moves onward.
2025 Emmy Nominations Predictions for the Annual Primetime Emmy Awards
However, Pascal faces much tougher competition in Outstanding Lead Actor. There’s a true battle brewing at the top of the ticket, with Noah Wyle and Adam Scott trading body blows. Wyle has decades of TV superstardom on his side and is the surprise of the season. Meanwhile, Scott is the lead on one of the most beloved shows of the year. He’s also playing two sides of a character, each of whom has unique motivations. Pascal could benefit from the two splitting the votes (think Adrian Brody in The Pianist).
Can The Last of Us win Outstanding Drama Series?
This seems out of reach for The Last of Us. Three other shows have already taken more wins than HBO’s show heading into the Primetime awards, and all three have stronger narratives behind them. Andor took home four wins, and some of its episodes resonate with the political moment.
Severance is the odds-on favorite for the big prize, especially with six wins last weekend. It’s got the most of any drama series and should add to its total with acting wins. Finally, The Pitt picked up two wins already, but with the odds-on favorite in supporting actress, expect big things on Sunday night.
Where does this leave The Last of Us?
For the 77th Primetime Emmys, we are expecting The Last of Us to lose all three of its Primetime nominations. Ramsey has the strongest case, but they have to overcome Succession dominance. We’re predicting Noah Wyle in Lead Actor as well, leaving Pedro without a final golden statue. Without those and The Last of Us running potentially fourth or fifth for Drama Series, it seems likely to go home empty handed on Sunday.
The 77th Primetime Emmys air on September 14, 2025.
