Linda Cardellini and David Harbour win first Emmy Awards for DTF St. Louis

Supporting acting victories

Linda Cardellini and David Harbour won their first Emmy Awards on Sunday night during the second evening of the Creative Arts Emmys. Both performers received recognition in the limited or anthology series supporting categories for their roles in the HBO series DTF St. Louis. Supporting actor and actress awards for limited series were presented during this ceremony rather than during the primetime broadcast scheduled for September 14.

During her acceptance speech, Cardellini thanked her parents, her partner Steve, her daughter Lyra Rose, and her fellow cast members Jason Bateman, David Harbour, and Joy Sunday. She also addressed her fellow nominees directly during her remarks, describing them as incredible and inspiring.

Thank you for your beautiful heart and your beautiful mind. Thank you for this part and giving me this chance.

Cardellini won over a category that included Sunday, Dakota Fanning for All Her Fault, Laurie Metcalf for Monster: The Ed Gein Story, Youn Yuh-jung for Beef, and Constance Zimmer for Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. Harbour won his category against Bateman, Richard Jenkins, Richard Gadd for Half Man, Charles Melton for Beef, and Nick Offerman for Death by Lightning. Harbour acknowledged the work of showrunner Steven Conrad on stage.

In terms of my of my fellow nominees, it was not a fair fight. I got to play Floyd Smernitch, who is an incredibly written character by a genius named named Steve Conrad, who, is a true original.

Production and series narrative

DTF St. Louis focuses on a love triangle between three middle-aged suburbanites that ends with one person dead. Cardellini plays Carol Love-Smernitch, who is married to Harbour's character, Floyd Smernitch. The central conflict begins when Floyd's relationship with local weatherman Clark Forrest, played by Bateman, shifts after Clark and Carol start an affair.

Conrad created, wrote, and directed the dark comedy, which debuted on HBO Max in March. The production secured 13 nominations at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. Five of those nominations went to cast members, including Cardellini, Harbour, Bateman, Jenkins, and Sunday. Technical and craft nominations for the series included directing, writing, casting, costumes, sound mixing, and cinematography.

Career nominations and upcoming telecast

The wins represent the first Emmy victories for both Cardellini and Harbour across four career nominations each. Cardellini earned her first nomination in 2013 for a guest appearance as Sylvia Rosen in Mad Men. She earned two additional nominations in 2020 for Dead to Me, competing as lead comedy actress and as a co-executive producer. Harbour received supporting actor nominations in 2017 and 2018 for playing Jim Hopper in Stranger Things.

Harbour also served as an executive producer on DTF St. Louis through his production banner Bravo Axolotl. Reflecting on the difference from his earlier nominations, Harbour noted that his previous recognition focused strictly on individual acting, whereas his work on this project involved executive producing the entire ensemble. The series remains nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, a category that will be presented during the main Emmy telecast on September 14.