Only one Stranger Things actor can win an Emmy this year

While Stranger Things Season 4 boasted a number of amazing performances, only one actor could take home an Emmy this year.

The Stranger Things Season 4 hype is far from over, despite it almost being a year since the finale dropped on Netflix.

Season 4 Volume 2, which is considered one of the strongest parts of the show so far, followed Nancy, Steve, Robin, and the members of the Hellfire Club as they faced off against Vecna in the Upside Down.

The newest season is currently up for a plethora of Emmy awards, which we’ll get into below. However, despite many fans clamouring for awards for all the actors, due to Emmy rules, turns out only one could actually be nominated.

Dacre Montgomery is the only eligible Emmy actor for Stranger Things

Due to specific Emmy rules, only one actor is eligible for an Emmy for their performance in Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 2: Dacre Montgomery, who plays Billy, or rather, Vecna’s depiction of Billy that he torments Max with.

See, in June 2022, the Television Academy eliminated the “Hangover Episode Rule,” which allowed a series that premiered same-season episodes after the May 31 Emmy deadline – but before the start of nomination round-voting – the chance to still have all of its episodes be considered for any nominations.

Now that that rule is gone, it means that Season 4 couldn’t be considered as a whole for the Emmys. And with Volume 2 – the only eligible part this year – only consisting of two movie-length episodes, that means that these episodes will be considered “Orphan Episodes.” Ultimately, there’s not enough of them to be considered for the Drama Series category, as the category requires a minimum of six episodes. And with this, the Drama Series Acting category becomes a non-option for the show.

However, some categories are still available, such as Directing, Writing, and Guest Stars. To be considered as a Guest Star, the actor cannot appear in more than 50% of the episodes in a given season. Thankfully, Dacre Montgomery as Billy Hargrove fits these requirements.

However, if Montogemery is nominated – so far he has only been submitted – he will likely have stiff competition. Predictions for other nominees include Nick Offerman, Murray Bartlett, Lamar Johnson, and Gabriel Luna from HBO’s The Last of Us; James Cromwell and Arian Moayed from Succession; and Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Michael McKean, Tony Dalton, and Mark Margolis for Better Call Saul.

All of this comes after other Stranger Things stars, such as Sadie Sink, were “snubbed” at the 2022 Emmy Awards for Season 4 Volume 1, despite the show winning for other categories such as Stunt Coordination and Music Supervision. And with the Duffer Brothers delaying the production of Season 5 in solidarity with the WGA strikes, who knows how long it could be before any Stranger Things actor can be nominated again.

So while iconic newcomer Joseph Quinn as Eddie Munson says in his dying breaths, “I think it’s finally my year,” it sadly isn’t in regards to the Emmys.

What Emmy Awards will Stranger Things be nominated for?

However, while the acting options may be slim, Season 4 Volume 2 has still been submitted for multiple awards, including:

• Directing (Drama) – The Duffer Brothers, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”
• Writing (Drama) – The Duffer Brothers, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”
• Cinematography (One-Hour) – Caleb Heymann, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”
• Music Composition (Original Dramatic Score) – Kyle Dixon, Michael Stein, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”
• Music Supervision – Nora Felder, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”
• Period/Character Hairstyling – Sarah Hindsgaul, Katrina Suhre, Brynn Berg, O’Dena Gibson, Tariq Ferguson, Jamie Freeman, Charles Grico, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”
• Period/Character Makeup (Non-Prosthetic) – Amy L. Forsythe, Devin Morales, Erin Keith, Nataleigh Verrengia, Benji Dove, Jan Rooney, Lisa Poe, Rocco Gaglioti Jr., “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”
• Period Costumes – Amy Parris, Kristin Garaventa, Seth Elliott, Pam Aaron, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”
• Picture Editing (Drama) – Dean Zimmerman, Katheryn Naranjo, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”
• Sound Editing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) – Craig Henighan, Will Files, Ryan Cole, Korey Pereira, Angelo Palazzo, Katie Halliday, Ken McGill, Steve Baine, David Klotz, Lena Glikson-Nezhelskaya, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”
• Sound Mixing (One Hour) – Craig Henighan, Will Files, Mark Paterson, Michael P. Clark, “Chapter Nine: The Piggyback”

Emmy voting begins on June 15, so we’ll have to wait and see if Montgomery stands a chance.

Stranger Things Season 4 is currently available to stream on Netflix. Find out more about Season 5 here and check out more of our TV & Movies coverage here.