Chance the Rapper, Anna Chlumsky among Emmy nominees from Chicago

SHARE Chance the Rapper, Anna Chlumsky among Emmy nominees from Chicago
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Chance the Rapper (right) is Emmy-nominated for a song he performed on “Saturday Night Live.” | NBC

Emmy voters, always generous to Chicago talent, this year brought some new local faces into the nominees’ club.

South Side wunderkind Chance the Rapper was part of a wave of nominations honoring a successful “Saturday Night Live” season, cited as one of the writers of “Last Christmas With Obama,” which he performed with Kenan Thompson on the show’s Christmas episode. His competition in the original music category includes Chicago rapper Common, a co-writer of “Letter to the Free” from the Netflix documentary “13th,” and Second City alumni Tina Fey and Jeff Richmond, for a ditty from “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”

Another strong category for Chicagoans is supporting actress in a comedy, where Broadview’s Anna Chlumsky earned her fifth nomination for her work on “Veep.” She competes against two first-time local nominees: improv veteran Vanessa Bayer (for her final season of “SNL,” and one of three “SNL” performers in the category) and Northwestern alum Kathryn Hahn of “Transparent.”

RELATED: ‘SNL,’ ‘Westworld’ lead the list of Emmy nominees

Stephen Colbert, the Second City alum who will host the Emmys on Sept. 17, sees his “Late Show” nominated for the first time. It’s competing for best variety talk show as well as in writing and directing categories. Colbert is a nine-time winner for his work on “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.”

The illustrious debut of NBC’s “This Is Us” brought nominations in drama series categories for two Chicago stage veterans in the cast: Ron Cephas Jones for supporting actor and Denis O’Hare for guest actor. Jones’ competition includes “Homeland” standout Mandy Patinkin, a Kenwood High grad and earlier Emmy winner for “Chicago Hope.”

Other first-time contenders with local roots:

• Chicago stage veteran Ann Dowd, both as supporting actress in a drama series for “The Handmaid’s Tale” and as guest actress in a drama series for “The Leftovers.”

• Another local stage performer, Carrie Coon, lead actress in a limited series for “Fargo.”

• Second City alum Jackie Hoffman, supporting actress in a limited series for “Feud.” She reacted with typical wry wit:

And the roster includes several Chicagoans with an Emmy history, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Matt Walsh of “Veep,” Bob Odenkirk of “Better Call Saul,” William H. Macy of “Shameless” and Melissa McCarthy for her hosting stint on “SNL.”


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