Emmys 2021 Had No Love for ‘Lucifer’ Star Tom Ellis

Lucifer fans had some mixed feelings upon learning about the latest Emmy nominations. The Netflix dramedy, which aired its fifth season during this eligibility period, received its first nomination. However, it was not for any of the show’s acting performances, including the one by lead actor Tom Ellis.

Ellis, 42, has been critically hailed throughout the show’s five-season run thus far, with many pointing out he an exceptional part of a show that has generally received mixed reviews. Ellis’ lead performance as Lucifer Morningstar — the devil himself — has carried the show, especially during its early FOX seasons. Seasons 1-3 were produced for broadcast television, which had to cater to individual episode time constraints, tighter rating rules and a sometimes bloated episode count. (Season 3 had a whopping 24 episodes with two bonus episodes tacked on!) Throughout it all, the British actor’s charismatic leading turn was a bright light in a sometimes generic police procedural/comic book series.

Ellis has been eligible for the past five Emmy seasons, but there’s been no love shown. He’s balanced dramatic personal scenes, joyous comedic banter, delightful musical numbers and the wild special effect moments that come with playing a fallen angel. As solid as the whole cast is, Ellis’ turn in this widely popular show on the Emmy-favorite streamer Netflix — which racked up the second-most nominations out of all streaming companies — surely deserved some award buzz this season. (The man even played a second role in Season 5. What else does he have to do?)

Despite this slight from the Emmys, it’s not all bad news. Of course, Ellis will be eligible for his work in Season 6. Maybe Ellis will get the nod in his farewell run as the satanic police consultant.

Plus, let’s not downplay the show’s first nomination. The program received a nom in the Outstanding Choreography For Scripted Programming category, thanks to Brooke Lipton’s work on the “Another One Bites The Dust / Hell / Bad To The Bone” scene in the Season 5 musical episode “Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam.”

All episodes of Lucifer — including those that originally aired on FOX — are streaming on Netflix. The show itself is based on the DC Comics character Lucifer Morningstar, who was created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Keith and Mike Dringenberg.