OUTSTANDING LEADING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES

Steve Buscemi as Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson for (“To the Lost”) in “BOARDWALK EMPIRE”

Bryan Cranston as Walter White for (“Crawl Space”) in “BREAKING BAD”

Kelsey Grammer as Mayor Tom Kane for (“Remebered”) in “BOSS”

Jon Hamm as Don Draper for (“The Other Woman”) in “MAD MEN”

Damian Lewis as Nicholas Brody for (“Marine One”) in “HOMELAND”

Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens for (“A Guy Walks Into a Bar”) in “JUSTIFIED”

AND THE WINNER IS:

BRYAN CRANSTON AS WALTER WHITE FOR ("CRAWL SPACE") IN "BREAKING BAD"

Last Year’s Winner: Jon Hamm as Don Draper for (“The Suitcase”) in “MAD MEN”

This is the third win for Bryan Cranston on his ninth nomination for his work on Breaking Bad.

Water White has been the definition of an anti-hero as viwers support him even as he performs horrfying acts and this fourth season really was a change for the character as he becomes more of a villian especially in his battle aganist Gus and for the most part the human factor is brought in the performance by Bryan Cranston. In the episode Crawl Space the character of Walter is presented as being desperate to escape up until the end where he finally loses his way and has a  clear mental breakdown which is why the performance by Cranston is so breathtaking because he makes these moments of horror in the character so fasinating to a point where it is clear we should not support the character. With this season’s work the performance by Cranston will continue to go down as one of the greatest tv performances.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:

2000: James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano for (“The Happy Wanderer”) in “THE SOPRANOS”

2001: Martin Sheen as President Josiah ‘Jed’ Bartlet for (“Two Cathedrals”) in “THE WEST WING”

2002: Michael Chicklis as Detective Vic Mackey for (“Pilot”) in “THE SHIELD”

2003: James Gandolfini as Tony Soprano for (“Whitecaps”) in “THE SOPRANOS”

2004: Ian McShane as Al Swearengen for (“Deadwood”) in “DEADWOOD”

2005: Ian McShane as Al Swearengen  for (“The Whores Can Come”) in “DEADWOOD”

2006: Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House for (“Acceptance”) in “HOUSE”

2007: Ian McShane as Al Swearengen for (“A Rich Find”) in “DEADWOOD”

2008: Gabriel Byrne as Dr. Paul Westonfor (“Paul and Gina: Week Four”) in “INTREATMENT”

2009: Bryan Cranston as Walter White for (“Phoneix”) in “BREAKING BAD”

2010: Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan for (“The Getaway”) in “DEXTER”

2011: Jon Hamm as Don Draper for (“The Suitcase”) in “MAD MEN”