Peter Dinklage, "Game of Thrones"

Nomination Status: Defending champ has plenty of momentum.

In His Favor: Not only does Dinklage have the momentum that comes from Emmy and Golden Globe wins in the past year, but he has the added juice that comes from effectively being elevated to lead on "Game of Thrones" in Season Two. So while Dinklage won last year with two or three strong showcase episodes, he had five or six comparable episodes this year, including "Blackwater," which is almost certain to be in steady rotation for Emmy voters in a variety of technical categories. Ned Stark would say that by honor, Dinklage should have submitted as lead this year. Tyrion would say that if the pragmatic goal of Emmy submission is to be nominated for and win Emmys, Dinklage is exactly where he belongs. Tyrion is right.

Working Against Him: There's nothing working against Dinklage, per se. Thanks to the difficulty of this category, very few actors should feel safe, but Dinklage is one actor who doesn't need to worry.