Few Hollywood careers inspire the kind of affection reserved for the woman behind Norma Rae, Steel Magnolias and Mrs. Doubtfire. So when the Television Academy revealed its 2026 nominees on Wednesday morning, is was unusually satisfying to see the Flying Nun herself, Sally Field, back in the Emmy race for the first time in 17 years.
The 79-year-old earned a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for Netflix‘s Remarkably Bright Creatures, according to our own Parade reporting, which listed her among the morning’s happiest surprises. Based on Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling 2022 novel, the film stars Field as Tova Sullivan, a widow who takes a job at an aquarium and forms an unlikely bond with a giant octopus while searching for answers about her son’s disappearance. Lewis Pullman co-stars in the adaptation, which premiered on the streamer May 8.
The nod ends what Deadlinedescribed as a “17-year drought” for one of television’s most decorated performers. Field has won three Emmys across her remarkable run, for the 1976 TV movie Sybil, a memorable guest arc on ERin 2000 and the family drama Brothers & Sisters in 2007. Her Emmy nominations stopped arriving after that series wrapped, even as her film work kept earning acclaim, including an Oscar nomination for playing Mary Todd Lincoln in 2012’s Lincoln.
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Wednesday’s announcement, presented in Los Angeles by Emmy winners Jeff Hiller and Liza Colón-Zayas, produced surprises in nearly every category, from unexpected acting nods to full shutouts of heavily campaigned series. But few of those noms carried the warmth of Field’s return to the race. Awards coverage across the industry singled out her nomination as one of the day’s feel-good headlines, a rarity in a morning defined largely by snub talk.
Remarkably Bright Creatures marked Field’s first film since 2023, ending a three-year stretch away from acting. The star, who turns 80 in November, has spent much of this year celebrating six decades in Hollywood, a journey that began with a teenage Gidget in 1965 and grew to include two Best Actress Oscars, a Tony and a SAG Life Achievement Award. Emmy voters clearly responded to the same tenderness that had audiences reaching for tissues this spring.
She joins a competitive year across the board. The Pitt led all programs with 25 nominations, followed by the final season of Hacks with 24. The 78th Emmy Awards, hosted by Mariska Hargitay, air September 14 on NBC and Peacock, giving Field a little more than two months to prepare for a return to a stage she knows well. Fans have been saying it since that famous 1985 Oscar speech, and Wednesday’s announcement proved the Television Academy agrees: they still like her.
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