Bradley Cooper, known for his illustrious career with 12 Oscar nominations, is poised to potentially earn his first Primetime Emmy nomination. He’s being considered for his guest appearance as himself on ABC’s “Abbott Elementary.” According to both ABC and awards strategists, Cooper has been submitted for guest comedy actor consideration for the upcoming awards season. This move signals recognition of Cooper’s talent and contribution to the comedy series, potentially marking a new milestone in his already impressive career.

Earlier this year, the Television Academy implemented rule changes for submitting in the guest acting categories, specifying that “a brief cameo appearance is not eligible for entry.” However, the definition of what constitutes a cameo remains somewhat ambiguous. For actors like Bradley Cooper, who appeared as himself on “Abbott Elementary,” and Kevin Hart, who made a cameo appearance in a recent episode via a Facetime call, it’s not explicitly clear whether their roles would be considered cameos under these new guidelines. The interpretation of these rules may vary, and ultimately, it will be up to the Television Academy to determine the eligibility of such performances for Emmy consideration.

The rules further elaborate on the definition of a guest performer, stating that eligibility requires a minimum stand-alone and contiguous screen time, where the performer has an ongoing engagement in the scene, whether on or off-camera. Specifically, the performer must account for at least 5% of the total running time of the submitted episode to be considered eligible for nomination in the guest acting categories. Bradley Cooper

 

The Television Academy stated that the rule adjustment was implemented “to ensure that a guest performer’s role is significant to the episode being submitted.” In Bradley Cooper’s case, his appearance in the episode titled “Willard R. Abbott” holds particular significance. The episode aired immediately following this year’s 95th Oscars ceremony, where Cooper received three nominations for his work in producing, writing, and starring in the Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro.”

In the cold open of the sixth episode, a student in Melissa’s (Lisa Ann Walter) class brings Cooper’s character to the school for show and tell after spotting him purchasing a hoagie across the street. This setup suggests that Cooper’s appearance plays a substantial role within the context of the episode, potentially meeting the criteria outlined by the Television Academy for significant guest performer roles.

 

In order to meet the eligibility criteria set by the Television Academy, Bradley Cooper must appear in at least 5% of the episode’s runtime. With the episode being 20 minutes and 31 seconds long (or 1,231 seconds), Cooper’s appearance should amount to a minimum of 61.5 seconds. Bradley Cooper

In the episode, Cooper is featured in a scene lasting one minute and 56 seconds (or 116 seconds), which exceeds the minimum requirement by nearly double. Therefore, based on the duration of his appearance, Cooper’s role in the episode meets and surpasses the eligibility threshold established by the Television Academy.

 

Kevin Hart, a native of Philadelphia, made a virtual appearance in the final minutes of last week’s episode titled “Mother’s Day.” In this episode, Janine Teagues (Quinta Brunson) explores the possibility of Hart being her father after her mother’s high school liaison with him. The episode had a duration of 21 minutes and 37 seconds, with Hart’s scene beginning at the 20-minute and 28-second mark as the credits rolled. Bradley Cooper

To be eligible for consideration, Hart’s appearance needed to meet the requirement of at least 65 seconds of screen time. His scene in the episode lasted for 71 seconds, barely surpassing the eligibility threshold. However, despite meeting the minimum requirement, Variety has confirmed that Hart was not submitted as a guest comedy actor due to his “virtual cameo.” It remains unclear whether he would have qualified if submitted.  Bradley Cooper

 

Nonetheless, Hart remains a contender in multiple categories for his work, including his talk series “Hart to Hart” on Peacock and his role as host of the game show “Celebrity Game Face” on NBC.

This prompts the question: what previous nominations or victories prompted the Television Academy to revise its rules? Looking back to 2021, when Claire Foy won the Emmy for guest drama actress in “The Crown,” she appeared on screen for just one minute and 49 seconds of the 53-minute episode, falling short by 10 seconds for submission eligibility. This year, in reprising her role as young Queen Elizabeth alongside Emmy winner Olivia Colman, both actresses would require three minutes and 36 seconds of the 72-minute series finale episode for eligibility. Variety’s calculations indicate that both Foy and Colman meet this requirement in their respective performances.