IRISH TV DRAMA Normal People has been nominated for four Emmy Awards, with Paul Mescal nominated in the Lead Actor category.

The show is based on the book of the same name by Sally Rooney, with the Mayo author also nominated for her writing of the TV screenplay along with co-writer Alice Birch. 

Normal People was made by Irish production company Element Pictures for US streaming site Hulu and the BBC. The show has been a huge hit with critics and fans and was released at the height of lockdown in the UK and Ireland.

In today’s Emmy nominations, Normal People was nominated in four different categories, Outstanding Casting, Outstanding Directing, Outstanding Writing and Outstanding Lead Actor.

Irish director Lenny Abrahamson has got the nod in the directing category, having previously been nominated for an Oscar, with Louise Kiely receiving the casting nomination.

In Mescal’s category, the Maynooth actor will face competition from a number of Hollywood heavyweights such as Hugh Jackman (Bad Education), Jeremy Irons (Watchmen), Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much is True) and Jeremy Pope (Hollywood).

Ireland’s Andrew Scott was also nominated in the Outstanding Guest Actor category for his role in Black Mirror with Fiona Shaw nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actress for her role in Killing Eve.   

Elsewhere, HBO’s Watchmen topped the nominations list with 26 nominations followed by Amazon hit The Marvelous Mrs Maisel with 20 and dark dramas Ozark and Succession with 18 each.

Here are the main nominations

OUTSTANDING DRAMA SERIES
“Better Call Saul”
“The Crown”
“The Handmaid’s Tale”
“Killing Eve”
“The Mandalorian”
“Ozark”
“Stranger Things”
“Succession”

OUTSTANDING COMEDY SERIES
“Curb Your Enthusiasm”
“Dead to Me”
“The Good Place”
“Insecure”
“The Kominsky Method”
“The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”
“Schitt’s Creek”
“What We Do In The Shadows”

LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA
Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”
Steve Carell, “The Morning Show”
Brian Cox, “Succession”
Billy Porter, “Pose”
Jeremy Strong, “Succession”

LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA
Jennifer Aniston, “The Morning Show”
Olivia Colman, “The Crown”
Jodie Comer, “Killing Eve”
Laura Linney, “Ozark”
Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”
Zendaya, “Euphoria”

LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY
Anthony Anderson, “black-ish”
Don Cheadle, “Black Monday”
Ted Danson, “The Good Place”
Michael Douglas, “The Kominsky Method”
Eugene Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Ramy Youssef, “Ramy”

LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY
Christina Applegate, “Dead to Me”
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”
Linda Cardellini, “Dead to Me”
Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”
Issa Rae, “Insecure”
Tracee Ellis Ross, “black-ish”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, DRAMA
Nicholas Braun, “Succession”
Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”
Kieran Culkin, “Succession”
Mark Duplass, “The Morning Show”
Giancarlo Esposito, “Better Call Saul”
Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”
Bradley Whitford, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Jeffrey Wright, “Westworld”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, DRAMA
Helena Bonham Carter, “The Crown”
Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”
Julia Garner, “Ozark”
Thandie Newton, “Westworld”
Fiona Shaw, “Killing Eve”
Sarah Snook, “Succession”
Meryl Streep, “Big Little Lies”
Samira Wiley, “The Handmaid’s Tale”

SUPPORTING ACTOR, COMEDY
Mahershala Ali, “Ramy”
Alan Arkin, “The Kominsky Method”
Andre Braugher, “Brooklyn Nine-Nine”
Sterling K Brown, “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”
William Jackson Harper, “The Good Place”
Daniel Levy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Tony Shalhoub, “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”
Kenan Thompson, “Saturday Night Live”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS, COMEDY
Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”
D’Arcy Carden, “The Good Place”
Betty Gilpin, “GLOW”
Marin Hinkle, “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”
Kate McKinnon, “Saturday Night Live”
Annie Murphy, “Schitt’s Creek”
Yvonne Orji, “Insecure”
Cecily Strong, “Saturday Night Live”

OUTSTANDING LIMITED SERIES
“Little Fires Everywhere”
“Mrs America”
“Unbelievable”
“Unorthodox”
“Watchmen”
OUTSTANDING TELEVISION MOVIE
“American Son”
“Bad Education”
“Dolly Parton’s Heartstrings: These Old Bones”
“El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie”
“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs the Reverend”

LEAD ACTOR, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Jeremy Irons, “Watchmen”
Hugh Jackman, “Bad Education”
Paul Mescal, “Normal People”
Jeremy Pope, “Hollywood”
Mark Ruffalo, “I Know This Much Is True”

LEAD ACTRESS, LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE
Cate Blanchett, “Mrs America”
Shira Haas, “Unorthodox”
Regina King, “Watchmen”
Octavia Spencer, “Self Made”
Kerry Washington, “Little Fires Everywhere”