'Nocturne' Submits Graham and Schreiber as Leads, Setting Up Head-to-Head Race

Stephen Graham and Liev Schreiber will both campaign as lead actors for Apple TV+'s Nocturne, Gold Derby has learned, forcing the two stars into a direct category collision at Critics Choice, the Golden Globes and SAG. Off screen, as on screen, the detective and the killer compete.

The thriller premiered October 30 with its first two episodes of a 10-episode season. Schreiber plays a former homicide detective who quit over the fallout from the case of a now-imprisoned serial killer, played by Graham, and the detective is pulled back in when one of the killer's presumed victims resurfaces — minus his sister. Zazie Beetz co-stars as an FBI agent who volunteers to go undercover on the case.

Critics have been kind. The series holds an overall rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, with Variety crediting Graham — fresh off Adolescence — with a "wildly unnerving" performance "what holds the show together." That review language matters for a campaign; it gives publicists a quotable case for Graham in a crowded lead field.

What are the actual submissions?

The studio's filings for the upcoming awards cycle cover three major bodies, with parallel slates:

• Critics Choice: Best Drama Series; Best Actor in a Drama Series (Schreiber, Graham); Best Actress in a Drama Series (Beetz); Best Supporting Male Actor on Television (Rory Culkin, Bill Camp, Gary Carr); Best Supporting Female Actor on Television (Chrissy Metz, Poorna Jagannathan).
• Golden Globes: Best Television Series — Drama; the same lead and supporting lineups, matching Critics Choice name for name.
• SAG Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (Schreiber, Graham); Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series (Beetz); Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

The symmetry is deliberate. Identical slates across Critics Choice and the Globes keep messaging simple for voters and for trades tracking the race.

How are the guilds being handled?

At the Writers Guild, the studio will submit for new series and drama series, anchoring its campaign on the first episode, "Lazarus, Come Forth!", written by series creator Rowan Joffe. One script, one bet. That is a common economy play: a single-episode submission concentrates attention rather than splitting it across ten.

The Directors Guild takes a different route. All eligible directors may self-submit, and the roster runs five deep across the season's ten hours: Tim Van Patten (episodes 101 and 102), Allen Coulter (103 and 104), Logan Kibens (105 and 106), Anu Menon (107 and 108), and Joe Chappelle (109 and 110). No single auteur signature here; the studio is letting the guild's membership sort it out.

What changes in the race?

The lead placement is the story. Two lead submissions from one show means the pair splits the same pool of voters at every body — a risk Apple has accepted anyway, presumably judging that neither performance reads as supporting. It also clears the supporting categories of Nocturne's biggest names, leaving Culkin, Camp, Carr, Metz and Jagannathan to fight in less crowded fields.

Beetz, meanwhile, gets a clean solo shot at lead actress across all three voting bodies. For a series that arrived October 30 with strong reviews and an 88% Tomatometer, the campaign architecture is now set. Whether the head-to-head produces two nominees or cancels itself out is the autumn's question.