As the second season of The Pitt began airing, Brittany Allen began seeing a passionate fan reaction to her character, Roxie Hamler, a terminally ill cancer patient, and saw her name pop up on a number of early Emmys predictions lists.
But despite that early buzz, HBO did not submit Allen for Emmys contention, leading the actress to self-submit herself in the category of outstanding guest actress in a drama series.
“As a working class actor, I have become very familiar with being overlooked in my career, and you toughen your skin, and you just keep your head down, and you keep working, and you keep bettering yourself. And then you reach a point where you go, you know what? I don’t want to get overlooked anymore,” Allen said of the decision.
The move, as well as the social media “For Your Consideration” campaign Allen and her husband embarked on, paid off as she received an Emmy nomination Wednesday for playing Hamler, who has a six-episode arc as she enters the hospital with a broken leg, and then makes the heartbreaking decision to remain there to die, rather than return home to her family. Jeff Kober, another guest star on the series, also self-submitted and was nominated — though Allen said the two never met due to their separate storylines and the immersive nature of the set.
