The Pitt’s Ernest Harden Jr. is now an Emmy winner for his memorable role on the medical drama.

The actor, 73, won Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series at the 2026 Creative Arts Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 6, beating out Colman Domingo for Euphoria, Jeff Hiller for Pluribus, Jonathan Pryce for Slow Horses and Bradley Whitford for The Diplomat.

Harden won for his portrayal of Louie Cloverfield in The Pitt. A familiar face in the show’s emergency room, Louie is a “frequent flyer” patient whose connection with the hospital staff takes on greater emotional weight as his health deteriorates. Harden was recognized for the episode “7:00 A.M.,” which chronicles the final chapter of Louie’s story.

In August, he revealed during a panel at HBO Max’s Emmy nominee celebration that he went to extreme lengths to physically embody Louie’s declining health, including temporarily going off his blood pressure medication.

“I did something that was very dangerous,” he said, according to Gold Derby, explaining that the decision made it difficult for him to breathe and helped inform his performance.

Harden acknowledged the risk and said he would not recommend the approach to others. He also recalled the difficulty of filming Louie’s death, noting, “Playing death was not easy. I had to hold my breath a lot.”

As for the other nominees, Domingo, 56, earned a nomination for his return as Ali in the final season of HBO’s Euphoria. His nomination specifically recognizes his performance in the series finale, “In God We Trust,” which sees Ali devastated by Rue’s death from an overdose and ultimately seeking vengeance against Alamo Brown (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).

Domingo described filming Ali’s final chapter as “deeply emotional,” explaining that his character has already experienced repeated losses connected to addiction.

“He’s been on the journey with many people that he lost and then, for this loss to happen, to find out where he lives emotionally … we leaned into the fact that he sort of goes cold, because I think it’s all too overwhelming for him,” Domingo told Deadline.

Hiller, 49, landed his second Emmy nomination for a performance lasting only about seven minutes in Pluribus. The actor appeared as Larry, a member of the mysterious hive mind at the center of Vince Gilligan’s Apple TV sci-fi drama, in the episode “Please, Carol.”

Hiller later joked on The Daily Show that viewers compared Larry’s unnervingly attentive demeanor to artificial intelligence, even though that wasn’t what he was trying to convey. “I was trying to convey extreme love for her. And instead, I did ChatGPT,” he joked of Larry’s interactions with Rhea Seehorn’s Carol Sturka. “Anyway, I got an Emmy nomination for it. Sometimes you aim for one target, you hit another.”

Hiller took home Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2025 for the final season of Somebody Somewhere.

Kober, 72, earned a nomination for his performance as Duke Ekins in the The Pitt episode “8:00 P.M.”

The veteran actor, whose television career began more than 40 years ago and has included roles on China Beach and General Hospital, appeared in six episodes of The Pitt season 2 as Duke, a mechanic and friend of Noah Wyle’s Dr. Michael “Robby” Robinavitch.

He told PEOPLE that he submitted himself for Emmy consideration, believing the role deserved to be seen. “I knew the material and my particular wheelhouse were perfectly aligned, so I really wanted to at least have it be seen,” he said.

Kober, who won a Daytime Emmy in 2022 for playing Cyrus Renault on General Hospital after also self-submitting, also made history this year as the only actor nominated for both a Primetime and Daytime Emmy.

Pryce, 79, was recognized for his performance as David Cartwright in the Slow Horses episode “Scars.” The actor has played the former MI5 officer and grandfather of Jack Lowden’s River Cartwright throughout the Apple TV spy drama, with David’s story increasingly exploring his battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Pryce told Gold Derby that he was “thrilled” by his latest recognition and the show’s nine nominations. “It’s such a good show,” he said. “It’s not a big, showy, spectacular thing — it creeps up on you, and people really like it.”

Whitford, 66, earned a nomination for playing First Gentleman Todd Penn in the Netflix political drama The Diplomat. He was recognized specifically for his performance in the episode “Amagansett.”

The nomination marked a return to the Emmys for Whitford, who previously earned three consecutive nominations from 2001 to 2003 for playing Josh Lyman on The West Wing, winning Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2001.

The 78th Emmy Awards (Creative Arts) are being held on Sept. 5 and Sept. 6 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles and will be edited into a single broadcast that airs Saturday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on FXX and streams on Hulu the next day. The Primetime Emmy Awards will air live on NBC and Peacock Monday, Sept. 14, with host Mariska Hargitay.