Who will be the next EGOT after Viola Davis?
Several performers are one award shy of the coveted status
Viola Davis recently became the 18th person to achieve EGOT status, meaning she has won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony. So who might be the next star to join this exclusive club? Here are some of the performers for whom the EGOT looks within reach:
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Disney may have thrown away Lin-Manuel Miranda's shot at achieving EGOT status in 2022 by failing to submit "We Don't Talk About Bruno" for Oscar consideration. But he probably won't have to wait for it much longer.
Miranda has already won multiple Tonys for In the Heights and Hamilton, two Emmys for a song from the Tony Awards and for the filmed version of Hamilton, and five Grammys for music from In the Heights, Hamilton, Moana, and Encanto. All he needs now is an Oscar to achieve EGOT status, which shouldn't be difficult considering how often he contributes original songs to movies. Indeed, Miranda has been nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar twice for "How Far I'll Go" from Moana and "Dos Oruguitas" from Encanto, though he has yet to win.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But Miranda has written original songs for Disney's live-action The Little Mermaid, so might one of those net him the Oscar win in 2024? He'll be back, Academy.
Audra McDonald
Audra McDonald already has an Emmy for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (Live From Lincoln Center), two Grammys for Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, and a whopping six Tonys for a variety of shows, including Ragtime and A Raisin in the Sun; she holds the record for most acting wins at the Tonys.
Now, McDonald only needs an Oscar, and it just so happens she will star this year opposite Colman Domingo in Netflix's Rustin. The film centers on civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, and McDonald is playing civil rights activist Ella Baker. Could that put her in the 2024 Oscar conversation?
Hugh Jackman
If The Son hadn't been panned by critics, Hugh Jackman could be looking at joining the EGOT club as soon as next month. After all, Jackman currently just needs the Oscar. He won a Tony for The Boy from Oz (and received a special honorary award), a Grammy for the Greatest Showman soundtrack, and an Emmy for hosting the Tonys.
Only the Academy Award remains, and Jackman has already been nominated for Best Actor once for Les Misérables. Some pundits initially thought 2023 might be his year thanks to The Son, the new film from the director of The Father, but the film ended up receiving largely negative reviews. But it surely won't be long before a stronger film puts him in the Best Actor mix.
Cynthia Erivo
Cynthia Erivo won an Emmy (a Daytime Emmy, to be specific), a Tony, and a Grammy all for The Color Purple stage musical, so now she just needs the Oscar. She has already been nominated for Best Actress and Best Original Song at the Academy Awards for Harriet.
The Oscar win might have been a done deal had Erivo starred in the upcoming film adaptation of the Color Purple musical, but that movie will instead star Fantasia, while Erivo is filming a different musical: she's playing Elphaba in the two-part Wicked movie. Might she soon be off to see the Academy?
Billy Porter
Billy Porter has an Emmy for Pose — which made him the first openly gay Black man to win in his category — and a Grammy and a Tony for Kinky Boots (as well as another Tony for producing A Strange Loop). So keep an eye out for an Oscar-worthy performance from him to snag that "O," possibly in the upcoming divorce drama Our Son.
Lily Tomlin
Lily Tomlin is another actor who just needs the Oscar, as she has won six Primetime Emmys — most recently for narrating An Apology to Elephants — a Grammy for the comedy album This Is a Recording, and a Tony for The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (as well as a special honorary award). Time to get that 80 for Brady Oscar campaign going!
Ben Platt
Ben Platt has won a Grammy and a Tony for Dear Evan Hansen, as well as an Emmy for a live television performance of a song from that musical. Unfortunately for him, the Dear Evan Hansen movie wasn't well-received enough to earn any Academy Awards attention, but there's still plenty of time for Platt to get the Oscar he needs another way.
Just this year, for instance, Platt stars in and produces Theater Camp, which was a hit at Sundance. His other upcoming movies include a Richard Linklater adaptation of the musical Merrily We Roll Along — though if that's what gets him the Oscar, Platt will have to wait a long time to join the EGOT club considering Merrily We Roll Along will be shot over the course of 20 years.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone
Believe it or not, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are closer to an EGOT than most after winning multiple Emmfoys for South Park, as well as Tonys and a Grammy for The Book of Mormon. The last award needed is the Oscar, as "Blame Canada" from the South Park movie failed to win Best Original Song in 2000. If a Book of Mormon movie is eventually made, though, don't be surprised to see Parker and Stone throw in one new song and say "hello!" to the EGOT club.
Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi Lauper has an Emmy for a guest role on Mad About You, two Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Musical Theater Album for Kinky Boots, and a Best Original Score Tony for Kinky Boots. She just needs the Oscar, which could simply require writing an original song for a movie.
Elton John
Elton John is part of the relatively small group of people who only need the Emmy to become an EGOT. He has already won five Grammys, as well as two Oscars for "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King and "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" from Rocketman, and he has a Tony for Aida. John hasn't won an Emmy, but his concert special, Elton John Live: Farewell from Dodger Stadium, will be eligible at the Emmys in 2023, so he may be feeling the EGOT love that night.
Pasek and Paul
The songwriting duo of Benj Pasek and Justin Paul won a Grammy for Dear Evan Hansen, an Academy Award for La La Land, and Tonys for Dear Evan Hansen and A Strange Loop. All that's left is an Emmy, which they already came close to winning after being nominated for A Christmas Story Live! in 2018.
Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand is a rare performer with three Oscar wins for acting (for Fargo, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and Nomadland), but she also has two Emmys for Olive Kitteridge and a Tony for Good People. So she just needs the Grammy, and she doesn't even have to pivot into music to get it. She could theoretically earn a Grammy by narrating an audiobook one day, just like Viola Davis.
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren has four Primetime Emmys (including for Elizabeth I), an Oscar for The Queen, and a Tony for The Audience. She could also get the Grammy she needs with something like an audiobook — not that we'd mind her dropping an entire rap album instead.
Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange has three Emmys (for American Horror Story and Grey Gardens), two Oscars for Tootsie and Blue Sky, and a Tony for Long Day's Journey into Night. She also just needs the Grammy, so keep an ear out for her to pop up on Helen Mirren's rap album.
Common
Common has an Emmy for his song "Letter To The Free" from 13th, an Oscar for the song "Glory" from Selma, and multiple Grammys, including for "Glory." He just needs a Tony now, and it just so happens he recently made his Broadway debut.
Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet has two Emmys for Mildred Pierce and Mare of Easttown, a Best Spoken Word Album for Children Grammy for Listen to the Storyteller, and an Oscar for The Reader. That leaves just the Tony, and Winslet admitted in 2016 her son is "just obsessed with records" and wants her to do a play specifically to achieve EGOT status. "So since he has learned about this EGOT thing, he's like, 'Mum you've gotta do it,'" she told Reuters.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez
With her husband, Robert Lopez, Kristen Anderson-Lopez has won two Oscars for Best Original Song for writing "Let It Go" from Frozen and "Remember Me" from Coco, and she also earned multiple Grammys for Frozen and an Emmy for "Agatha All Along" from WandaVision. The last award needed is a Tony. She was nominated once for the Frozen musical, and her husband, Lopez, is already an EGOT thanks to his work on Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon.
Michael Giacchino
Composer Michael Giacchino has won an Emmy for his score from Lost, multiple Grammys for music from Ratatouille and Up, and an Oscar for his Up score. He just needs a Tony now, and it just so happens that Disney is working on a stage show based on Coco, and Giacchino wrote the score for the original movie. Whether that gets him in, it's not hard to imagine Giacchino winning a Tony for best score one of these days, and it's worth noting that many of the current EGOTs are composers.
Ludwig Göransson
Speaking of composers, Ludwig Göransson is already just a Tony short of EGOT status at 38 years old. He has two Emmys for the score to The Mandalorian, Grammys for his work with Donald Glover and for the Black Panther score, and an Oscar for Black Panther. As soon as Disney announces The Mandalorian: The Musical, he'll be in good shape.
Randy Newman
Another musician who could achieve EGOT status via a Best Original Score Tony is Randy Newman, who has three Emmys (two for his work on Monk), multiple Grammys (including for his work on the Toy Story films), and two Oscars for his songs from Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story 3.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross of Nine Inch Nails won an Emmy for their score for Watchmen, Grammys for their scores for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Soul, and Oscars for the soundtracks to The Social Network and Soul, so they'll now just need to write a score for a stage show to snag that Tony.
Eminem
Eminem has an Emmy for his Super Bowl Halftime Show performance, multiple Grammys for his music, and an Oscar for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile. He now just needs a Tony, so will the real Slim Shady be headed to Broadway?
Adele
Adele is another musician who now just needs the Tony to become an EGOT, as she has an Emmy for her One Night Only TV special, many Grammys for her music, and an Oscar for Best Original Song for the title track in Skyfall. Granted, Adele has admitted she's "not a massive Broadway fan," joking, "I actually prefer the sound of an EGO than an EGOT. EGO is fun. But never say never. If I move to New York, I get bored, I'll be on that stage in a hot second."
H.E.R.
H.E.R. has an Emmy for the animated series We the People, a variety of Grammys for her music, and a Best Original Song Oscar for "Fight for You" from Judas and the Black Messiah. Next up is a Tony, and she has set her sights on the award. H.E.R. told Variety in 2021 she's already working on a Broadway score that could help her achieve EGOT status. "I ain't gonna put a deadline on it," she joked. "Maybe before I'm 30. I've got seven years."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
'Virtual prisons': how tech could let offenders serve time at home
Under The Radar New technology offers opportunities to address the jails crisis but does it 'miss the point'?
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The Week contest: Airport goodbyes
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
'We shouldn't be surprised that crypto is back'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Movies to watch in October, from 'Joker: Folie à Deux' to 'Saturday Night'
The Week Recommends Joaquin Phoenix as Joker, a new Jason Reitman comedy and a buzzy Palme d'Or winner
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published
-
The Outrun: Saoirse Ronan's finest performance?
The Week Recommends Irish actor tipped to finally take home an Oscar for her powerful portrayal
By The Week UK Published
-
'Shogun' dominates Emmys, 'Hacks' surprises
Speed Read 'Shogun' won a record 18 Emmys and 'Hacks' beat 'The Bear' in a surprise upset
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
All the records Taylor Swift has broken
Speed Read Swift's 'Eras' tour is now the highest-grossing concert tour in history
By Brendan Morrow Published
-
'Oppenheimer' sweeps Oscars with 7 wins
speed read The film won best picture, best director (Christopher Nolan) and best actor (Cillian Murphy)
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The horror movies the Academy forgot
The Week Recommends For your consideration: five movies that should have made the cut
By David Faris Published
-
2024 Best Picture nominees back when they were books
The Week Recommends Every great movie has to start somewhere
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
The 'adorable Irishness' of The Bear's Ayo Edebiri
Why Everyone's Talking About How the award-winning actor has been claimed by the nation as a daughter of Ireland
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published