We now know who killed Floyd Smernitch — and the man behind him could be headed to the Emmys stage.
“DTF St. Louis,” the HBO Max limited series, is materializing as a formidable contender in this year’s Emmy race, with star David Harbour now positioned as a major player for his first career win.
Variety has learned exclusively that Harbour, who plays Floyd Smernitch — an American Sign Language interpreter found dead and tied to a local dating app — will be submitted in the supporting actor (limited or anthology series or movie) category. He joins his cast ensemble of Jason Bateman and Richard Jenkins, also in the supporting actor category, while Linda Cardellini and Joy Sunday will compete in supporting actress, as Variety previously announced.
The series centers on a tangled love triangle involving Clark Forrest (Bateman), Floyd Smernitch (Harbour) and Carol (Cardellini). When Floyd is discovered dead at a community pool, surrounded by a poisonous cocktail and a vintage “Playgirl” magazine, two detectives (Jenkins and Sunday) begin unraveling the bizarre chain of events leading to his death. The series was created, written and directed by Steven Conrad, known for “The Pursuit of Happyness” (2006) and “Wonder” (2017).
Harbour’s presence on TV and film circuit this year puts him in a position to make a sizable impact during the season with multiple opportunities at gold. In addition to his acting submission, he is also eligible for a nom as an executive producer on the HBO Max miniseries, which is looking more viable by the day.
The project began development in 2022 with Harbour and Pedro Pascal attached to star, drawing early inspiration from James Lasdun’s New Yorker article, “My Dentist’s Murder Trial: Adultery, False Identities, and a Lethal Sedation.” By 2024, Pascal had exited, Bateman joined the cast, and the creative direction shifted to an original concept. Harbour executive produces alongside Bateman for Aggregate Films, with Lasdun, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal and Steve Tisch for Escape Artists, Molly Allen, Bruce Terris and Michael Costigan for Aggregate Films, Kristina Wenson for Bravo Axolotl, and MGM Television. The ensemble also includes Jenkins, Sunday, Peter Sarsgaard, Chris Perfetti and Wynn Everett.
Harbour could also factor into the supporting drama actor race for his role as the hardened sheriff and father figure Jim Hopper in the fifth and final season of Netflix blockbuster series, “Stranger Things,” for which he previously earned Emmy nominations in 2017 and 2018.
At 51, Harbour’s imposing physicality has long made him a natural fit for genre and superhero fare. But in “DTF St. Louis,” he delivers his most tender and human performances to date. Beyond the series’ provocative premise, its most resonant moments belong to Harbour. Whether Floyd performs an ASL interpretive dance at a concert as his wife watches adoringly, or his final shot through the window signing, “I love you,” he breaks your heart and makes the audience fall in love with him, every step of the way.
Floyd’s innate goodness radiates throughout the performance, evoking the everyman appeal associated with actors like Tom Hanks — “America’s Dad” — while pushing Harbour into new emotional territory.
“DTF St. Louis” is expected to be a centerpiece of the platform’s limited series push, alongside the anticipated “Half Man.” Both projects will compete for a limited number of nomination slots against strong Netflix entries, including “Beef,” “Lord of the Flies” and another Bateman-led project, “Black Rabbit.”
HBO Max comes into the Emmy season with a deep bench of contenders, including drama series such as last year’s winner “The Pitt,” the third season of “Euphoria,” and freshman entries “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” and “Task.” On the comedy side, the platform is backing “Hacks,” “The Comeback” and “Rooster.”
With Harbour committing to the supporting race, he could quickly emerge as a potential frontrunner for his first Emmy win, particularly in a category that may feature six to eight nominees. Much may depend on how performers from “Half Man” position their campaigns, but Harbour could resemble previous category winners such as Paul Walter Hauser’s thematic central figure in “Black Bird” (2023).
The supporting actor (limited) category could ultimately mimic the 2022 year, when only three series dominated the field: “The White Lotus” and “Dopesick” accounted for three each, alongside a lone entry from “Pam and Tommy” (Seth Rogen). This year, a similar consolidation could occur, with “DTF St. Louis” (Harbour, Bateman, Jenkins), “Half Man” (Richard Gadd, Stuart Campbell or Jamie Bell and Mitchell Robinson) and “Beef” (Charles Melton, Song Kang-ho) potentially filling much of the slate, with additional contenders such as “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette” (Alessandro Nivola) and “Lord of the Flies” (David McKenna and Lox Pratt) also in the mix.
This year’s Emmy timeline begins with nomination-round voting from June 11-22, followed by nominations on July 8.
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