Five actresses are nominated for their outstanding performances in popular television dramas. The actresses nominated play characters that range from an emotional CIA agent to a sharp-tongued dowager countess.

The five nominees for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series are:

Claire Danes/Carrie Mathison, "Homeland"- Danes, who recently won an Emmy for the role, is nominated yet again for her consistently excellent performance as bipolar CIA analyst Carrie Mathison. Carrie is one of the best CIA analysts in existence, connecting seemingly opaque dots when no one else can. While she is one of the best of the business, her severe bipolar disorder can often be emotionally crippling and severely damaging to her career. Danes portrays Carrie's strength and intelligence while showing her extreme, often chaotic emotionality.

Anna Gunn/Skyler White, "Breaking Bad"- Gunn's Skyler, who is one of the most maligned characters on the series, is forced to help her husband, Walter (Bryan Cranston), launder money to mask the spoils of his lucrative meth-making business. Gunn portrays Skyler's strength excellently, refusing to sit back while her husband puts their children in harms way. While Gunn's character is often misunderstood by both her on-screen child and the viewing audience, her ostensible severity is an understandable reaction to her husband's dangerous and highly illegal business. Gunn superbly portrays her character's strength, vulnerability and fear.

Jessica Lange/Fiona Good, "American Horror Story: Coven"- Lange is at her fiercest as Fiona, the "Supreme" leader of a coven of witches in New Orleans, La. Lange's Fiona is deadly mix of supernatural power and ambition, and she is not afraid to burn her enemies--literally-- to get what she wants. Lange is fantastic as the "baddest witch in town," and is able to portray Fiona's ruthless strength while bringing forth her latent vulnerabilities.

Maggie Smith/Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham, "Downton Abbey"- Dame Maggie Smith is delightfully acerbic as the sharp-tongued Dowager Countess of Downton. She easily offers the best one-liners of the series, with she delivers with haughty hilarity. While her aristocratic nature can make her seem severe, Smith is excellent at showing her softer side, which has shown itself more as the seasons wear on.

Kerry Washington/Olivia Pope, "Scandal" - Washington is fantastic as Pope, a character who is a loose depiction of Judy Smith, who served as George H. W. Bush's Deputy Press Secretary and represented Monica Lewinsky during the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Her character is a former lawyer and White House aide. Washington is wonderful at depicting Pope's unique way of speaking in staccato sentences, as well as showing her intuitive nature and fierce power.

Prediction: Anna Gunn, "Breaking Bad"

While it is a bit of a toss-up between Anna Gunn and Claire Danes, the SAG may go to Anna Gunn for her acutely realistic portrayal of Skyler White. She is able to portray her character's disconnected, restrained moods that allow her to deal with her husband's egregious lawbreaking and increasing egotism. She then seamlessly transitions into her character's intense bouts of crying and emotion, wonderfully capturing all sides of the intelligent, fiercely protective mother.