David Harbour became a first-time Emmy winner on Night 2 of the 2026 Creative Arts Emmys. The DTF St. Louis star won for best supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie for his portrayal of Floyd Smernitch in the HBO dark comedy created by Steven Conrad.
“I can’t believe that you’ve embraced our show so much, this beautiful, vulnerable, weird show that I love so much,” Harbour said in his acceptance speech. “In terms of my fellow nominees, it was not a fair fight. I got to play Floyd Smernitch, who is an incredibly written character by a genius named Steve Conrad, who, in a world of a copy of a copy of a copy, is a true original. I want to thank everybody at HBO for your tons of notes. They honestly helped the show so much.”
Harbour was up against DTF St. Louis co-stars Richard Jenkins and Jason Bateman in the supporting actor category, as well as Richard Gadd for Half Man, Charles Melton for season two of Beef and Nick Offerman for Death by Lightning. Harbour was previously nominated in the same category for his role as Jim Hopper in Stranger Things in 2017 and 2018.
“I started Stranger Things when I was 40,” Harbour said backstage. “I’ve been acting professionally — I mean, my first job, I was 19; I was paid $50 a week at a theater in Maine — so I’ve been acting professionally for 20 years before Stranger Things, so I sort of knew what life was as a working actor. And then I had this huge, as you say, success and was sort of catapulted into this different world. But I always knew that if nothing came after, I could still work in the way that I know how to work. And I had a different relationship to the fame, had I been like 19. That would be, I think, much scarier. And in that way, DTF was something that Steve and I developed together four years ago. So I was well aware of that big crunch coming at the end and I wanted to hedge my bets with trying to find material and people to work with that I admired over the years and people I thought were really brilliant and would push me in the ways that I wanted to be pushed because I do feel like Stranger Things is an incredible show, wonderful, and I had a lot more in me that I’d like to play.”
DTF St. Louis received a total of 13 Emmy nominations this year, winning six for best writing and directing (Conrad), picture editing, cinematography and supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie. Linda Cardellini also won for best supporting actress in a limited series against co-star Joy Sunday.
This marks the first year that the awards for supporting actor and actress in a limited series or movie were announced during the Creative Arts Emmys ceremonies instead of the main telecast. The Television Academy announced in July that both categories, along with writing for a variety series and writing and directing for a limited series or movie, would move from the broadcast show, stating in a memo, “Given the extraordinary breadth of work recognized each year and the limited time available within a three-hour broadcast, a select number of categories will be moving to the Emmy ceremonies taking place the week prior to the telecast.”
The 2026 Creative Arts Emmy Awards were held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Saturday, Sept. 5, and Sunday, Sept. 6. See the winners from Night 1 of the Creative Arts Emmys here.
The 78th Annual Emmy Awards, hosted by Mariska Hargitay, will air Monday, Sept. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT from the Peacock Theater at L.A. LIVE.
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