Matilda Lawler, whose soulful performance as Young Kirsten in Station Eleven had a depth beyond her limited years, deserved to receive an Emmy nomination for her breakthrough role. The Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie category was dominated by seven actresses from just two shows — The White Lotus and Dopesick. While it is welcoming to see that voters now applaud the ensemble as much as the individual actor or actress, the limited nomination blitz means a lot of worthy artists have gone unacknowledged.
That Lawler was passed over for a nomination should not detract from her powerful performance. It’s rare that a child star can stretch beyond the showy, cute or goofy and instead turn in a moving portrayal of a character who must cope with more than one should bear. Art imitated life, as she played a young actress coping with the enormity of a global pandemic, a deep well of experience that surely bolstered the truth behind her character. Equally adept at playing the naive child struggling to navigate an overwhelming new world as she is the self-assured, mildly precocious creative who is honing her skills to survive and thrive, Lawler rises to the immense challenge of Kirsten. This is an accomplishment in itself, even without a nomination.
Station Eleven follows the young Kristen as she witnesses the heart attack and ultimate death of her mentor Arthur Leander (Gael Garcia Bernal) on stage on the opening night of King Lear. It is not the only death she will witness, as there is also a global pandemic sweeping over the globe like an infected tsunami. It strikes quickly, effectively, and indiscriminately, ultimately killing 99.9% of the world's population. Jeevan Chaudhary (Himesh Patel) leaps on stage to aid the ailing star, only to end up the sole company of our young actress. He agrees to get her home safe, kicking off a journey that will eventually stretch more than 20 years and span the entire miniseries.
As it becomes clear the pandemic has already taken hold and there will be no escape, Jeevan and Kirsten discover her parents aren't home, and Jeevan offers to take her with him to the apartment of his brother Frank (Nabhaan Rizwan) where they ultimately ride out the first 80ish days of the pandemic as a forged family. We flash forward years later and meet Kristen again as a woman (now played by Mackenzie Davis) but she is no longer with Frank and Jeevan. What happened and how their bond was broken becomes one of the central mysteries of Station Eleven, keeping audiences' breath bated right up until the final moments of the show.
Lawler is one of our entry points to the world of Station Eleven – viewing the overwhelming events with child-like naïveté while also struggling to come to terms with the enormity of the situation. The first episode is largely told through Kristen's eyes, and we often revisit these early scenes in later episodes through the eyes of the other characters, usually to divulge information that would cause panic or depression. Kristen's journey is mirrored by the audience. First, we are like children, shielded from the information that may hurt us the most, but the further we go, the more we grow to be able to handle the whole truth of the story.
Lawler’s main scene partner, Himesh Patel, has been awarded a well-deserved nomination, but without her gravitas and innocence, Patel would not have been able to shine in his emotionally tumultuous journey as Jeevan. We can see from the other Emmy nominations that each actor is only as good as who they are acting against, and Patel mostly shares the screen with Lawler and Rizwan. Where the adult Jeevan is panicked, chatty, and perpetually unsure, the young Kirsten is by contrast confident, quiet, and wise beyond her years. Both actors are at their best when they are able to play to the layers of their characters, showing their complexities while also hiding their truths and the depths of their emotions.
This is best encapsulated by a pivotal scene in the episode "Wheel of Fire." Jeevan and Kirsten have just stocked up on supplies at the supermarket, and are headed for Frank's apartment to hole up for as long as they can. Kirsten is still unsure of this almost stranger and decides to turn back and wait for her parents. The scene is thick with subtext; Jeevan assumes that her parents are sick, or at worst already dead, and that if she goes off alone then she will be too, but he also can't be too forceful in convincing her to come with him. Kirsten is aware that the situation is much worse than Jeevan is letting on, but does not want to be a burden to this kind man she barely knows. It is a testament to Lawler's burgeoning talent that just as the crushing impact of global trauma is beginning to weigh on our characters, she can sell the hopeful bond Kirsten has forged, as the two both pretend that her parents have texted Jeevan with instructions to remain together.
With less than a handful of credits to her name before her role in Station Eleven, it is no surprise that Lawler is not a household name yet. However, for someone so young to have turned in such a heart-wrenching and captivating portrayal merits recognition now and into the future. With upcoming roles in The Gilded Age and The Santa Clause miniseries, Lawler has lots of opportunities to mirror her Station Eleven counterpart and go from a talented young actress to a star on the stage and screen.