Douglas and Damon to compete at the 65th Emmy Awards

Nominations for the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards were revealed this morning in Los Angeles – and you can watch the entire event by clicking above. 

TORONTO — They played bedazzled lovers in Behind the Candelabra but on Emmy night Michael Douglas and Matt Damon will be fighting for a golden statuette.

Both actors are nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie at the 65th Primetime Emmy Awards.

Nominations for the annual celebration of the best of television were announced early Thursday in Los Angeles.

Douglas and Damon are being recognized for their portrayals of Liberace and Scott Thorson respectively in the HBO movie Behind the Candelabra, which is nominated for Outstanding Miniseries or Movie.

They will be challenged by Benedict Cumberbatch in Parade’s End, Al Pacino in Phil Spector and Toby Jones in The Girl. All the nominees in this category, with the exception of Cumberbatch, portrayed real-life people.

American Horror Story, Phil Spector, Political Animals, The Bible and Top of the Lake are up against Behind the Candelabra for Miniseries or Movie.

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie nods went to Jessica Lange in American Horror Story: Asylum, Laura Linney in The Big C: Hereafter, Helen Mirren in Phil Spector, Sigourney Weaver in Political Animals and Elisabeth Moss in Top of the Lake.

American Horror Story dominates the Emmys this year with 17 nominations, followed closely by Game of Thrones with 16 and both Behind the Candelabra and Saturday Night Live with 15 each.

For the first time ever, a show that doesn’t air on conventional television earned a nomination in the Outstanding Drama Series category. Netflix’s House of Cards will battle Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, Mad Men and Homeland.

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The political series, starring Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, racked up a total of nine nominations. Another Netflix series, Arrested Development, earned three.

Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Damian Lewis (Homeland), Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men) and Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) are nominated for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.

Lead Actress in a Drama nods went to Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel), Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Claire Danes (Homeland), Robin Wright (House of Cards), Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men), Connie Britton (Nashville) and Kerry Washington (Scandal).

In the comedy categories, nominees include Jason Bateman, Jim Parsons, Matt LeBlanc, Don Cheadle, Alec Baldwin, Louie C.K., Laura Dern, Lena Dunham, Edie Falco, Amy Poehler, Tina Fey and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

Outstanding Comedy Series honours went to The Big Bang Theory, Girls, Louie, Modern Family, 30 Rock and Veep.

Canadian actor Michael J. Fox, whose new comedy series comes to Global this fall, earned a nomination for his guest role on The Good Wife.

Toronto composer Mychael Danna, who won an Oscar for Life of Pi, got nominated for his work on World Without End.

The made-in-Vancouver series Once Upon a Time was recognized for its costumes and make-up, the Toronto-shot Netflix series Hemlock Grove is up in music and visual effects categories, Vancouver-filmed Falling Skies got a visual effects nod, the made-in-Toronto Nikita is up for sound editing and the Canadian co-production The Borgias received a handful of nominations.

There were also nods in minor categories for Survivor, The Simpsons, Family Guy, Elementary, Glee, the Food Network series Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Showcase’s Copper and Defiance and the History series Vikings.

The Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will air Sept. 22.

For a full list of nominations go to emmys.com.