With many of this season’s film awards categories still wide open, the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations will help bring serious contenders into better focus.
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The SAG nominations yesterday were announced 24 hours before the Golden Globe nominees are set to be revealed, by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).
On the film front, Netflix didn’t lead the pack – that honor would go to box office giant Universal Studios – but it did score a respectable two nominations for its first original movie, Beasts of No Nation.
The prime winners on the SAG awards, chosen by greater than one hundred, 000 actors, typically go on to win Oscars.
It’s hard to know exactly what to make of Wednesday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations. But so will Peter Dinklage, who won the Outstanding Supporting Actor award at the Emmys for his role on “Game of Thrones”.
Many members of the SAG movie panel also vote for the Academy Awards and as a result, the SAG nominees have traditionally served as a helpful indicator of potential Oscar acting nominees. The hit HBO series and its stellar cast earned a total of three nominations, which might not sound like much, but it actually tied with Homeland and House of Cards for the most nominations in the television category.
Downton Abbey, which has been hugely successful in the United States, was nominated for best drama ensemble, while Dame Maggie Smith was nominated for outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series for her portrayal of the Dowager Countess of Grantham.
Early Oscar favorites Brie Larson (Room),Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn) and Cate Blanchett (Carol) were easily predicted, and Mirren’s nomination for Woman in Gold not surprising. Also nominated in the category were Rachel McAdams for “Spotlight”, Alicia Vikande for “The Danish Girl” and Rooney Mara for “Carol”. Although, come to think of it, this will also be its last appearance on the list of SAG nominees, because the show ended.
Black Mass’ Johnny Depp was nominated with DiCaprio in the lead actor category, but like DiCaprio’s acting partner Tom Hardy, Depp’s sidekick Joel Edgerton was left out in the cold.
Elba secured a third mention for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture for Beasts of No Nation.
On Wednesday morning, some 2,200 actors who normally have to beg for the attention of Hollywood’s bigwigs like everyone else instead had their undivided attention. The show’s star Jon Hamm is also nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series.
After watching SAG Awards voters ignore “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Selma” in the past two years, Paramount awards consultants learned a valuable lesson when it comes to selling its late-arriving December movies to this group.
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The 22 annual SAG awards winners will be announced on January 30 in Los Angeles.
