Kiwi actor Dean O’Gorman plays screen legend Kirk Douglas in the new film Trumbo.
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The drama about the Hollywood blacklistTrumbo and the television series House of Cards with three nominations each, are leading the list of nominees for the twenty-second edition of the Screen Actors Guild Awards or better known as the SAG Awards. If the brains behind Spotlight decide to submit Keaton as a lead, that would open up the category a little, but today’s nomination has jettisoned Elba to the front of the pack.
Also boosted with an ensemble nod was the musical drama “Straight Outta Compton”, considered another Oscar long shot.
Idris Elba was nominated for best supporting actor in the child soldier drama “Beasts of No Nation”.
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.
The nod for “Compton” is also recognition for a movie that also achieved mainstream success at the box office.
The full list of SAG nominees are here, but leading female performance nominees include Cate Blanchett, Brie Larson, Saoirse Ronan, Sarah Silverman and Helen Mirren.
“Transparent” star Jeffrey Tambor, who lives in Cross River, is nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series.
The supporting categories included more acclaim for “Trumbo” and “Carol”, among others. Members of the SAG Awards nominating committee were invited to screenings of the latter, though.
The awards are often a solid early indication of Oscars hopes, since members of the acting guild represent about 20 per cent of the 6,000 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The SAG Awards will be held on January 30. If Idris Elba and Ghanaian actor Abraham Attah of “Beasts” or any of the actors in “Straight Outta Compton”, which is about the hip-hop group N.W.A. and so features an African-American lead ensemble, make the cut for Oscars acting nominations, the 2016 Oscars ceremony would already be diverse than a year ago.
In the television categories, fantasy saga Game of Thrones, spy thriller Homeland and political drama House of Cards led the way with three nominations each.
The nominations definitely surprised, as many actors were left out, possibly killing their Oscar chances.
On the comedy series front, the nominated actresses are Uzo Aduba (“Orange Is the New Black”); Edie Falco who picked up her record-setting 22nd nod for “Nurse Jackie”; Ellie Kemper (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”); 17-time nominee Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”) and Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation“).
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Mad Max: Fury Road’s Kiwi-filled stunt crew (including Dayna Grant – pictured) have earned a SAG Award nomination. Leonardo DiCaprio joins the stiff competition for best actor, thanks to his role in “The Revenant“.
