SAG Award Nominations
Wednesday, December 9, 2015 at 10:05AM 
Early this morning while waiting for the Screen Actors Guild Nominations to come i wondered out loud "what will be the insane 'Naomi Watts in St Vincent' nomination today?". No one could have expected that the answer would be "all of them".
Ladies and gentlemen the weirdest bunch of nominations ever for the SAG AWARDS which will be broadcast on Saturday January 30th on TBS/TNT. Many people will be rethinking their Oscar predictions this morning but it's important to remember that there is extremely little overlap between nominating committee members of SAG (chosen at random each year from their huge membership) and Oscar's acting branch (a few thousand elite people).
In fact, Melodipopvision is correct when she suggests "Isn't SAG basically now an annual list of "prestige actors I've liked in some other stuff"?"
Normally we love surprises during awards season but when they're as unfortunate as so many of these surprises this morning, the terror begins to set in. What kind of Oscars are we going to get this year?
Nominations with commentary & statistics after the jump...
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Beasts of No Nation
The Big Short
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trumbo
Or, as John Guerin said on Twitter "basically the male species". A pity when the female centric movies like Carol and Brooklyn and even Joy had such strong casts.
MORE ON THIS CATEGORY IN ITS OWN POST.
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
- Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
- Johnny Depp, Black Mass
- Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant\
- Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
- Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Bryan Cranston, the mild surprise here, is a favorite of the guild who already has 4 SAG Awards. But given that Matt Damon (The Martian), Sir Ian McKellen (Mr Holmes), and Michael B Jordan (Creed) are strong contenders and that Michael Caine (a longtime Oscar favorite) were left out this lineup, I don't think it's entirely likely that we'll see the same lineup come Oscar nomination morning. Best Actor Oscar Chart will be updated tomorrow night
Though this category tends to have a strong correlation to the eventual lineup occassionally they think quite differently as in 2013 when they nominated Tom Hanks and Forrest Whitaker. Oscar jettisoned both.
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
- Cate Blanchett, Carol
- Brie Larson, Room
- Helen Mirren, Woman in Gold
- Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
- Sarah Silverman, I Smile Back
Of all the categories for SAG to vote on drunk this was not the one this year. I haven't made it a secret that I think Woman in Gold is a terrible movie but worse than that Helen Mirren is wildly overshadowed in her own film by Tatiana Maslany. Mirren phones it in. Maslany totally works hard to sell the same character in her youth. But Mirren is a SAG favorite with 5 wins already. Best Actress Oscar chart will be updated tomorrow night. Feeling bad for Blythe Danner, Carey Mulligan, and Lily Tomlin who could've used this boost and who seemed at least somewhat likely for SAG.
Don't ask me to explain Sarah Silverman. Who could? Even people who like her performance don't seem to love the film at all and that's usually a hurdle.
"hold up with those Oscar prediction changes, y'all"
Oscar thought: This category is nearly always a 4/5 or 5/5 match with Oscar. Though that's difficult to imagine with these five, Mirren could be the variable that makes a 3/5 year happen. The last time Oscar thought much differently, SAG also went for Mirren (Hitchcock, 2012)
Michael Shannon has had a very good week or two- Christian Bale, The Big Short
- Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
- Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
- Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
- Jacob Tremblay, Room
Here we have a weird mix of the voters paying attention -- you'd have to be paying attention to nominate the underseen Michael Shannon in 99 Homes, and also playing hero worship -- Christian Bale isn't even remotely the best performance in The Big Short! But perhaps Bale is a threat to Oscar we hadn't really considered. He does play someone with a glass eye (!) and they did nominate him for American Hustle after all in a surprise against stronger competition. Oscar chart updates coming but... I don't think SAG nominations mean as much this year given the odd results.
Oscar note: This category recently has had a 4/5 and 5/5 correlation to Oscar but back in the 90s they sometimes went 2/5. This could be a non-matchey match year since it'd be silly to count out the Spotlight men or Sylvester Stallone.
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
"This sucks. Why am I competing against leading ladies!?"
- Rooney Mara, Carol
- Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
- Helen Mirren, Trumbo
- Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
- Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
SAG rules are such that voters MUST abide by studio mandated category placement. Which is why Vikander and Mara are supporting despite leading their films. SAG really really really loves Helen Mirren, don't they? She already has 5 SAG statuettes. Meanwhile Rachel McAdams joins the looooong lazy tradition of easy road to noms/wins(?) by being the only woman in a man's film. Supporting Actress chart updates coming.
Oscar Thought: Of the Acting categories this is the one that has the least correlation to Oscar statistically. It's been as low as 1/5 (2001) and 2/5 in some years (94/96). That said they've been becoming more Oscar-like over the years and have matched perfectly a few times.
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
- Downton Abbey
- Game of Thrones
- Homeland
- House of Cards
- Mad Men
Just like the Emmys
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
- The Big Bang Theory
- Key & Peele
- Modern Family
- Orange is the New Black
- Transparent
- Veep
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
- Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
- Jon Hamm, Mad Men
- Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
- Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
- Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
- Claire Danes, Homeland
- Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
- Julianna Marguiles, The Good Wife
- Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
- Robin Wright, House of Cards
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
- Ty Burrell, Modern Family
- Louis CK., Louie
- William H. Macy, Shameless
- Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
- Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
- Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
- Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
- Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
- Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries
- Idris Elba, Luther
- Ben Kingsley, Tut
- Ray Liotta, Texas Rising
- Bill Murray, A Very Murray Christmas
- Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries
- Nicole Kidman, Grace of Monaco
- Queen Latifah, Bessie
- Christina Ricci, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles
- Susan Sarandon, The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
- Kristen Wiig, The Spoils Before Dying
So 1990s !
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble
(TV)
- The Blacklist
- Game of Thrones
- Homeland
- Marvel’s Daredevil
- The Walking Dead
If Daredevil doesn't win this...
(MOVIES)
- Everest
- Furious 7
- Jurassic World
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
If Mad Max doesn't win this...
Reader Comments (113)
Can I go back to bed now? These noms or lack there of noms, have made me sleepy!
Pathetic!!!! Seriously, some of the worst noms.............EVER!!!
I cannot handle Rooney Mara as supporting. That is illogical and ridiculous. This movie is her story arguably more than it is Carol's. Like come friggin on.
Also, no Oscar Isaac love for Show Me a Hero? Super disappointing.
Caroline - I know everyone is (justifiably) angry about the film actress categories but what does Oscar have to do to get some awards love, for crying out loud, if starring in an acclaimed HBO miniseries won't do it!
Pro: I'm glad that SAG is not completely in lockstep with a predetermined list of favorites. I'm glad to see them shaking things up a bit. I hope the Golden Globes are completely different as well.
Con: but the shaking seems to fall back to a male centric default of a boring kind. Best Actor category is still uninspiring. I would put Ejiofer and Jackson in there, instead of some of these knee jerk usual suspects.
Pro: hurrah for Michael Shannon!
Con: the more I look at that Best Ensemble, the more I seethe.
Note: both Kate Winslet and Rachel McAdams are the female in a male cast, not just McAdams. Pity there wasn't a Winslet nomination for The Dressmaker. The Australian film awards, again, seem a whole lot more interesting.
These nominations...oh my god. I like how we all recently pooh-poohed Helen Mirren's inclusion at the Hollywoud Roundtable recently thinking "there's no way she could be nominated this year" and then the girl goes and gets two SAG nominations. What the fuuuu?
Please god do not let some of these choices translate to Oscar.
I love how unpredictable this year is, but yet I really hope unpredictable does not mean "eh there's so many choices...I'll just vote for Helen Mirren and Straight Outta Compton." and that supporting actor list is a MESS. What happen to the Spotlight guys and Benicio del Toro???
What wonderful news that Jennifer Lawrence and Jane Fonda were ignored by their peers.
I was thinking Michael Shannon was just going to be on my personal favourites this year but he is representing this week!
So is Rylance the frontrunner or Idris Elba with that ensemble nod or Tremblay as a bookend with his Ma.
I'm seriously puzzled by the lack of love for Jennifer Jason Leigh. She's the MVP of a cast full of men. Spotlight is so drab and non-cinematic to me.
Also the Rachel McAdams love bugs me. There wasn't anything outstanding or special about her performance.
What I know for sure: The ratings for this will be in the toilet. Even the red carpet will suck.
cris: Apparently TWC didn't send Hateful Eight screeners to the SAG nominating committee, so there was virtually no shot that JJL would get in this morning. It shouldn't impact her chances too heavily - the same thing happened with Django if I remember correctly.
adri: Steve Jobs also had Katharine Waterston and the three girls who played Lisa at various ages, so it's not quite the same as McAdams (the only real female role in Spotlight), but still, a generally lackluster representation of what has been a fairly abundant crop of good parts for women in film.
Awful and uninspired!
And SAG is officially head over heels with Mirren, even more in love with her than they are Streep!!
Helen Mirren is polishing her Oscar right now:
"Don't worry. Soon you'll get a brother. Maybe not this year, but soon."
*Insert evil laughter*
I like the fact they went crazy, even though it's bad crazy.
These are a total mess,i second what's already been said,Helen Mirren should have been nominated for the L'oreal commercials instead of Woman In Gold,she shows a lot more range selling face cream,i actually believe she's playing Helen Mirren in that.
Leo vs Johnny then for Actor,Cate vs Saorsie for Actress,Rylance and Winslet win for Supporting.
Awards season has been so predictable for years now, this year is at least interesting. Some of these are so out of left field though. Does some crazed Helen Mirren fan work for the accounting firm that counts their ballots?
I would think judging by some of the critics group and these nominations we can say some films are out of the running - Sicario, Creed and Youth just don't seem to be generating any heat.
Every time I see Amy Poehler getting a nomination, it's bittersweet. Like, I'm really happy for her, but it reminds me that "Parks and Recreation" has ended.
Kinda wish Yaya DaCosta had gotten in Best Actress in a TV Miniseries or Movie for "Whitney"!
Shocked and delighted at the omission of Jennifer Lawrence. Really thought they would vote her in no matter what, given how populist they skew.
I can't recall another actor who is so obnoxious and overpraised.
the Kate Winslet GIF and tag "This sucks. Why am I competing against leading ladies!?" had be cackling. LOVE
Thankfully the ludicrous Stallone hype was ignored. Too bad Michael B Jordan didn't get in. Sad for Dano and Banks mostly.
complete and utter MESS. what were they thinking/smoking???
Pretty shocking nominees... some are just ridiculous! Mirren, McAdams, Silverman ...
I can't believe the list they are presenting ... they could not have seen some of the newer movies just coming out.....
I think in way it is fun, as every other year lately , the nominees were known by the public before they were actually announced... Maybe the Oscars will be a "hold your breath" time this year and no one movie will dominate...
Eager to see the Golden Globe noms tomorrow?
Only pro here is the Martian shutout. It needed to be put in its place. Otherwise WTF?!?! Please let the globes undo this foolery tomorrow.
Glad to see Johnny Depp nominated.
What are you all so upset about? This is the most exciting kickoff to awards season in many many years. For once it seems that we don't know exactly who's getting nominated/winning from day one. Maybe this will turn out to be an unpredictable year at the Oscars.
Only 5 solo nominations from the films nominated for Ensemble... it hasn't been that low since 2002.
And yes I just spent far too long on Wikipedia looking that up because I care about arcane trivia like this.
I haven't seen "I Smile Back," but the trailer would seem to indicate that the performance is "monstrous and worthy of attention." That could go either way, really, but to my eyes her performance looks like it could be deserving. I like left-field nominations like that.
Helen Mirren’s next awards speech better include and apology to Charlotte Rampling, Lily Tomlin, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Elizabeth Banks and Jane Fonda.
I'd like to think that the "overdue" angle of Rylance's awards attention this season has at least a little to do with presenting his manhood to Kerry Fox in "Intimacy." Just a little...
Winslet knows all about unfair category fraud, as she is one who was behind one of the most notorious category fraud cases of the last decade when she campaigned for Supporting for The Reader. So she has nothing to whine about. She's lucky to be here at all.
WHERE ARE ELIZABETH BANKS AND PAUL DANO?
So relieved Stallone isn't in this mix. But we must remember, ACTORS nominate this group. Although I am sure the BFCA will ensure he makes their :6: nominee group. Ugh.
I don't get the people complaining about Sarah Silverman - especially the ones who haven't even seen the film.
Isn't it great that a traditionally underappreciated, 29+ year-old actress in a no-budget indie with no real FYC campaign managed to wrangle her way through the Helen Mirrens and Maggie Smiths and land a high profile Best Actress nomination?
Some people will never be happy.
Was Joy snubbed or was the film just not screened by SAG members? Haven't seen it but from the trailers it looked a little lightweight to me.
Utterly disgusted by the omission of Oscar Isaac, Elizabeth Banks, Charlotte Rampling and Tom Courtenay.
I think I can safely say that for the first time ever, the ensemble nomination means nothing in terms of Best Picture, except that Spotlight will surely be nominated. 3 of these movies have zero chance at a nomination, and one is an extreme long shot (The Big Short). But good for them, they have something to put on posters now.
If you compare these nominations to years past, they're not that strange or different. It's this year itself that's strange and different. I don't "agree" with several of these nominations and I'm surprised by a few, but that happens every year.
That said, don't be surprised by more AMPAS correlation than usual and get ready for some Extreme Sports style campaigning, given how wide open this season has been.
Looking forward to the Globes list....
Might as well nominated Sally Kirkland.
Wow - 82 comments already and the thread is only 4 hours old. The SAG awards are my least favourite every year mostly because of ensemble rules & category fraud & boring choices - but this year is awful. They also have the worst looking trophy of all.
>>> The Golden Globes may turn out to be the sane awards ? imagine that?????
I grieve most for Charlotte Rampling, Carey Mulligan in lead, and Elizabeth Banks/Joan Allen in supporting.
Re: Helen Mirren - Mirren appears on Vulture's top 100 stars and has a likeability of 74% which is sky high - it may not be as much of a factor for Oscar though.
I'm not surprised by Bryan Cranston who is hugely popular and could be a real contender for the Oscar should he get a nomination. (not my choice but he too has an army of supporters)
Can't even with the film noms (lol) but those TV noms are even more boring than usual (Except for Rami Malek!!!!!!! Yay)
As everyone else is saying, Mirren wasn't even the best actress in her own movie (and then they had the nerve to leave Maslany out of drama series), and I haven't seen Silverman, but that sure is a left field nom!
I do kinda like how unpredictable this year is though. Think there is only a few locks, and in some catagories I don't think there is any!
So what is it, we whine and gnash our teeth when the same old stale list of nominees pop up for every award. This year we get to gripe and wring our hands because the nominees were too unpredictable. I know that most of the surprises this morning were unwelcome, but so would seeing The Martian and Will Smith's name smeared all over the place. Me, I think it's exciting that we could have very different lists of nominees each time. There'll be all the time in the world to complain about the lousy winners later. Enjoy the ride.
Weirdest sag awards nomination ever!!!
I got up at 3am Australian time to read the SAG noms. I thought my sleepy eyes were playing tricks on me. Grace of Monaco? So much love for Trumbo? No Carol in best ensemble? WTF? Where is the real list of noms?! I genuinely thought I was looking a parody list of noms. It took several minutes for the awful truth to sink in. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well afterwards. I never thought I'd say this, but save us HFPA!
@ken s.
I agree to an extent. Even though these nominees are mostly dreadful (in my opinion), it surely does make this season much more interesting in terms of who's going to be nominated, because I sure as hell don't think these lineups are going to match up 4/5 (or in some cases less than that). However, I think SAG is incredibly unimaginative...I mean, why in the hell does Helen Mirren deserve TWO nominations for films that have mediocre reviews at best, and as Nathaniel pointed out, where she's phoning it in? Does someone know if she has more nominations than Meryl Streep at the SAGs? I really think she does.
The Idris Elba and Jacob Tremblay nominations are welcome surprises, and so is Sarah Silverman whose film I haven't seen yet but I love her and she's a hardworking actress/comedienne. I think the category that will most align with Oscar will be Best Actor. I think Depp/DiCaprio/Fassbender/Redmayne seem pretty solid. We'll see if someone like Matt Damon, Michael B. Jordan or Michael Caine can break through. If so, I think it comes at Depp's expense.
I just hope this isn't indicative of what's to come. I will throw something through my window if "Straight Outta Compton", "Trumbo" or "The Big Short" get best picture nominated and female-led films like Brooklyn, Room, and especially Carol are pushed aside.
That would be OK Ken S if the nominees were ones that brought low profile, excellent work to the table. But this crop screams of laziness on the part of voters. "Who do we like? Oh yeah, Mirren."
Aaron
If your going to follow these things, the only way to keep your sanity is to enjoy the nominations as some kind of game. Actually caring about the nominees themselves will only break your heart. For example, I'm still seething about Jake Gyllenhaal's omission from last year, and this year I'm tirelessly pimping for Ian McKellen, Charlotte Rampling, Tangerine, Clouds of Sils Maria, Elizabeth Banks, etc., who you will note are completely absent from this slate of nominees. I can only take consolation in Jacob Tremblay and Michael Shannon, and maybe Johnny Depp, whom a lot of people had counted out. Also I like Trumbo (it's no masterpiece), so reading all the moaning and groaning over its nominations tickles me pink. Even though the surprises were mostly unpleasant, I'm just glad they're different, and not Groundhog-Day unpleasant.
The Big Short was named to all 3 NYT film critics' top 10 lists. Yeah, so was Diary of a Teenage Girl, but between that and the SAG noms, it just feels like it's making a bigger impact than people realized. I bet it gets a Best Picture nod.
I'm happy for the Sarah Silverman nomination...super cool, and even more left field than Jennifer Aniston was because we knew Jennifer Aniston was campaigning and there had been Oscar talk.
With that said, I can't help but feel incredibly disappointed despite that because HELEN FREAKING MIRREN WAS NOMINATED FOR FUCKING WOMAN IN GOLD RIGHT ALONGSIDE HER. If they had nominated a worthy contender in Helen Mirren's place, I'd actually be really pleased with Best Actress. It shows that SAG was genuinely passionate about Sarah Silverman's performance...but when they appear to also be passionate about Helen Mirren in Woman in Gold, well..you have to question their taste.
As fun as this year is, I really would almost prefer predictable choices to choices THIS horrible. There has to be some sort of balance.
What really scares me is everyone saying "well I can't see Oscar matching these categories at all," and while yes, this year is unpredictable and crazy, with the way SAG has been for the past however many years, they're a fairly good indicator of Oscar noms. So there's no way ALL of these horrible nominees will miss out. Someone horrid from this list will make it in...or they've at least gotten some traction to run with now.
As for the TV nods...I won't even waste my time.
Sawyer -- God yeah, she's ok in Trumbo (wouldn't complain if that were her only nomination), but I've spent the better part of a year avoiding Woman in Gold (the preview alone made me want to barf), and now I have to go see it? Have they no decency? Beasts of No Nation and The Big Short at least sound like they have potential.
Think Streep has 16 nominations and Mirren is now up to 12. But Mirren has more wins
Streep won 2 SAG awards for Angels in America and Doubt... Mirren won 5.
Re ensembles on TV, the entire cast of Broadchurch (the British version) now streaming on Netflix should have been nominated. What a cast! - David Tennant, Olivia Colman, Jodie Whitaker, not to mention Charlotte Rampling, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and James D'Arcy in Season 2.
If Downton Abbey can be nominated for SAG, why not other U.K. shows? Or is it because DA falls under PBS Masterpiece?
I called COMPTON but many of these are baffling. And how does Helen Mirren keep popping up here more often than MERYL FUCKING STREEP?!?!