SAG Nomination Surprises: Emily Blunt, Captain Fantastic, and More
Wednesday, December 14, 2016 at 11:35AM 
As we've noted several times in the past, SAG nominations are often among the most surprising for two reasons. First, the nominating committee changes each year, drawn randomly from the Screen Actor's Guild enormous body of dues paying members. Second, because the members are randomly selected and (presumably) spread out more geographically than the easier to target Academy and Globe members, their nominations can often feel like they were voted on earlier and that's the case this year with more summer films nominated than other awards bodies went with.
The nominees with commentary are after the jump...
Yes! Viggo Mortensen so deserves this. But can he get the more difficult Oscar nomination?
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
CASEY AFFLECK / Lee Chandler – “MANCHESTER BY THE SEA”
ANDREW GARFIELD / Desmond Doss – “HACKSAW RIDGE”
RYAN GOSLING / Sebastian –“LA LA LAND”
VIGGO MORTENSEN / Ben – “CAPTAIN FANTASTIC”
DENZEL WASHINGTON / Troy Maxson – “FENCES”
Who is missing? The obvious absentee here is Tom Hanks for Sully. He has not been Oscar nominated since Cast Away but it's probably worth noting that SAG did nominate him for Captain Phillips (2013) when Oscar didn't in a tight race. Might Tom Hanks have to wait yet again to return to the Oscar fold?
Who might win? SAG can sometimes go very populist so if La La Land explode in time you might see the Gos winning. But for now this feels like a Casey vs Denzel race. Our guess is that Denzel will win. Yes he has two Oscars but he has never won the SAG.
Surprise. It's Emily Blunt!
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
AMY ADAMS / Louise Banks – “ARRIVAL”
EMILY BLUNT / Rachel – “THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN”
NATALIE PORTMAN / Jackie Kennedy – “JACKIE”
EMMA STONE / Mia – “LA LA LAND”
MERYL STREEP / Florence Foster Jenkins – “FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS”
Who is missing? With the surprise inclusion of Emily Blunt for her thriller and SAG making room for both of Oscar's main default nominee darlings (Adams & Streep) a lot of the key players as we've come to know them were shoved aside. No Huppert. No Negga. No Bening. The latter alarms me but then again... it is getting a very late start and SAG is kind of an early bird.
Who might win? I'm guessing Emma Stone. You?
Dev Patel and Hugh Grant are two leads nominated in this supporting category. But SAG voters are actually required to vote with the campaigns. Oscar voters are not.
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
MAHERSHALA ALI / Juan – “MOONLIGHT”
JEFF BRIDGES / Marcus Hamilton – “HELL OR HIGH WATER”
HUGH GRANT / St Clair Bayfield – “FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS”
LUCAS HEDGES / Patrick Chandler – “MANCHESTER BY THE SEA”
DEV PATEL / Saroo Brierley – “LION”
Who is missing? No really obvious players. The precursors seem to have settled on these guys (two of them leads) though we still don't understand why people aren't shouting Ralph Fiennes in A Bigger Splash.
Octavia Spencer has, arguably, the most endearing role in a film full of endearing roles.
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
VIOLA DAVIS / Rose Maxson – “FENCES”
NAOMIE HARRIS / Paula – “MOONLIGHT”
NICOLE KIDMAN / Sue Brierley – “LION”
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Dorothy Vaughan – “HIDDEN FIGURES”
MICHELLE WILLIAMS / Randi Chandler – “MANCHESTER BY THE SEA”
Who is missing? This is the same lineup as the Globes so we could be locking up now. But given that there's no Bening in Best Actress, we should probably not read too much into there being on Gerwig in Supporting Actress. Perhaps not enough of the nominating committee saw 20th Century Women?
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC
FENCES
HIDDEN FIGURES
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA
MOONLIGHT
Who is missing? Who isn't? This was a very tough year to predict in ensemble. I only correctly guessed two of these (eep) thinking Lion, Hacksaw Ridge, and 20th Century Women would make it. La La Land obviously missed because it didn't deserve a spot -- it's laser focused on just 2 actors and they were justly nominated as leads so why double up? Other films besides the ones I incorrectly predicted that might have hoped to be here include Florence Foster Jenkins, Love & Friendship, A Bigger Splash, Little Men, Sully, etcetera...
Who will win? Moonlight we think. But we'll see. The tide could shift.
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR”
“DOCTOR STRANGE”
“HACKSAW RIDGE”
“JASON BOURNE”
“NOCTURNAL ANIMALS”
Who might win? This could go any which way... but let's guess to Hacksaw Ridge which has more obvious stuntwork with actual actors since superhero action leans heavily toward CGI.
53rd Annual SAG Life Achievement Award
LILY TOMLIN
YAAAAASSS.
TELEVISION PRIZES
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
RIZ AHMED / Nasir “Naz” Khan – “THE NIGHT OF” (HBO)
STERLING K. BROWN / Christopher Darden – “THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY” (FX Networks)
BRYAN CRANSTON / President Lyndon B. Johnson – “ALL THE WAY” (HBO)
JOHN TURTURRO / John Stone – “THE NIGHT OF” (HBO)
COURTNEY B. VANCE / Johnnie Cochran – “THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY” (FX Networks)
The usual suspects
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD / Lacie – “BLACK MIRROR” (Netflix)
FELICITY HUFFMAN / Leslie Graham – “AMERICAN CRIME” (ABC)
AUDRA McDONALD / Billie Holiday – “LADY DAY AT EMERSON’S BAR & GRILL” (HBO)
SARAH PAULSON / Marcia Clark – “THE PEOPLE V. O.J. SIMPSON: AMERICAN CRIME STORY” (FX Networks)
KERRY WASHINGTON / Anita Hill – “CONFIRMATION” (HBO)
Bryce Dallas Howard registers as the only surprise here -- who did she bump out?
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
STERLING K. BROWN / Randall Pearson – “THIS IS US” (NBC)
PETER DINKLAGE / Tyrion Lannister – “GAME OF THRONES” (HBO)
JOHN LITHGOW / Winston Churchill – “THE CROWN” (Netflix)
RAMI MALEK / Elliot Alderson – “MR. ROBOT” (USA Network)
KEVIN SPACEY / Frank Underwood – “HOUSE OF CARDS” (Netflix)
no comment. It makes us crazy that SAG doesn't have separate categories for supporting players.
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
MILLIE BOBBY BROWN / Eleven – “STRANGER THINGS” (Netflix)
CLAIRE FOY / Queen Elizabeth II – “THE CROWN” (Netflix)
THANDIE NEWTON / Maeve Millay – “WESTWORLD” (HBO)
WINONA RYDER / Joyce Byers – “STRANGER THINGS” (Netflix)
ROBIN WRIGHT / Claire Underwood – “HOUSE OF CARDS” (Netflix)
Aside from Robin Wright SAG went for an entirely fresh slate. Two for Stranger Things!
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ANTHONY ANDERSON / Andre Johnson – “BLACK-ISH” (ABC)
TITUSS BURGESS / Titus Andromedon – “UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT” (Netflix)
TY BURRELL / Phil Dunphy – “MODERN FAMILY” (ABC)
WILLIAM H. MACY / Frank Gallagher – “SHAMELESS” (Showtime)
JEFFREY TAMBOR / Maura Pfefferman – “TRANSPARENT” (Amazon)
Still annoyed that Shameless is considered a comedy. And that Macy keeps getting honored when his superior costar does not.
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
UZO ADUBA / Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren – “ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK” (Netflix)
JANE FONDA / Grace Hanson – “GRACE AND FRANKIE” (Netflix)
ELLIE KEMPER / Kimmy Schmidt – “UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT” (Netflix)
JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS / President Selina Meyer – “VEEP” (HBO)
LILY TOMLIN / Frankie Bergstein – “GRACE AND FRANKIE” (Netflix)
SAG can't go without their "crazy eyes". Both Grace & Frankie made it.
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
THE CROWN (Netflix)
DOWNTON ABBEY (Masterpiece/PBS)
GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
STRANGER THINGS (Netflix)
WESTWORLD (HBO)
Do you think they'll say goodbye to Downton Abbey with one last win? It's already taken this prize three times in its run. Or will they finally give it up for Game of Thrones (it never wins here but its stunt ensemble does). Or will they want fresh faces and go for Westworld which has very impressive acting all around?
I enjoyed Stranger Things just like everyone but a "best ensemble acting" nomination? That seems like a stretch with a fairly uneven cast. Who would you have voted for here?
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
THE BIG BANG THEORY (CBS)
BLACK-ISH (ABC)
MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (Netflix)
VEEP (HBO)
Who would you have nominated for this category?
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
“GAME OF THRONES” (HBO)
“MARVEL’S DAREDEVIL” (Netflix)
“MARVEL’S LUKE CAGE” (Netflix)
“THE WALKING DEAD” (AMC)
“WESTWORLD” (HBO)
Who might win? Game of Thrones is an awards magnet (particularly in this category) but let's root for Westworld this year.
Reader Comments (107)
Besides just giving a better performance than Streep, Benning certainly shouldn't be missing her 5th nom so Meryl can get her 20th. NO WAY.
Bening, typo
To be fair, Amy Adams gets her fair share of criticism here at TFE. She also has been in the only real box office hit this year that is also widely critically acclaimed, which makes her more than deserving of a nomination at this point. It's pretty difficult for Negga, Huppert, et al. to "knock her out" when her film is likely going to have across-the-board support on Oscar morning. Arrival will probably be the fifth Best Picture nominee in which Adams has starred (I love Streep, but she's only starred in four, correct?).
Yes. Only 4. But that was in the old days when we did not nominate 10 films for best pic to make everyone in Hollywood happy.
*meant to type it would be the fourth BP nominee in which Adams has starred. Anyway, the quality of her filmography is very high.
Suzanne- don't get me wrong. I like Amy Adams and think her performance in Arrival is some of her best work.
Jamie - yea, Streep stuck around for too long (?) and I guess loo matter how good her performance is, Streep fatigue will be here to stay for a while. Most just took her performance for granted I must say. Anyway, she just received another nomination for the Phoenix Film Critics Awards for her FFJ whether you like it or not :) https://www.phoenixfilmcriticssociety.org/2016-nominees.html