"Everyone was nominated... except you!" Our annual SAG outrage!
Thursday, December 12, 2019 at 10:25PM by Nathaniel R
Alanna Ubach does a lot with very little screen time in "Bombshell" but she isn't part of the cast nomination
We'll keep doing these posts each year until the Screen Actors Guild does something about their most unfortunate awards rule. For those who are new to the awards game, please note: If you are a working actor lucky enough to wind up in a film nominated for "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture," that doesn't mean you are included in the nomination; you have to have your own title card for that! What this means each year is that actors who aren't really famous yet, or don't have an aggressive agent, wind up left out of the official nomination even if they contributed immeasurably to the success of the film or were highly memorable in some small but defining way.
So who got the stealth snub in 2019, who otherwise had every reason to celebrate the nomination? Read on for the specific exclusions this year and the history of most embarrassing omissions from the past due this ruling...
Liv Hewsom and Brigette Lundy-Paine in "Bombshell"
BOMBSHELL
8 "cast" nominees: Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie, John Lithgow, Allison Janney, Connie Britton, Malcolm McDowell, and Kate McKinnon.
who was excluded: It's a crowded movie so a lot of people are missing but none are quite as frustrating to be passed over as Alanna Ubach who is ferociously memorable in very little screen time as Jeanine Pirro and Mark DuPlass who is sympathetic in a decent sized role as Megyn Kelly's husband. Frankly, we're surprised he didn't get his own title card. Other people who missed that we want to give a shout out to are Brigette Lundy-Paine, Liv Hewson, Rob Delaney, Brooke Smith, D'Arcy Carden, Mark Moses, and Tricia Helfer. They're all among the mix of familiar talented faces in the media circus of this movie.
Louis Cancelmi and Jesse Plemons in "The Irishman"
THE IRISHMAN
8 "cast" nominees: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Ray Romano, Bobby Cannavale, Anna Paquin, Stephen Graham, and Harvey Keitel
who was excluded: SO MANY as you might expect from a 3½ hour film. A full 12 people share title cards after the most famous cast members making this one arguably the most egregious about who gets left out of the honors. That includes every woman in the film (except Anna Paquin) like Welker White as Jo Hoffa and the perpetually smoking mobwives Stephanie Kurtzuba and Kathrine Narducci. In terms of fame or memorability other shared title card players include Jack Huston as RFK, Jesse Plemons as Chuckie O'Brien, Paul Herman as "Whispers", Domenick Lombardozzi as "Fat Tony," Luis Cancelmi as "Sally Bugs" and Sebastian Maniscalco as "Crazy Joe".
Not all of the memorable actors even get a shared title card! Daniel Jenkins who plays "Big Ears", and Orange is the New Black's Dasha Polanco as a nurse are just in the final credit scroll along with a slew of other actors including many of the second tier mobsters.
JOJO RABBIT
8 cast nominees: Roman Griffin Davis, Thomasin McKenzie, Taika Waititi, Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen... "with" Sam Rockwell "and" Scarlett Johansson.
who was excluded: Most of the non-extras cast is covered but fans of the film and even some of its detractors will agree that its terribly sad that Archie Yates's adorable Yorki ('I'm just a fat kid trapped in a fat kid's body') is left out of the honors for the film, since he gives one of the best performances. The other two actors who get some camera time and lines that aren't in the mix are Luke Brandon Field as "Christoph" and Sam Haygarth as "Hans", hateful trainers at the Nazi Youth summer camp; they even give the film its title.
ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
14 cast nominees: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Margaret Qualley, Tim Olymphant, Julia Butters, Austin Butler, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Mike Moh, Luke Perry, Damian Lewis... "and" Al Pacino.
Who was excluded? It's the largest ensemble nominated but it's also one of the most heavily populated movies of the year so there are several players, including very famous ones missing. Not included in the nomination are various Manson family members like Lena Dunham (Gypsy), Damon Herriman (Charles Manson), and all three women sent to kill on the infamous night: Madison Beaty (Lulu), Mikey Madison (Sadie) and Maya Hawke (Flowerchild). Among the movie industry people missing we have short performances from Kurt Russell as a wary stunt coordinator, smooth talking Nicholas Hammond who is terrific as director Sam Wanamaker, and Lorenza Izzo as Rick Dalton's pampered Italian bride.
The Park children, both wonderful, share a title card. But SAG apparently made an exception
PARASITE
10 cast nominees: Sang Kang Ho (Mr Kim), Lee Sun Kyun (Mr Park), Cho Yeo Jeong (Mrs Park), Choi Woo Sik (Ki Woo Kim), Park So Dam ("Jessica"), Lee Jung Eun (the cook), Chang Hyae Jin (Mrs Kim), and Park Myung Hoon (the cook's husband). BUT, miracle of miracles. We were prepared to proclaim TRAVESTY about Jung Ziso and Jung Hyeon Jun, who play the Park children, being excluded from the nomination since they share a title card (and that's the rule... unless the shared title card is first as with Brad & Leo in Once Upon a Time or Scarlett & Adam in Marriage Story). Perhaps NEON petitions for an exception?
who was excluded: Though their roles are much smaller the only three actors with real scenes who were excluded (given the exception made with the children) are Park Keun Rok and Park Seo Joon as the original driver and the original tutor and Jeong Esuz who plays the Pizza shop boss who argues with the family about the terrible quality of their work. They're all in the first act but they each only get one scene so it's less egregious than some of the misses earlier in this round-up.
Recent embarrassing omissions due to this ruling include but are not limited to...
2018 - Shangela & Willam in A Star is Born and Pierre Png in Crazy Rich Asians
2017 - Lil' Rel Howery and Betty Gabriel (both superb/crucial) to Get Out
2016 - Alex R Hibbert (so touching) as "Lil" in Moonlight
2015 - Dean O' Gorman's spot-on "Kirk Douglas" in Trumbo
2014 - Lindsay Duncan as the feared critic in Birdman
2013 - Yaya Alafia in The Butler and Colleen Camp in American Hustle
2012 - Gloria Reuben & Lee Pace in Lincoln,
2011 - Corey Stoll's career breakthrough as Ernest Hemingway in Midnight in Paris.
2010 - Rooney Mara in The Social Network
2004 -- is when we first noticed the problem when Matt Ross, who we loved in The Aviator and who had a lot of screentime was left out while Gwen Stefani (with only a cameo) was included.
P.S. BONUS ENTRY
MARRIAGE STORY WAS NOT NOMINATED FOR "OUTSTANDING CAST" THOUGH IT WAS WIDELY EXPECTED TO BE. SO WE HAD ALREADY PREPPED THIS BIT. YOU CAN PRETEND TO BE ENRAGED IF YOU SO WISH...
Martha Kelly, sublimely hilarious as the court-ordered Evaluator in "Marriage Story" would have been left out of the ensemble nomination
MARRIAGE STORY
Had it been nominated there would have been 8 "cast" nominees: Adam Driver, Scarlett Johansson, Laura Dern, Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, Julie Hagerty, Merrit Wever, and Azhy Robertson (who plays the couple's son). In short the feuding couple, their lawyers, the in-laws, and the couple's young son.
Who would have been excluded? Wallace Shawn (who plays the chattering braggart actor in Charlie's troupe), Martha Kelly who is plays the Evaluator" visiting Charlie and son, and Mark O'Brien as Carter Mitchum. They share a "with" title.
A lot of people in smaller roles that were only in the final scroll include everyone in Charlie's theater troupe or on Nicole's TV show, all the legal people (other than Laura, Alan, and Ray) and the mediator who opens the movie (played by the writer Robert Smigel) and is promptly given the crass boot by Nicole.
I think I'm gonna go if you two are just going to sit around and suck each other's dicks!
Reader Comments (32)
The Park children are the second best thing about the movie (after the rich mom). What a shame.
Wallace Shawn was an absolutely hilarious touch, and I wouldn't be surprised if he wrote his own lines. I'm glad we have the chance to be outraged despite the fact he didn't really lose out on anything...
Oh wait I got the Park children confused with the Kim children.
Isn’t it rich that an actors’ union has “the balls, the indecency” (to quote Julianne Moore’s ensemble character in Magnolia) to discriminate against the actors who would benefit from such a nomination the most? Seriously, there ought to be picketing from the rank-and-file SAG members over this perennial affront. It’s outrageous!
I looked at the official SAG website and looked at the official nominees list. The Park children ARE actually in fact listed as nominees:
PARASITE
HYAE JIN CHANG / Chung Sook
YEO JEONG CHO / Yeon Kyo
WOO SHIK CHOI / Ki Woo
HYEON JUN JUNG / Da Song
ZISO JUNG / Da Hye
JUNG EUN LEE / Moon Gwang
SUN KYUN LEE / Dong Ik
MYUNG HOON PARK / Geun Se
SO DAM PARK / Ki Jung
KANG HO SONG / Ki Taek
I don't know if they made a mistake or somehow the producers was able to convince SAG to add them to the official nomination (which is somehow possible).
How did Marriage Story get left out here?
I have not seen Bombshell but why is John Lithgow not getting any nom considering the role should have been meaty?
Just a silly question: What if The Lighthouse had been nominated?
Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson share a McQueen/Newman-style titlecard, whereas Valeriia Karamän, who appears in a few scenes with - I presume - about a minute of total screentime as the mermaid, gets one of her own.
Irvin -- that's amazing. I updated the post. Hopefully Neon petitioned SAG and their will be more of this in the future because it's often a real shame who gets excluded... it's almost always because they're less famous.
That’s one of the many things I liked about the sadly not nominated “Knives Out”, that 16 cast members had their own title card.
Even there, I was sad that M. Emmet Walsh, veteran of over 200 movies, did not have his own title card.
SAG not having a supporting category for television is their biggest sin. I get it because I believe film is the gold and television the silver but for an actors organisation it sticks out.
Well the Academy got the memo on makeup and hairstyling, so SAG can get wise too.
Imagine being an actor and not voting for Alda, Liotta, Hagerty, and Wever.
Welker White's character's name was Jo Hoffa, not Irene. Irene was the name of Sheeran's wife.
Yorki...come on bruh, how does he not get nominated? Did he even get a cuddle?
Hey Nathaniel - I know it's TV - but do you know who in the cast of Schitt's Creek isn't included. There's so many colourful characters in the town - I wonder who isn't included as I was thrilled with that nomination. Would love for them to win.
What Peggy said.
What channel or platform is SCHITT'S CREEK on? I always hear great things about it but can never seem to locate it?
I love Catherine O'Hara so I'd love to check it out!
DAVID, it is streaming on Netflix
@JW I know the rules on the TV side are a little more generous and fair. If you appear on the show for more than half the season (50% plus at least one episode), you’re eligible no matter where or how you’re credited. You can be a credited main cast member but if you fall short of the required number, you’re not nominated. You can be credited as a recurring guest star/co-Star but if you’re in the required number of episodes, you’re in.
Wasn’t Archie Yates left off the “Jo Jo Rabbit” cast list? His perfect, low-key and hilarious line readings added much to the film; IMO he was definitely a major asset to the film, and certainly deserves mention as one of the MVPs of the cast. Get with it, SAG!
You can check the Screen Actors' Guild website for the actual cast nominees. There are 11 members of the Schitt's Creek cast listed. I haven't seen any of the competition but I love Schitt's Creek so much I won't let that stop me from rooting for it.
How am I just finding out that Nicholas Hammond from The Sound of Music had a substantial role in a big hit this year? Talk about a survivor!
Thanks @Irvin @ Ken S That's amazing so many of the Schitt's Creek crew are included. Can't wait to see their table on the show. Bob and Ray weren't in much of this season so they're the only featured ones missing it looks like.
JW, here's the Schitt's Creek nominee list. The most glaring omission I see is the actor who plays Bob (but maybe his screen time was too limited this season). The whole cast is great!
CHRIS ELLIOTT / Roland Schitt
EMILY HAMPSHIRE / Stevie Budd
DANIEL LEVY / David Rose
EUGENE LEVY / Johnny Rose
SARAH LEVY / Twyla Sands
DUSTIN MILLIGAN / Ted Mullens
ANNIE MURPHY / Alexis Rose
CATHERINE O’HARA / Moira Rose
NOAH REID / Patrick Brewer
JENNIFER ROBERTSON / Jocelyn Schitt
KAREN ROBINSON / Ronnie Lee
They left out Yorkie? *cries*
The BOMBSHELL one is particularly annoying since it is the ensemble that gives it depth with so many funny and sly turns on the periphery.
Yorki in JOJO is a stupid exclusion.
I always look forward to this post, even though reading it often makes me upset. I noticed Archie Yates right off the bat, and that's a shame. In Bombshell, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Liv Hewson, and Rob Delaney were really very prominent, and it's too bad that they weren't included.
I was really curious to see if Frank Oz would have been included in the nomination for Ensemble for Knives Out. Now, I will never know hahaha. A pity, that ensemble deserved the nom.
leonardo dicaprico and brad pitt share the opening title card on 'once upon a time...'
[shrug]
@Jesus Alonso: since I saw “Knives Out” more than once, I had a chance to look at the end titles, which I was also curious about. And yes, Frank Oz has his own title card.
Loved loved loved Marriage Story, and agree with your comments about people being left out. In particular the actress who played the Evaluator. She was neurotic and weird; her performance was great.
Re: Noah Baumbach, just watched The Squid and Whale last night and will be watching Margot at the Wedding tonight. Saw The Meyerowitz stores a while back, and loved it, but was unaware of Baumbach at that time.
The exclusion of Archie Yates is right up there with Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye from Beast of No Nation a few years back.