The Film Experience

by Nathaniel R

Annette Bening and Jodie Foster in "Nyad". Photo by Kimberley French for Netflix

The Screen Actors Guild announced their annual nominations this morning and there are some minor plot twists. They rejected May December in totality (Todd Haynes movies do continue to struggle with non-critic based movie awards bodies), embraced Nyad just like the Globes did, and threw new question marks around both Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. No major plot twists this year, though, like an I Smile Back, Woman in Gold, or St. Vincent.

The SAG Awards will stream live on Netflix this year – a first! – as we’ve long suspected awards shows will move to streaming like everything else has. Comments and a full list of nominees after the jump…

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

“American Fiction” (3 nominations overall
“Barbie” (4 nominations overall)
“The Color Purple” (2 nominations overall)
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (3 nominations overall)
“Oppenheimer” (4 nominations overall)

The Color Purple slipped in despite only receiving one individual acting nomination (Danielle Brooks) which is good news for the film since it’s been struggling this awards season. The rest were largely expected to compete.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper – “Maestro”
Colman Domingo – “Rustin”
Paul Giamatti – “The Holdovers”
Cillian Murphy – “Oppenheimer”
Jeffrey Wright – “American Fiction”

Prediction success: 4 of 5

Are these are five? It’s a good five though Leonardo DiCaprio could still spoil the party for his grumpy-faced coasting in Killers of the Flower Moon and one longshot that could theoretically still make it is Andrew Scott for All of Us Strangers who is peaking at the right time. But on the other hand Oscar has rarely honored actual LGBTQ actors for playing LGBTQ characters so even Domingo feels vulnerable. Pity that Gael Garcia Bernal (Cassandro) never got any awards traction this season for such fantastic work. It’s a double pity because he’s been consistently great across two decades and so rarely receives awards attention.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Annette Bening – “Nyad”
Lily Gladstone – “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Carey Mulligan – “Maestro”
Margot Robbie – “Barbie”
Emma Stone – “Poor Things”

Prediction success: 3 of 5 (ouch)

It’s surely Emma vs Lily for the Oscar and neither proved a surprise snub. The ‘surprise’ here, though a very mild one, is Annette Bening for Nyad, muscling out buzzier Oscar hopefuls like Fantasia Barrino (The Color Purple), and especially Sandra Huller (Anatomy of a Fall). We still think Huller has a great shot at the Oscar nomination since Oscar skews far more international than SAG.

The real question here, than is can Huller and Natalie Portman (May December) both land Oscar nominations and if so, who do they replace? What if it’s not Bening but one of the presumed ‘locks’.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Sterling K. Brown – “American Fiction”
Willem Dafoe – “Poor Things”
Robert De Niro – “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Robert Downey Jr. – “Oppenheimer”
Ryan Gosling – “Barbie”

A surprise to see Mark Ruffalo’s comic work in Poor Things shoved aside. Originally we thought Willem Dafoe would be the top choice but then we saw the actual film and assumed they’d both be in the awards mix. And Ruffalo wasn’t set aside for a worthy choice like Charles Melton, either, who was also passed. Sterling K Brown is a SAG regular and a terrific actor (in general) but we hope he doesn’t repeat with Oscar as we’re exhausted by straight actors getting honored for playing queer roles even when their performances are merely serviceable. And if you’re going for a supporting player for American Fiction, Erika Alexander is a far better choice!

Confession: I think De Niro and Downey Jr aren't very good in their films (both way overplaying it) so this

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Emily Blunt – “Oppenheimer”
Danielle Brooks – “The Color Purple”
Penelope Cruz – “Ferrari”
Jodie Foster – “Nyad”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – “The Holdovers”

Thrilled to see Cruz back in the mix for her stormy riveting work in Ferrari. She feels utterly humanly dangerous from scene to scene which is just what the movie needs since otherwise it’s just the car races raising the audiences pulse.

Will this lineup transfer to Oscar intact? Unlikely. Surely Cruz or Foster (or both?) will fall away for someone… but who? Moore? Pike? McAdams? Ferrara? Oscar voters are less prone to honor stand alone players now in the supporting categories generally requiring buzz for the film itself to even remember you exist. If you take this trend to its logical conclusion America Ferrara, Julianne Moore, and Rosamund Pike are still real threats for an Oscar nomination despite spotty precursor love… and probably a bigger threat than Cruz or McAdams (despite their critical plaudits).

In short something weird might happen in Supporting Actress on Oscar nomination morning.

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

“Barbie”
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
“John Wick: Chapter 4”
“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”

Barbie appearing in stunts is not a shock. Non-action movies sometimes make it if they’re best picture threats.

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

“The Crown”
“The Gilded Age”
“The Last of Us”
“The Morning Show”
“Succession”

Confession: I religiously watch The Gilded Age. Contradiction: I raise my eyebrows at this nomination for the wildly uneven acting on that show which ranges from high school drama simplicity to guilty fun with infrequent touching bits but rarely if ever to the level of “outstanding”. And I say this as someone who wants to love the acting since so many beloved Broadway favourites are in the mix.

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

“Abbot Elementary”
“Barry”
“The Bear”
“Only Murders in the Building”
“Ted Lasso”

The usual suspects. In fact for the remainder of the nominations it’s the usual suspects. SAG really stays loyal. They’ve showered aging favourites like Mrs Maisel, Ted Lasso, Barry, Succession, The Morning Show, and The Crown with honors.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Brian Cox – “Succession”
Billy Crudup – “The Morning Show”
Kieran Culkin – “Succession”
Matthew Macfadyen – “Succession”
Pedro Pascal – “The Last of Us”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Jennifer Aniston – “The Morning Show”
Elizabeth Debicki – “The Crown”
Bella Ramsey – “The Last of Us”
Keri Russell – “The Diplomat”
Sarah Snook – “Succession”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein – “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Rachel Brosnahan – “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Quinta Brunson – “Abbott Elementary”
Ayo Edebiri – “The Bear”
Hannah Waddingham – “Ted Lasso”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Brett Goldstein – “Ted Lasso”
Bill Hader – “Barry”
Ebon Moss-Bachrach – “The Bear”
Jason Sudeikis – “Ted Lasso”
Jeremy Allen White – “The Bear”

Since SAG doesn’t have ‘supporting’ categories for TV, they end up double dipping for their favourite shows. But these two sets of nominees really feel like nobody thought twice about their ballot. ‘I’ll take the usual please’.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Uzo Aduba – “Painkiller”
Kathryn Hahn – Tiny Beautiful Things”
Brie Larson – “Lessons in Chemistry”
Bel Powley – “A Small Light”
Ali Wong – “Beef”

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Matt Bomer – “Fellow Travelers”
Jon Hamm – “Fargo”
David Oyelowo – “Lawmen: Bass Reeves”
Tony Shalhoub – “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie”
Steven Yeun – “Beef”

SAG voters said "give me whatever the Globes are having! Plus Tony Shalhoub".

Did Tony Shalhoub really need another Monk honor? Numerous other less awarded players doing good work were eligible.

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

“Ahsoka”
“Barry”
“Beef”
“The Last of Us”
“The Mandalorian”

Beef is a great choice here given its shocking bursts of violence and action. The others are more expected.

What do you make of the SAG choices this year?