’12 Years A Slave’ Leads SAG Nominations As Robert Redford Misses Best Actor Nod

We’re now deep in the heart of awards season, and after the critics’ groups began to have their say last week, today brings the first of the guild nominations, with the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The leading actor categories have begun to lock up, but there’s room for plenty of surprises, while the supporting categories are still in flux, could start to crystalize from now—the SAG is normally a fairly reliable Academy precursor—in 2010, they matched up 19 of the eventual 20 Oscar nominations, though last year saw only 14 nominations coincide.

As expected by most, “12 Years A Slave‘ led the field, with an ensemble nomination along with nods for Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita N’yongo and Michael Fassbender, giving a nice boost to a film that’s performed a little disappointingly in the season so far. Just behind were the other ensemble nominees, with “August: Osage County,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” and “Dallas Buyers Club,” all considered Best Picture outsiders until now, picking up three nods a piece, including their ensemble nominations. “American Hustle” took the fifth ensemble slot, alongside a nomination for Jennifer Lawrence (but Christian Bale and Bradley Cooper both missed out).

The biggest shock by some way was the absence of Robert Redford from the Best Actor field for “All Is Lost.” He’s been considered by many a frontrunner, not just for a nomination, but even to win, and his Oscar chances have been dealt a serious blow here, though in a tough category, something had to give. It’s not to say he won’t be nominated (there are differences in the last few years, John Hawkes, Robert Duvall and Leonardo DiCaprio were SAG nominees for “The Sessions,” “Get Low” and “J. Edgar“) but to miss out with the SAG is certainly a blow. Otherwise, things mostly played out as expected, though Octavia Spencer missed out in Supporting Actress for “Fruitvale Station,” and Tom Hanks, while nominated for “Captain Phillips,” failed to get a supporting nomination for “Saving Mr. Banks.” Jonah Hill also missed out for “The Wolf Of Wall Street” (which, like Spike Jonze‘s “Her,” got no nominations, though the Scorsese film was likely screened too late for the guild, like “Django Unchained” last year) and made way for James Gandolfini and Daniel Brühl (we’ve been tipping the former for months, the latter was once considered a certainty, but gets a boost after losing momentum of late).

We’ll have more analysis for you tomorrow after the Golden Globe nominations are announced. The winners will be announced on Saturday January 18th, and for more awards news, check back tomorrow for the Golden Globes nominations.

Ensemble In A Motion Picture
“12 Years A Slave”
“American Hustle”
“August: Osage County”
“Lee Daniels’ The Butler”
“Dallas Buyers Club”

Female Lead Actor In A Motion Picture
Cate Blanchett – “Blue Jasmine”
Sandra Bullock – “Gravity”
Judi Dench – “Philomena”
Meryl Streep – “August: Osage County”
Emma Thompson – “Saving Mr Banks”

Male Lead Actor In A Motion Picture
Bruce Dern – “Nebraska”
Chiwetel Ejiofor – “12 Years A Slave”
Tom Hanks – “Captain Phillips”
Matthew McConaughey – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Forest Whitaker – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”

Female Supporting Actor IN A Motion Picture
Jennifer Lawrence – “American Hustle”
Lupita Nyong’o – “12 Years A Slave”
Julia Roberts – “August: Osage County”
June Squibb – “Nebraska”
Oprah Winfrey – “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”

Male Supporting Actor In A Motion Picture
Barkhad Abdi – “Captain Phillips”
Daniel Brühl – “Rush”
Michael Fassbender – “12 Years A Slave”
James Gandolfini – “Enough Said”
Jared Leto – “Dallas Buyers Club”

Ensemble Drama Series
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Breaking Bad” 
“Downton Abbey”
“Game Of Thrones”
“Homeland”

Ensemble Comedy Series
“30 Rock”
“Arrested Development”
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Modern Family”
“Veep”

Female Actor Drama Series
Claire Danes – “Homeland”
Anna Gunn – “Breaking Bad”
Jessica Lange – “American Horror Story”
Maggie Smith – “Downton Abbey”
Kerry Washington – “Scandal”

Male Actor Drama Series
Steve Buscemi – “Boardwalk Empire”
Bryan Cranston – “Breaking Bad”
Jeff Daniels – “The Newsroom”
Peter Dinklage – “Game Of Thrones”
Kevin Spacey – “House Of Cards”

Female Actor Comedy Series
Mayim Bialik – “The Big Bang Theory”
Julie Bowen – “Modern Family”
Edie Falco – “Nurse Jackie”
Tina Fey – “30 Rock”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – “Veep”

Male Actor Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin – “30 Rock”
Jason Bateman – “Arrested Development”
Ty Burrell – “Modern Family”
Don Cheadle – “House Of Lies”
Jim Parsons – “The Big Bang Theory”

Female Actor TV Movie Or Mini Series
Helen Mirren – “Phil Spector”
Elisabeth Moss – “Top Of The Lake”
Angela Bassett – “Betty & Corretta”
Helena Bonham Carter – “Burton & Taylor”
Holly Hunter – “Top Of The Lake”

Male Actor TV Movie Or Mini Series
Matt Damon – “Behind The Candelabra”
Michael Douglas – “Behind The Candelabra”
Jeremy Irons – “The Borgias”
Rob Lowe – “Killing Kennedy”
Al Pacino – “Phil Spector”

Outstanding Action Performance By A Stunt Ensemble In A Motion Picture
“All Is Lost”
“Fast & Furious 6”
“Lone Survivor”
“Rush”
“The Wolverine”

Outstanding Action Performance By A Stunt Ensemble In A Television Series
“Boardwalk Empire”
“Breaking Bad”
“Game Of Thrones”
“Homeland”
“The Walking Dead”