Just when you think that awards season might follow the Critics Choice Awards with no real surprises, the Screen Actors Guild have thrown something of a curveball into the mix with the nods for their annual awards. Led by "Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook" with four nominations apiece (as was expected), the guild have very much stuck with the establishment this year, with big names favored in almost every case over breakout actors or 'difficult' films.
Most notable is a seeming distaste for "The Master," which only picked up a nomination for Philip Seymour Hoffman in Supporting Actor, with Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams nowhere to be found. Other notable absences (excluding "Beasts of the Southern Wild" star Quvenzhane Wallis, who was ineligible for arcane guild-related reasons) were Emmanuelle Riva, for "Amour," Leonardo DiCaprio for "Django Unchained," Rachel Weisz for "The Deep Blue Sea" and Ann Dowd for "Compliance," all of whom have been lauded recently by critics groups.
Also something of a surprise: the absence of awards darling "Zero Dark Thirty" from the Best Ensemble prize, with "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" joining "Argo," "Les Miserables," "Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook" in its place. With another nomination locked in for Maggie Smith, John Madden's 'Hotel,' certainly got a boost for its fading awards chances — could it be this year's equivalent to "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," sneaking in due to being beloved by Academy membership, despite being sniffed at by critics?
Also getting boosts; Helen Mirren, Naomi Watts and Marion Cotillard, who all picked up Best Actress nominations, despite none necessarily being locked into the Actress category. We wouldn't expect to see all five repeat with the Academy, particularly with Quvenzhane Wallis a likely nominee, but one has to wonder if Emmanuelle Riva will definitely be heading to the Dolby Theater in February. The supporting categories had some surprising inclusions too, in the shape of Javier Bardem for "Skyfall" and Nicole Kidman for the much-derided "The Paperboy." Turns out star power still has some currency…
All that said, this isn't going to be exactly how it plays out with the Academy, but the guild have matched up relatively well in recent years — 18/20 in the acting categories in 2010, and 17/20 in 2011 and 2012. So there's sure to be some disappointed faces come Oscar time next month, and more than a few of them may hail from Paul Thomas Anderson's film… Check out the full list of SAG nominees below.
Best Ensemble
"Argo"
"Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"
"Les Miserables"
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
Best Male Actor In A Leading Role
Denzel Washington – "Flight"
Daniel Day-Lewis – "Lincoln"
Hugh Jackman – "Les Miserables"
Bradley Cooper – "Silver Linings Playbook"
John Hawkes – "The Sessions"
Best Female Actor In A Leading Role
Helen Mirren – "Hitchcock"
Naomi Watts – "The Impossible"
Marion Cotillard – "Rust & Bone"
Jennifer Lawrence – "Silver Linings Playbook"
Jessica Chastain – "Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Actor In A Supporting Role
Alan Arkin – "Argo"
Tommy Lee Jones – "Lincoln"
Philip Seymour Hoffman – "The Master"
Robert DeNiro – "Silver Linings Playbook"
Javier Bardem – "Skyfall"
Best Actress In A Supporting Role
Maggie Smith – "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"
Anne Hathaway – "Les Miserables"
Sally Field – "Lincoln"
Nicole Kidman – "The Paperboy"
Helen Hunt – "The Sessions"
Best Stunt Ensemble In A Motion Picture
"The Amazing Spider-Man"
"The Bourne Legacy"
"The Dark Knight Rises"
"Les Miserables"
"Skyfall"
Best Ensemble In A Drama
"Boardwalk Empire"
"Breaking Bad"
"Downton Abbey"
"Homeland"
"Mad Men"
Best Actor In A Drama
Steve Buscemi – "Boardwalk Empire"
Bryan Cranston – "Breaking Bad"
Damian Lewis – "Homeland"
Jon Hamm – "Mad Men"
Jeff Daniels – "The Newsroom"
Best Actress In A Drama
Maggie Smith – "Downton Abbey"
Michelle Dockery – "Downton Abbey"
Julianna Margulies – "The Good Wife"
Claire Danes – "Homeland"
Jessica Lange – "American Horror Story Asylum"
Best Ensemble In A Comedy
"30 Rock"
"The Big Bang Theory"
"Glee"
"Modern Family"
"Nurse Jackie"
"The Office"
Best Actor In A Comedy
Alec Baldwin – "30 Rock"
Jim Parsons – "The Big Bang Theory"
Louis CK – "Louie"
Ty Burrell – "Modern Family"
Eric Stonestreet – "Modern Family"
Best Actress In A Comedy
Tina Fey – "30 Rock"
Betty White – "Hot in Cleveland"
Sofia Vergara – "Modern Family"
Edie Falco – "Nurse Jackie"
Amy Poehler – "Parks and Recreation"
Best Actor In A Miniseries
Ed Harris – "Game Change"
Woody Harrelson – "Game Change"
Bill Paxton – "Hatfields & McCoys"
Kevin Costner – "Hatfields & McCoys"
Clive Owen – "Hemingway & Gellhorn"
Best Actress In A Miniseries
Julianne Moore – "Game Change"
Nicole Kidman – "Hemingway & Gellhorn"
Sigourney Weaver – "Political Animals"
Charlotte Rampling – "Restless"
Alfre Woodard – "Steel Magnolias"
Best Stunt Ensemble – Television
"Boardwalk Empire"
"Breaking Bad"
"Game of Thrones"
"Sons Of Anarchy"
"The Walking Dead"
And I agree to some other comments. Nicole Kidman did not sneak into the nominations because of star power and a "loving relationship" with SAG. She was snubbed for To Die For, snubbed for her two 2001 flicks, Moulin Rouge! and The Others. Zero wins. 2 previous nominations (The Hours and Rabbit Hole). She was just brilliant. PERIOD. The Screen Actors Guild got this one right!
Nicole Kidman DESERVED her Screen Actors Guild nomination for The Paperboy. Yes, the film was lambasted, but when you nominate an actor for an acting category, the performance is the one being judged, and NOT THE FILM. She gave one of the best performances of the year, hands down.
Django and zero dark didn't screen in time but jessica not unlike nicole is loved among her peers so thats why she still got the nom.
The thing is Bardem is possibly the most highly regarded actor coming from a non-English speaking country, and Kidman is a living legend.
Amy didn't get nominated???????? well there are still the golden globes and the oscars, hopefully they don't forget her.
Snubbing Parks & Recreation for Best Ensemble in a Comedy is absolutely criminal. The deep-in-decline, seen-much-better-days Office and Modern Family over Parks & Rec, REALLY SAG, REALLY?!?!? Have you WATCHED those shows lately? Are you giving them awards based on what they USED to be, when they were great YEARS AGO?
Bullshit. That's what it is. Amy Adams gave one of the best performances I have ever seen, and they fucking snub her for it? She was amazing in The Master! I would follow this up with "I hope the Globes and Oscars don't make that same mistake", but who am I kidding?
But….Where is the Wonderul "Life of Pi"?
Nicole Kidman for the paperboy?
The SAG doesn't care about star power-they care about power in the organization. It's why the big players usually end up there, like Kidman or Mirren.
Django Unchained wasn't screened in time for a SAG, at least from what I've read.
Best Ensemble In A Drama no Game of Thrones, or The Walking Dead, or American Horror Story?
and honestly this season of Boardwalk Empire was horrible. and "Downton Abbey" is not THAT good.
Mr. Lyttelton seems to reveal a casual distate for organized labor by attributing the exclusion of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" to "arcane guild-related reasons." As reported in the New York Times and elsewhere, Fox Searchlight had the opportunity to retroactively comply with the guild's "low-budget feature agreement," which would've required them to pay the actors some more money, among other things. They declined. Indiewire has already been forced to correct its reporting on this issue, having erroneously reported that the use of non-professional actors is what rendered the film ineligible: http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/sag-aftra-clarifies-beasts-of-the-southern-wild-actors-sag-awards-ineligibility-report
The Paperboy was a terrible movie and Kidman was bad in it. It wasnt a brave performance it was over the top. SAG going for star power.
I personally think Bardem and Kidman deserve it. Good on SAG for rewarding two polarizing (yet gripping) performances…