SAG movie nods lack inclusiveness
While ensemble nominations show diversity, individual movie picks leave much to be desired
Ensemble nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards highlight diversity in both film and television, including nods for Beasts of No Nation, Straight Outta Compton, and Orange is the New Black. Yet, individual nominations, especially for movies, remained largely white — only adding to concerns this will be yet another monochromatic awards season.
Idris Elba was nominated for best supporting actor in the drama Beasts of No Nation and is the sole individual minority nominee in the movie categories of the 22nd annual SAG nominations announced Wednesday.
Elba said in a statement that he was “floored” and “humbled” by the recognition. “It goes without saying that my performance is shared with the tremendous actors I work with,” wrote Elba. Elba was also nominated for his leading role in TV show Luther.
Hollywood’s lack of diversity has become of critical concern following last Oscar’s all-white acting slate. But while the predominantly black casts of both Beasts and Straight Outta Compton
were recognised for their ensemble work, alongside
Trumbo, Spotlight and The Big Short, individual acting nominations in most film categories exhibited a striking lack of diversity.
Overall, there were more diverse individual nominees in TV than film, thanks in part to the fact that TV divides nominees into comedy and drama. In addition to Elba’s nod, other TV nominees included Queen Latifah for Bessie, Uzo Aduba for Orange is the New Black
and Viola Davis for How to Get Away With Murder.
The SAG nominations also helped bring a murky awards season into bit better focus. Nominees are selected by separate movie and TV nominating panels, each comprising more than 2,000 randomly selected SAG members, and the organisation’s choices highlighted a few underdog performances.
Leading female performance nominees included Cate Blanchett (Carol), Brie Larson (Room) and Saoirse Ronan (Brooklyn), all of whom have dominated awards buzz, but also Sarah Silverman for the depression indie
I Smile Back, and Helen Mirren for Woman in Gold. Mirren was also nominated for a supporting performance for Trumbo.
“I am honestly in shock and just tickled pink that this happened,” said Silverman in a statement. “My first thought was that I can’t believe my Mom isn’t here to see this. I wish I believed she is somewhere seeing it. Maybe for today, I will.” Silverman’s mother died in August.
The lead actor nominees were a bit more expected, with recognition for Bryan Cranston (Trumbo), Johnny Depp (Black Mass), Leonardo DiCaprio
(The Revenant), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs)
and Eddie Redmayne (The
Danish Girl).
In the supporting category, Christian Bale was nominated for The
Big Short, Mark Rylance for the Cold War thriller
Bridge of Spies, Michael Shannon for playing a predatory real estate agent in 99 Homes and young star Jacob Tremblay for playing a child in captivity in Room. Tremblay was in Dubai with his family and attended the Dubai International Film Festival. The young actor, in a statement, said they “plan to celebrate with ice cream sundaes tonight.”
Supporting actress contenders included Rachel McAdams (Spotlight), Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs), Alicia Vikander (The
Danish Girl) and Rooney
Mara (Carol).
The 22nd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards presentation will take place on January 30, 2016.