StAr is Born nABs four SAG nods
Many hopefuls predictable, but snubs abound as awards season heats up
NEW YORK A Star Is Born led nominations for the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards Wednesday with four nods including best ensemble, firmly establishing Bradley Cooper’s romantic revival as this year’s Academy Awards front-runner.
Awkwafina and Laverne Cox announced nominations live from the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif. The actors guild — one of the most predictive bellwethers of the Oscars — threw cold water on the awards campaigns of numerous contenders while elevating others. But A Star Is Born fared the best of all, landing nominations for Cooper ( best male actor), Lady Gaga ( best female actor) and Sam Elliott (best supporting male actor).
The other nominees for the group’s top award, best ensemble, were: Black Panther, Bohemian Rhapsody, BlacKkKlansman and Crazy Rich Asians.
That category is the most closely watched of the SAG Awards because only once in the past decades has the eventual Oscars best picture winner not been nominated for best ensemble at the SAG Awards. The one aberration, though, was last year, when Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water overcame the SAG omission on its way to winning best picture.
Unless a new trend is forming, that’s bad news for Oscar hopefuls including Vice, Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic (which led last week’s Golden Globe nominations); Alfonso CuarÓn’s Netflix drama Roma (the overwhelming choice of critics groups); and the 1962 road trip Green Book.
Vice still scored SAG nods for Christian Bale and Amy Adams, just as Green Book won nominations for Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali.
But Roma was shut out entirely, as was Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong drama First Man and Barry Jenkins’ Harlem love story If Beale Street Could Talk. Most expected Regina King of Beale Street to be among the supporting female actor nominees.
Instead, Wednesday’s nominations gave a boost to Bohemian Rhapsody, the Freddie Mercury biopic that has been a hit with audiences but was slammed by critics. Its star, Rami Malek, was also nominated for best actor.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ period romp The Favourite failed to crack best ensemble, but its three leads — Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone — were all nominated.
Emily Blunt scored two nominations herself: one for her lead performance in Mary Poppins Returns and one for her supporting role in A Quiet Place.
In television categories, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Ozark led with four nominations each. Barry, GLOW, The Handmaid’s Tale and The Kominsky Method trailed close behind with three nominations each.
The ceremony is Jan. 27. This year’s show will honour Alan Alda with the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.