Jennifer Lawrence, Matt Damon shut out at the SAG awards
In the build-up to the Oscars, few predictors are as important as the awards bestowed by the industry’s guilds, and the nominations unveiled on Wednesday by the Screen Actors Guild were a good indicator of the contenders we’re likely to see in the final run of the awards race.
The biggest surprises might have been in the shutouts: Jennifer Lawrence was not nominated for her lead performance in Joy, nor was Matt Damon, for The Martian, nor were Michael Keaton or Mark Ruffalo, who had both been forecast to land best supporting actor nominations for their work in Spotlight.
The biggest surprise inclusions lay in the best actress category, with Helen Mirren, for Woman In Gold — she also landed a supporting actress nomination for Trumbo — and Sarah Silverman ( I Smile Back) joining other early leaders Cate Blanchett ( Carol), Brie Larson ( Room) and Saoirse Ronan ( Brooklyn) in that race.
The best actor race was less of a surprise, with Leonardo DiCaprio ( The Revenant), Michael Fassbender ( Steve Jobs) and Eddie Redmayne ( The Danish Girl) among the nominees. Johnny Depp ( Black Mass) and Bryan Cranston ( Trumbo) rounded out the category.
That the nominees for best ensemble picture — the SAGs’s equivalent of best picture — include Straight Outta Compton and The Big Short will no doubt leave the folks at their studios, Universal and Paramount, sighing in relief. Executives at Netflix too will be pleased; they’ve expended loads of cash promoting the child soldier tale Beasts Of No Nation, which landed a best ensemble picture nomination, along with a best actor nomination for its star, Idris Elba. (Elba also received a nomination for his television work in Luther.)
The other nominees for best ensemble are Spotlight and Trumbo, the film that received the most nominations over all. The final awards will be announced at a ceremony on Jan 30, 2106.
In the past 13 years, there have been five instances when all four actors who won a Screen Actors Guild award for their work in a feature film went on to win an Oscar.
On the television side, nominations for best drama ensemble went to Downton Abbey, Game Of Thrones, Homeland, House Of Cards and Mad Men. Up for best comedy ensemble are Big Bang Theory, Key And Peele, Modern Family, Orange Is The New Black, Transparent and Veep.