Individual SAG movie nods fall short on diversity

Nominations for best ensemble cast went to Beasts of No Nation, a war drama about child soldiers in Africa, and Straight Outta Compton, which charts the rise of hip hop group N.W.A.

While lead actor nominees included Bryan Cranston, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Fassbender and Eddie Redmayne.

“Trumbo” star Bryan Cranston earned a greatest actor nod for his position as Dalton Trumbo, whereas Helen Mirren acquired a greatest supporting actress nomination for enjoying gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.

Elba was nominated for an SAG award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a television movie or miniseries for his role as DCI John Luther in BBC drama Luther, while Rylance was honoured for his role in period drama Wolf Hall.

On the television side, Netflix’s political drama “House of Cards” led with three nominations, including best drama ensemble, best male performance for Kevin Spacey and best female performance for Robin Wright.

The awards will be handed out at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles on January 30 and simulcast live on TNT and TBS. Those networks are divisions of Time Warner, as is CNN. SAG has just announced the nominees for its 2016 awards, which include Trumbo, Mad Men, and first-timer Key & Peele.

Other big winners today include Room, which didn’t get an ensemble nom – nobody expected it to – but did get two acting noms, only one of which (lead actress Brie Larson) was assured; the supporting actor nom for nine-year-old Jacob Tremblay is significant not only because of his age, but because it also cues Academy members about which category to vote for him in (at least in the hopes of A24).

British period drama Downton Abbey was also nominated for best drama ensemble. What is unexpected is that, for critically acclaimed films, neither Matt Damon who played the stranded astronaut, Mark Watney, in “The Martian” nor Will Smith whose performance as Dr. Bennet Omalu in “Concussion” was praised, were recognized.

Overall, it was shown more diversity among candidates of the TV than the movies, with nominations for Uzo Aduba in Orange is the New Black and Viola Davis in How to Get Away with Murder.

Mirren is a double nominee, also given a nod for best actress for her work on “Woman in Gold”.

Hollywood awards season continues on Thursday (midnight Friday AEDT) with the Golden Globes nomination ceremony.

SAG Award nominations announced Wednesday, December 9, 2015.

Kidman also has plenty of competition, with Susan Sarandon (The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe), Queen Latifah (Bessie), Christina Ricci (The Lizzie Borden Chronicles) and Kristen Wiig (The Spoils Before Dying) the other nominees.

Elba secured a third mention for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture for Beasts of No Nation.

Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama SeriesThe Blacklist, Game of Thrones, Homeland, Marvel’s Daredevil, The Walking Dead.