Trumbo Leads Screen Actors Guild Nominations

The nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG Awards) were announced earlier today and once again, Game of Thrones came out on top.

The film’s star Bryan Cranston – of “Breaking Bad” fame – is up for an award for his portrayal of Trumbo, and co-star Helen Mirren was also tapped for a best supporting actress prize for her role as conservative gossip columnist Hedda Hopper.

Also in the movie circuit is Straight Outta Compton which was also nominated in the category for Oustanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The nominated actors and filmmakers expressed their gratitude for being selected for one of the most prestigious awards in Hollywood. Yet, individual nominations, especially for movies, remained largely white – only adding to concerns this will be yet another monochromatic awards season.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards honor the best film and television performances of the year and have traditionally served as a helpful indicator of potential Oscar acting nominees. The other films competing in that category are Trumbo, NWA biopic Straight Outta Compton, financial drama The Big Short and Spotlight, about the Boston Globe’s investigation into sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

In the best actor category, Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for his work in the movie “The Revenant“, while Michael Fassbender made the cut for the title role in “Steve Jobs”, as did Eddie Redmayne for his work in the movie “The Danish Girl“.

The nominees for best supporting actress include Rachel McAdams for Spotlight, Kate Winslet in Steve Jobs, Alicia Vikander playing The Danish Girl, and Rooney Mara for Carol. The actors’ branch is the largest of the groups voting for the Academy Awards, so the SAG Awards are seen by many experts as a guide to possible Oscar nominations.

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.

On the comedy series front, the nominated actresses are Uzo Aduba (“Orange Is the New Black”); Edie Falco who picked up her record-setting 22nd nod for “Nurse Jackie”; Ellie Kemper (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”); 17-time nominee Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”) and Amy Poehler (“Parks and Recreation“).

In the television categories, fantasy saga Game of Thrones, spy thriller Homeland and political drama House of Cards led the way with three nominations each.

“It goes without saying that my performance is shared with the tremendous actors I work with”, wrote Elba, congratulating his “Beasts” co-stars Abraham Attah and Kurt Egyiawan as well.

The twenty-second edition of the SAG will be held on January 30th from the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California, under the presentation of Anna Faris and Anthony Mackie.