Murky awards season comes into focus with Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations

Wednesday’s SAG Awards nominations further muddled an award season that is already all over the map.

This photo provided by Open Road Films shows, Rachel McAdams, from…

The film landing the most nominations is the unlikely Trumbo, with three nominations for ensemble, best actor (Bryan Cranston), and Mirren, again, for her portrayal of Hedda Hopper.

The cast award is the SAG Awards equivalent of the top picture of the year. Ronan was honoured for her role as a homesick immigrant in Brooklyn, as well as Cate Blanchett for Carol, Brie Larson for Room and Sarah Silverman for I Smile Back.

But the SAG Award nominations also stood out for some selections that were off the experts’ radar.

Redmayne will compete against Irish actor Michael Fassbender, who was nominated for his titular role in Steve Jobs; Bryan Cranston, who received a nod for his portrayal of blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo in Trumbo; Johnny Depp, who won plaudits for his role as Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger and Leonardo DiCaprio, who stars in the highly anticipate revenge epic The Revenant.

The nominees for best film ensemble are Beasts of No Nation, The Big Short, Spotlight, Straight Outta Compton and Trumbo.

Bridge of Spies’ Mark Rylance, who also nabbed a supporting TV actor nod for Wolf Hall, is the supporting movie actor slate with Christian Bale (The Big Short), Michael Shannon (99 Homes), Jacob Tremblay (Room) and Idris Elba (Beasts of Nation), whose starring role in Luthor snagged him a second SAG nod for male actor in a TV movie/miniseries.

Mirren is also up in the lead actress category for her performance in “Woman of Gold”.

Nominees are selected by separate movie and TV nominating panels, each comprised of over 2,000 randomly selected SAG members. Aside from “Spotlight” this season’s main players should come further into focus on Thursday when the nominees are announced for the Golden Globe Awards. 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.

TV acting nominations go to Peter Dinklage in “Game of Throne”, Jon Hamm in “Mad Men”, Kevin Spacey in “House of Cards”, Viola Davis in “How to Get Away With Murder” and Clare Danes for “Homeland”.

HRC congratulates all of the nominees.

Ensemble in a Comedy Series: “The Big Bang Theory”, “Key & Peele”, “Modern Family”, “Orange is the New Black”, “Transparent”, “Veep”. FILE – This Jan. 30, 2011 file photo shows a close up of the Screen Actors Guild trophy at the 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles.