Precursor: 23rd Screen Actors Guild Nominations (2016)

The nominations for this year’s Screen Actors Guild awards have been announced. Three are some interesting choices, but a lot of only-in-SAG’s world choices.

Best Actor. Viggo Mortensen has been doing incredibly well all season long. Perhaps he’s a stronger candidate than we all thought. Notable omissions: Michael Keaton for The Founder (not likely screened in time), Tom Hanks in Sully (who is well loved enough to be a competitor, but whose film has been largely forgotten), and Joel Edgerton in Loving (I’ve always considered his candidacy to be the weak one, but it’s clear they did not see or love Loving). Apart from Mortensen, I could see every one of these actors nominated at the Oscars and Mortensen could be as well with Andrew Garfield being one of the weaker contenders (since the ensemble for that film was not nominated).

Best Actress. Loving was also snubbed in Best Actress where Ruth Negga has been performing well all season. Also, no Annette Bening for 20th Century Women. Others not listed: Sally Field in Hello, My Name Is Doris (a long shot at best), Taraji P. Henson for Hidden Figures (surprising considering the ensemble nominations, and Jessica Chastain in Miss Sloane (the reprieve from the Globes is now a memory). It shouldn’t be surprising to see the beloved Meryl Streep on this list, but what is shocking is Emily Blunt who was an early contender, but faded when her film released and it wasn’t particularly well liked. Both of these actresses could easily be bumped by the Academy.

Best Supporting Actor. Apart from Hugh Grant, who might just be on his way to an Oscar nomination against all odds, this is a list we’ve frequently seen mentioned as the primary Oscar contenders. Who isn’t on the list? Ben Foster for Hell or High Water (and with the Academy’s penchant to avoid double nominations in categories these days, he may have been snuffed out by this miss), Michael Shannon for either Nocturnal Animals or Loving (he could still figure in at the Oscars, but after recent misses that we thought were assured, my confidence in him his shaken), and Warren Beatty for Rules Don’t Apply (his was always a longshot, but one that seemed possible with this overly-reverent group).

Best Supporting Actress. These are the frontrunners. That makes this officially the least shocking category of the day, which, considering SAG’s history, is additionally shocking. Other competitors not cited were Greta Gerwig for 20th Century Women (another film they either didn’t watch or didn’t care for) who needed this citation to remain competitive, Janelle Monae for Hidden Figures (again, the bias against double nominations probably hurt the actress/musician), and Molly Shannon in Other People (this was an under-the-radar performance that some thought might have traction with a group more in tune with Shannon and her history).

Best Cast. Four of these were entirely expected, but most figured the fifth slot would go to La La Land in spite of its seeming two-person cast (there were some cameos, but did any of them count?). Instead, the group went completely left-field with Captain Fantastic, an ensemble that no one even remotely considered as a possibility. Best Picture contenders like to place here because this is SAG’s version of the category and may indicate how the largest body of Oscar voters might go. This year, it won’t be without one of its chief competitors. Other that are surprisingly absent: Hell or High Water, Nocturnal Animals, Lion, Silence (they probably didn’t see this in time), and Hacksaw Ridge.

Best Stunt Ensemble. We got the stunt cast nominations first and while four of the titles were expected, that fifth one for Nocturnal Animals is a very odd choice, one I’m not quite sure how to process. How exactly does it have an award-worthy stunt ensemble?

Those are my thoughts on this year’s SAG nominations. I now have plenty of information to start work on a Hopefuls revision. Which will come soon.

Nominations Tallies

(4) Manchester by the Sea
(3) Fences, Moonlight
(2) Captain Fantastic, Florence Foster Jenkins, Hacksaw Ridge, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion

The Nominations

Best Cast

Captain Fantastic
Fences
Hidden Figures
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight

Best Actor

Casey Affleck – Manchester by the Sea
Andrew Garfield – Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling – La La Land
Viggo Mortensen – Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington – Fences

Best Actress

Amy Adams – Arrival
Emily Blunt – The Girl on the Train
Natalie Portman – Jackie
Emma Stone – La La Land
Meryl Streep – Florence Foster Jenkins

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali – Moonlight
Jeff Bridges – Hell or High Water
Hugh Grant – Florence Foster Jenkins
Lucas Hedges – Manchester by the Sea
Dev Patel – Lion