Awards Season - The SAG Award nominations

So the 20th annual SAG awards are on tonight (thats the Screen Actors Guild Awards to those who don't know).
Whats different and special about the SAG awards is that it is an awards ceremony that specifically honors the performers. Actors from both film and television are nominated. One thing that many who attend prefer about these awards is that they are chosen by their peers and this usually means a lot to those who are nominated and ultimately win the award. The SAG awards are not televised in the UK but they are known to have a friendly, warm air to them, which some of the more prestigious ceremonies lack.

This year as with many previous years the nominees are very similar if not the same as those nominated for the Golden Globes, Oscars and Bafta's there are very rarely any big surprises. The nominees for film performers are as follows:

Male Actor in a Leading Role
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Forest Whitaker - Lee Daniels' The Butler

Female Actor in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Judi Dench - Philomena
Meryl Streep - August: Osage County
Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks

Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl - Rush
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini - Enough Said
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
June Squibb - Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey - Lee Daniels' The Butler

Cast in a Motion Picture
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Dallas Buyers Club
Lee Daniels' The Butler

There were a few surprises; Judi Dench nominated for Female Actor in a Leading Role, not at all expected as it puts Amy Adams out of the list. Another, Oprah Winfrey's supporting actress nomination for Lee Daniels' The Butler over Sally Hawkins. This is perhaps more accepted as many were surprised that Oprah was snubbed at many of the other awards shows. Leonardo Dicaprio or Christian Bale have missed out in the Male Actor in a Leading Role category in favor of Forest Whitaker for Lee Daniels' The Butler, the film is also nominated in the Ensemble cast category, showing that the Screen Actors Guild obviously saw something in the film that the other awards ceremonies did not. Another unexpected move was James Gandolfini receiving the supporting actor nomination for Enough Said rather than Bradley Cooper for American Hustle, meaning that only Jennifer Lawrence has been nominated for the film. The Wolf of Wall Street has not been nominated for any awards which will be a disappointment to many.

The obvious front runners for the awards are those who have won the Golden Globe, the likes of Cate Blanchett for Female Actor in a Leading Role for her performance in Blue Jasmine. Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey for Supporting Actor and Leading Actor for Dallas Buyers Club and Jennifer Lawrence for supporting actress for American Hustle. There may be some shocks, the guild may favor Sandra Bullock's performance in Gravity as both actresses are both superb and Chiwetel Ejiofor for Leading Actor in 12 Years a Slave. We shall see.

The SAG awards are on in less than 20 minutes, airing on American Television. I'll have a full list of the winners in an article tomorrow. Check it out.

For the full list of Nominees (the television categories) click on the link below;
Screen Actors Guild Awards Nominations