SAG Award nominees named
Steven Spielberg’s presidential drama Lincoln and the romantic comedy Silver Linings Playbook topped Screen Actors Guild nominations on Wednesday, as Hollywood’s awards season got into gear.
In second place was Les Miserables, the star-studded film adaptation of the musical stage show, which garnered three nods including one for Australia’s Hugh Jackman as best actor.
The nominations come as Tinseltown’s annual prize-giving season – which climaxes with the Oscars in February – warms up, with the Golden Globe shortlists due to be announced on Thursday.
The SAG nominees for best ensemble cast were the Iran hostage crisis drama Argo, Les Miserables, Silver Linings Playbook, Lincoln, and the India-set comedy The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.
Jackman also got a best actor nod for his Les Mis turn, as did Hangover star Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook, Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, Denzel Washington piloting Flight and John Hawkes in The Sessions.
"Being recognised by your peers is something I could only dream of happening and to be included in this group of actors is not only humbling but quite frankly surreal," Cooper said, cited by the Hollywood Reporter.
Best actress nominations included Jessica Chastain in much-praised Osama bin Laden hunt movie Zero Dark Thirty, Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook, and Britain’s Helen Mirren for Hitchcock.
British-Australian actress Naomi Watts was also nominated for her performance in Indian Ocean tsunami movie The Impossible, along with French actress Marianne Cotillard in Rust and Bone.
"I’m truly thrilled. It’s an honor to be a part of Maria Belon’s story and of course the countless others whose lives were so profoundly affected by the tsunami," said Watts, referring to the real-life tsunami survivor she plays.
Supporting actor nods went to Alan Arkin for Argo, Spain’s Javier Bardem for 007 blockbuster Skyfall, Robert de Niro for Silver Linings Playbook, Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln and Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master.
Britain’s Maggie Smith was nominated as best supporting actress in Marigold Hotel, as was Nicole Kidman for The Paperboy, Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables, Helen Hunt in The Sessions, and Sally Field for Lincoln.
On the television front, Emmy-winning Modern Family was nominated for best comedy ensemble cast – which it has won for the last two years – along with The Big Bang Theory, Glee, The Office and Nurse Jackie.
Multiple award-winning British period drama Downton Abbey won a nod for best TV drama, along with spy-themed Homeland, cult retro series Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Boardwalk Empire, which has also won two years running.
Steve Buscemi was nominated for best TV drama actor in Boardwalk Empire, along with Jon Hamm for Mad Men, Britain’s Damian Lewis in Homeland, Bryan Cranston in Breaking Bad and Jeff Daniels in The Newsroom.
Best TV actress nods went to Emmy-winner Claire Danes for Homeland, Michelle Dockery and Maggie Smith for Downton Abbey, Jessica Lange for American Horror Story: Asylum and Julianna Margulies for The Good Wife.
The SAG awards will be handed out on 27 January in Los Angeles. The Golden Globe winners will be announced on 13 January, and the Academy Awards on 24 February.
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