The great ship known as America may be sinking, but the band on deck continues to play. Hollywood’s award season must roll on. The latest excuse for movie stars to celebrate themselves came at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday. The results there may pose some surprises for the Oscars next month.
The SAG Awards are often considered a strong predictor for the Oscars. Last year, SAG gave the journalism drama ‘Spotlight’ its “Cast in a Motion Picture” prize (the SAG equivalent of Best Picture) even as the more heavily-buzzed ‘The Revenant’ was predicted to take the top Oscar. Other recent Best Picture winners that SAG correctly called include ‘Birdman’, ‘Argo’ and ‘The King’s Speech’.
This year’s Cast in a Motion Picture award went to ‘Hidden Figures’, the inspirational period piece about African-American women’s contributions to the 1960s space race. The movie may have seemed like a long shot when it was nominated for several Oscars last week, but this victory may bolster its chances with Academy voters.
That said, presumed Oscar front-runner ‘La La Land’ was not even nominated for the Cast in a Motion Picture category, which is geared more toward ensemble pictures than those with just one or two primary leads. The Oscars make no such distinction. (However, I’m not certain how much nominees like ‘Captain Fantastic’ or ‘Fences’ really qualify as ensembles either.) I still expect ‘La La Land’ to win the Best Picture Oscar, but if anything were to upset it, I think ‘Hidden Figures’ stands the best chance.
Another surprise came when SAG gave Male Actor in a Leading Role to Denzel Washington for ‘Fences’ even though Casey Affleck has been steam-rolling through awards season and was expected to win here for ‘Manchester by the Sea’. As far as that goes, it’s worth noting that Washington had never won a SAG award before, so this could be seen as a make-good prize, whereas he already has two Oscars on his shelf.
‘Fences’ also picked up Female Actor in a Supporting Role, and I think Viola Davis is likely to take the comparable Oscar as well.
‘La La Land’ was only nominated in the Male and Female Leading Role categories, of which Emma Stone won over fellow Oscar nominees Meryl Streep and Natalie Portman.
On the TV side, Netflix really cleaned up. The streaming service’s ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Orange Is the New Black’ triumphed in the respective Drama and Comedy categories, as did John Lithgow and Claire Foy for their performances in ‘The Crown’.
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
The nominees:
- ‘Captain Fantastic’
- ‘Fences’
- ‘Hidden Figures’
- ‘Manchester by the Sea’
- ‘Moonlight’
Winner: ‘Hidden Figures’
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
The nominees:
- Casey Affleck, ‘Manchester by the Sea’
- Andrew Garfield, ‘Hacksaw Ridge’
- Ryan Gosling, ‘La La Land’
- Viggo Mortensen, ‘Captain Fantastic’
- Denzel Washington, ‘Fences’
Winner: Denzel Washington
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
The nominees:
- Amy Adams, ‘Arrival’
- Emily Blunt, ‘The Girl on the Train’
- Natalie Portman, ‘Jackie’
- Emma Stone, ‘La La Land’
- Meryl Streep, ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’
Winner: Emma Stone
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
The nominees:
- Mahershala Ali, ‘Moonlight’
- Jeff Bridges, ‘Hell or High Water’
- Hugh Grant, ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’
- Lucas Hedges, ‘Manchester by the Sea’
- Dev Patel, ‘Lion’
Winner: Mahershala Ali
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
The nominees:
- Viola Davis, ‘Fences’
- Naomie Harris, ‘Moonlight’
- Nicole Kidman, ‘Lion’
- Octavia Spencer, ‘Hidden Figures’
- Michelle Williams, ‘Manchester by the Sea’
Winner: Viola Davis
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
The nominees:
- ‘The Crown’
- ‘Downton Abbey’
- ‘Game of Thrones’
- ‘Stranger Things’
- ‘Westworld’
Winner: ‘Stranger Things’
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
The nominees:
- ‘The Big Bang Theory’
- ‘Black-ish’
- ‘Modern Family’
- ‘Orange Is the New Black’
- ‘Veep’
Winner: ‘Orange Is the New Black’
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
The nominees:
- Sterling K. Brown, ‘This Is Us’
- Peter Dinklage, ‘Game of Thrones’
- John Lithgow, ‘The Crown’
- Rami Malek, ‘Mr. Robot’
- Kevin Spacey, ‘House of Cards’
Winner: John Lithgow
Outstanding Performance by Female Actor in a Drama Series
The nominees:
- Millie Bobby Brown, ‘Stranger Things’
- Claire Foy, ‘The Crown’
- Thandie Newton, ‘Westworld’
- Winona Ryder, ‘Stranger Things’
- Robin Wright, ‘House of Cards’
Winner: Claire Foy
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
The nominees:
- Anthony Anderson, ‘Black-ish’
- Tituss Burgess, ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’
- Ty Burrell, ‘Modern Family’
- William H. Macy, ‘Shameless’
- Jeffrey Tambor, ‘Transparent’
Winner: William H. Macy
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
The nominees:
- Uzo Aduba, ‘Orange Is the New Black’
- Jane Fonda, ‘Grace and Frankie’
- Ellie Kemper, ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, ‘Veep’
- Lily Tomlin, ‘Grace and Frankie’
Winner: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
The nominees:
- Riz Ahmed, ‘The Night Of’
- Sterling K. Brown, ‘The People vs. O.J. Simpson’
- Bryan Cranston, ‘All the Way’
- John Turturro, ‘The Night Of’
- Courtney B. Vance, ‘The People vs. O.J. Simpson’
Winner: Bryan Cranston
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
The nominees:
- Bryce Dallas Howard, ‘Black Mirror’
- Felicity Huffman, ‘American Crime’
- Audra McDonald, ‘Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill’
- Sarah Paulson, ‘The People vs. O.J. Simpson’
- Kerry Washington, ‘Confirmation’
Winner: Sarah Paulson
For the complete list of nominees and winners, visit the the official SAG Awards web site.
