Stars Will Smith, Lady Gaga and Ben Affleck are among the artists who received individual nominations on Wednesday for the gala of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the union of Hollywood actors.
The nominees list was featured by actresses Vanessa Hudgens and Rosario Dawson on Instagram Live. Although the nominations were virtually unveiled due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, the announcement still represented the most important morning in an awards season largely tarnished by the pandemic.
The actors of the films Belfast, CODA, House of Gucci (The Gucci saga), Don’t Look Up (Don’t Look Up. Cosmic denial) and King richard (The Williams method) are nominated for the Best Distribution category. Distributions conspicuous by their absence include those of West Side Story and of The Power of the Dog (The power of the dog).
The Golden Globes, which typically kick off the Oscar-winning series of galas, have made little noise this year. The winners were unveiled Sunday on Twitter. The spread of the Omicron variant has also prompted the organization of the Critics Choice Awards to postpone the evening scheduled for January 9.
The SAG nominations suggest that several famous faces could go on to pick up an award this year.
The finalists for the Best Actor Award are Will Smith for King richard, Denzel Washington for The Tragedy of Macbeth, Andrew Garfield for Tick, Tick… Boom!, Javier Bardem for Being the Ricardos and Benedict Cumberbatch for The Power of the Dog.
On the women’s side, we find Lady Gaga for House of Gucci, Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Olivia Colman for The Lost Daughter (Stolen doll), Nicole Kidman for Being the Ricardos and Jennifer Hudson for Respect.
The Prize for Best Actress in a Supporting Role will be contested by Caitriona Balfe for Belfast, Cate Blanchett for Nightmare alley, Ariana DeBose for West Side Story, Kirsten Dunst for The Power of the Dog and Ruth Negga for Passing (Clair obscur).
In the men’s category, the award will go to Ben Affleck for The Tender Bar, to Bradley Cooper for Licorice Pizza, to Troy Kotsur for CODA, to Jared Leto for House of Gucci or Kodi Smit-McPhee for The Power of the Dog.
While some hoped to see other blockbuster films usher in a more ‘popular’ path to Oscars, Dune, Spiderman. No Way Home (Spiderman. Without return) and No Time To Die (To die can wait) have not received any major nominations from the Actor’s Guild. Dune and No Time to Die are however named, with Black widow, The Matrix Resurrections and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, in the category of the best stunt team.
The 28e The Screen Actors Guild gala will be held on February 27.