30th Screen Actors Guild Awards on Wednesday heaped nominations on 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥� 鈥淏arbie鈥� and 鈥淎merican Fiction,鈥� while snubbing Leonardo DiCaprio for best male actor.
As they were at the Golden Globes, Greta Gerwig鈥檚 鈥淏arbie鈥� and Christopher Nolan鈥檚 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥� were again the lead nominees. Each film picked up four nods including best ensemble. Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling were nominated for their performances in 鈥淏arbie,鈥� while Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt received nods for 鈥淥ppenheimer.鈥�
Barbenheimer continues to rule Hollywood鈥檚 awards season, just as it did the summer box office.
Cord Jefferson鈥檚 鈥淎merican Fiction鈥� got the biggest momentum boost, landing three nods: best ensemble, Jeffrey Wright for best male actor and Sterling K. Brown for supporting male actor.
Along with those three films, Martin Scorsese鈥檚 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon鈥� and Blitz Bazawule鈥檚 鈥淭he Color Purple鈥� were nominated for best ensemble, the guild鈥檚 top award.
Most notably left out of that group was Yorgos Lanthimos鈥� 鈥淧oor Things,鈥� which on Sunday won best comedy/musical at the Golden Globes. The film鈥檚 star, Emma Stone, was nominated for best female actor while Willem Dafoe (but not Mark Ruffalo) was nominated for best supporting male actor.
BREAKING: SAG Nominations are out and it looks like it鈥檒l be a Barbenheimer Spring as well. Check out the top contenders for the awards and make your Oscar predictions now!
But those were far from the only snubs in the nominations announced by Issa Rae, a co-star in both 鈥淏arbie鈥� and 鈥淎merican Fiction,鈥� and Kumail Nanjiani on Instagram Live.
Nominated for best actor were Bradley Cooper (鈥淢aestro鈥�), Colman Domingo (鈥淩ustin鈥�), Paul Giamatti (鈥淭he Holdovers鈥�), Murphy and Wright. DiCaprio had long been seen as a presumed nominee for his performance in Martin Scorsese鈥檚 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon.鈥� Lily Gladstone, who is poised to potentially make history at the Oscars, was among the best female actor nominees, while Robert De Niro was nominated for best supporting male actor.
Todd Hayne鈥檚 鈥淢ay December鈥� was completely shut out, as was Celine Song鈥檚 tender love story, 鈥淧ast Lives.鈥� Charles Melton, co-star of 鈥淢ay December,鈥� was expected to be among the supporting male actors. And neither Sandra H眉ller (鈥淎natomy of a Fall鈥�) nor Fantasia Barrino (鈥淭he Color Purple鈥�) scored individual nominations.
Along with Gladstone and Stone, the nominees for best female actor are Carey Mulligan (鈥淢aestro鈥�) and Annette Bening (鈥淣yad鈥�). Bening鈥檚 co-star, Jodie Foster, joined the supporting female actor category which also featured Da鈥橵ine Joy Randolph (鈥淭he Holdovers鈥�), Danielle Brooks (鈥淭he Color Purple鈥�) and Pen茅lope Cruz for 鈥淔errari.鈥�
The SAG Awards are closely watched as an Oscar bellwether. Their picks don鈥檛 always align exactly with those of the film academy, but seldom is a best picture or acting winner not nominated first by SAG. That means any best picture hopes for films like 鈥淧oor Things鈥� just took a hit. 鈥淧ast Lives,鈥� Celine Song鈥檚 tender love story, also was set back.
The last two best-ensemble winners 鈥� 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once鈥� and 鈥淐ODA鈥� 鈥� went on to win best picture at the Oscars.
This year鈥檚 SAG Awards follow a grueling 118-day strike by the actors guild SAG-AFTRA that put Hollywood in a months-long battle over its future. Pay in the streaming era and artificial intelligence were top issues.
In the television categories, the trio that nearly swept the Golden Globes 鈥� 鈥淪uccession,鈥� 鈥淭he Bear鈥� and 鈥淏eef鈥� 鈥� were again among the lead nominees. 鈥淪uccession鈥� led all series with five nods (though Jeremy Strong was passed over), while 鈥淭he Last of Us,鈥� 鈥淭ed Lasso鈥� and 鈥淭he Bear鈥� all collected four nominations.
The SAG Awards will take place Feb. 24 at the Shine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles. Netflix will live stream the ceremony for the first time. Last year鈥檚 awards were streamed on Netflix鈥檚 YouTube account.
The show will mark one of Netflix鈥檚 most notable forays into live programming. The streamer, which has for years been an awards season force, will first to play host, too, in the runup to the Academy Awards in March.
Barbra Streisand will receive the SAG Life Achievement Award.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
