SAG Awards: Experts dish the film snubs and surprises, make early predictions
What happened to Kristen Stewart? And the “Belfast” boys? Ditto Aunjanue Ellis. Wednesday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations were full of chaos, surprises and big snubs. Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng are here to break down the film side of things along with the BAFTA longlists, which were also unveiled Wednesday.
The biggest shocker, of course, was Stewart’s omission from the actress lineup. The “Spencer” star had been the season-long frontrunner to take home the Best Actress Oscar, and while some of us didn’t think she’d win the SAG Award, a nomination was expected. Instead, she’s AWOL. We all knew “Spencer” was polarizing, but did we underestimate just how polarizing it is? Coupled with its poor showing on the BAFTA longlist — just four citations — it was not a great day for Team “Spencer.” But can KStew hang on to make the Oscar five? Or will she be pushed out by, say, Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”), whose campaign got a boost with that SAG Awards bid?
SEE Full list of SAG Awards nominations
If the Best Actress Oscar race is unsettled, Best Supporting Actor is even more so, and the SAG Awards lineup did little to clarify matters. “Belfast” duo Ciaran Hinds and Jamie Dornan, long expected Oscar nominees, were both MIA from SAG-AFTRA’s quintet, which included a very mainstream trio of Ben Affleck (“The Tender Bar”), Bradley Cooper (“Licorice Pizza”) and Jared Leto (“House of Gucci”) alongside the ostensible two locks in the Oscar race, Kodi Smit-McPhee (“The Power of the Dog”) and Troy Kotsur (“CODA”). Similarly, “King Richard’s” Ellis felt like a shoo-in in supporting actress, but she also missed in favor of Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley”) while her co-star Will Smith and the film’s ensemble cast made it in. Will all three rebound with the academy?
Elsewhere, we discuss why “The Power of the Dog’s” ensemble absence is not that big of a deal (and also expected), “West Side Story’s” underperformance (late screeners strike again!), and if the lead actress nominee from a Best Picture nominee had been staring us in the face all along (Lady Gaga, “House of Gucci”).
