Will Smith, Lady Gaga, Ben Affleck Score SAG Nominations – Orange County Register

By JAKE COYLE

NEW YORK (AP) – This year’s Oscar race may be lacking in live actors, but not without powerful stars. Will Smith, Lady Gaga and Ben Affleck received individual nominations for the 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards on Wednesday, while the cast of “Belfast” and “CODA” are among those who is nominated for the highest award of the association, the best singing group.

Actors Vanessa Hudgens and Rosario Dawson were announced Wednesday on Instagram Live. While the nominations were driven mostly by a surge in COVID-19 cases, the streaming announcement still represents one of the most meaningful mornings in awards season that has largely been snuffed out by the pandemic.

Joining the semi-autobiographical Kenneth Branagh “Belfast” and the teen drama “CODA” for best group are the cast for the true story, Adam McKay’s “House of Gucci,” the movie doomsday comedy “Don’t Look Up” and family tennis drama “King Richard.” Notably omitted are the cast of the lavish revival of “Western Story” by Steven Spielberg (who received a nod of support for Ariana DeBose) and Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog.” However, Campion’s gothic drama landed individual SAG messages for Benedict Cumberbatch , Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

The SAG Awards ceremony has more focus this season as the Golden Globes – usually the kick-off party until the very end of the Oscars – go largely unnoticed. The Globes were published Sunday on Twitter in a separate ceremony due to a boycott by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that is seen as serious about diversity and ethical issues. The omicron rise also caused the Critics’ Choice Awards to postpone its live gala on January 9. For the second year in a row, Oscar season has gone virtual – and struggled to cause much. noise.

But SAG’s nominations show that there are plenty of famous faces in demand this year. Along with Will Smith (“King Richard”) and Cumberbatch, the nominations for best actor are: Denzel Washington (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), Andrew Garfield (“Tick, Tick… ​​Boom!” ) and Javier Bardem (“Is Ricardos”).

Nominated for best female lead role are: Lady Gaga (“House of Gucci”), Jessica Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”), Olivia Colman (“The Lost Daughter”), Nicole Kidman (“Being the”) Ricardos”) and Jennifer Hudson (“Respect”).

Along with Dunst and DeBose in the Best Supporting Actress category are Caitriona Balfe (“Belfast”), Cate Blanchett (“Nightmare Alley”) and Ruth Negga (“Passing”). The best supporting actor nominations are: Affleck (“The Tender Bar”), Bradley Cooper (“Licorice Pizza”), Troy Kotsur (“CODA”), Jared Leto (“House of Gucci”) and Smit-McPhee.

Kotsur is the first deaf actor to receive an individual SAG nomination.

The SAG Award, presented by the actors association SAG-AFTRA, is one of the most trusted awards for the Oscars. Rarely does a film or performance not nominated by on-screen actors win an Academy Award. Actors make up the largest percentage of the film academy, so their choices have the most impact.

But last year, the SAG and the academy separated more than usual. Only one of the acting winners – Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) – repeated at the Oscars. (Other SAG winners are Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis from “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” and Yuh-Jung Youn from “Minari.”) Aaron Sorkin’s courtroom drama “The Challenge of Chicago 7” won best ensemble ensemble at a virtual SAG Awards, while Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” – which includes many non-professional actors and was not nominated for SAG’s compilation – won at the awards ceremony. Oscar.

That history should offer hope to supporters of Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”), possibly the most notable performer overlooked on Wednesday. Others who missed out include Peter Dinklage (“Cyrano”), Ciarán Hinds (“Belfast”) and Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”).

While a number of films have rooted from some of the year’s most popular blockbusters to give the Oscars a populist shock, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Dune,” and “No. Time To Die” did not receive any major nominations from the cast. However, “Dune” and “No Time to Die” joined “Black Widow”, “The Matrix Resurrections” and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” in the stunt genre.

However, possibly the most popular TV series of 2021 has gained a lot of recognition. Netflix’s much-watched “Squid Game” was nominated for four SAG awards including best TV series. The TV nominations were also led by HBO’s “Succession” (four nominations included Best Drama Series and Best Actor for Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox); “Ted Lasso” (five nods including best comedy series); and “The Morning Show” (four awards include best drama series).

The 28th Annual SAG Awards will be held on February 27 and will be broadcast on TNT and TBS. The Oscars ceremony is scheduled for March 27.

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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP