Once again, there's no love for 'Little Women' and 'Watchmen.'
Is there a world in which it's an honor just to be snubbed? The very concept of being "snubbed" means somebody thought you should have been nominated in the first place -- and that's nothing to turn your nose up at. Anyway, another nominations list has arrived -- this time, for the 2020 Screen Actors Guild Awards -- along with another opportunity for the good sort of surprises, as well as more than a few notable surprises in the snubbed way. And on the film side, a big win with SAG could be a boom or bust situation in this truncated Oscars race.
FILM
SURPRISE: Bombshell Enters the Oscars Race in a Big Way. We'd penciled in slots for Charlize Theron and Margot Robbie this awards season, but expectations for the film as a whole remained uncertain. But with Nicole Kidman landing in the Supporting Female race alongside Robbie and Bombshell scoring an Outstanding Cast nomination, the Fox News expose appears to be picking up momentum.
SNUB: Little Women Loses Out, Again. Won't anyone think of the Little Women? We expected Greta Gerwig's adaptation of the classic would be a major player this year, but after largely going unrecognized at the Globes, the movie and its cast missed here, too. No Florence Pugh in Supporting Female, no Saoirse Ronan in Female Lead and the cast -- that cast! Chalamet! Dern! Streep! -- failed to score as an ensemble.
SURPRISE: Don't Count the Rocket Man Out Yet. One of SAG's more delightful inclusions was the nod for Rocketman's Taron Egerton in Lead Actor. (We feared voters might prematurely write him off after awarding Rami Malek last year.) All of Egerton's awards season handshaking and baby kissing may pay off still. Especially as the Best Actor race seems to be in flux, with Ford v Ferrari's Christian Bale scoring again as Robert De Niro (The Irishman) and Adam Sandler (Uncut Gems) were blanked.
SURPRISE: Jamie Foxx Shakes Up the Supporting Actor Race. Just Mercy landed a not-so-minor win as Foxx was nominated in Supporting Male over The Two Pope's Anthony Hopkins or, to be honest, any of the other spoilers we'd thought might pop up here. The Supporting Actress race shifted too, as Kidman and Scarlett Johansson claimed slots to the exclusions of The Farewell's Zhao Shuzhen (again) or Globes' picks Kathy Bates (Richard Jewell) and Annette Bening (The Report).
SURPRISE: Could Parasite Be Our Best Picture Frontrunner? Not that The Irishman appears to be losing steam -- nor has Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, for that matter -- but Bong Joon Ho's Parasite ticked a crucial box on the road to Best Picture by earning an Outstanding Cast nomination, despite none of its individual actors being recognized. (A feat that eluded even Roma in recent years.)
TELEVISION
SNUB: Veep's Final Season Fails to Make History. The HBO series hasn't lacked in a Comedy Ensemble nomination since 2014 -- alas, Veep's seventh and final season was blanked entirely. Not least of which was no love for Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Female Actor in a Comedy Series. Had she been nominated, she'd have tied Edie Falco for most-ever SAG nominations. The silver lining here is that Veep's exclusion made room for Schitt's Creek and its Female Actor, Catherine O'Hara, to be included.
SURPRISE: Peter Dinklage Is the "Loner Throner." As far as individual nominations are concerned, that is, as the Game of Thrones cast picked up a Drama Ensemble nod. But the likes of Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington (who was the series' sole nominee for the 2020 Golden Globes) were passed over in favor of SAG's new favorite streaming series. Speaking of...
SNUB: Reese Witherspoon Is Snubbed Two Times Over. Though Big Little Lies managed to pick up a Drama Ensemble nomination, none of its actors -- Witherspoon included -- were singled out this year. The Morning Show, on the other hand, failed to pick up a cast nomination, though the crown jewel of AppleTV+ was not lacking in love from SAG: Jennifer Aniston earned her place in Female Actor in a Drama and both Steve Carell and Billy Crudup found their way into Male Actor in a Drama.
SNUB: Who's Watching the Watchmen? The only explanation I can think of as to why the exceptional Watchmen earned but a single nomination (for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble) is that SAG-AFTRA is waiting to binge it? Otherwise, Regina King -- who is as great as she's ever been -- would undoubtedly be among the Female Actors in a Drama Series. And though we would never single any Drama Ensemble out, I could absolutely argue which stole Watchmen's spot.
SNUB: More Like This Is Sterling K. Brown. Despite winning this category at the 2019 SAG Awards, This Is Us was passed over for Ensemble in a Drama Series this time in favor of The Crown and Stranger Things. In the individual fields, only Brown managed a nod, in Male Actor in a Drama Series. Pour one out for the Pearsons.
The 26th Annual SAG Awards will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 19 at 8:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 p.m. PT.
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