Happy SAG NOMINATION DAY! It's time for our glorious depressing tradition of trying to convince a UNION that they ought to look into slightly different rules that are less likely to devalue their dues paying members. Each year when the SAG ensemble nominees are announced the list of actual nominees from the films reveal that non-big name actors are routinely excluded. The problem is that the size of your fame doesn't always correlate with your role and the bulk of SAG's membership is non-famous actors. If you're curious about why this happens it's due to the rules that you have to have your own title card to be considered part of the official ensemble. In other words you need to a) be famous or b) have a really good agent or c) have the leading role. The only exception to this rule is when the credits don't follow the normal rules. For example Woody Allen movies always list the cast alphabetically on a shared title card. In those cases, you have to be on the first title card to make it in which is why Corey Stoll, who gave the best performance in Midnight in Paris, was left out that year. He wasn't famous enough yet to be on the first page of credits. Now he tends to get his own title card.
So let's look at who was honored and who was mistreated this morning by the group nominations.
BEASTS OF NO NATION
Nominated Cast: Abraham Attah, Idris Elba, Kurt Egyiawan (as "2nd I-C")
Who was left out: Just about everyone which makes it the strangest nomination of the group. Does three make an ensemble? I have not yet seen the film -- child soldier dramas are a subgenre I avoid like the plague since they're mentally scarring -- but I hear that Emmanuel Nii Adom Quaye who plays "Strika" is quite good in the movie.
more after the jump...
The Big Short has a number of memorable one-scene wonders
Adepero Oduye has a good sized role in The Big Short
THE BIG SHORT
Nominated Cast: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Melissa Leo, Hamish Linklater, John Magaro, Brad Pitt, Rafe Spall, Jeremy Strong, Marisa Tomei, and Finn Wittrock
Who was left out: Adepero Oduye, who we chatted with at the premiere and who previously wowed in the LGBT drama Pariah, has a larger role than either of the two women nominated for this ensemble so she's excluded simply because she's less famous. Though the actors who do comic cameos as themselves were rightly exluded (they're kind of outside the narrative) memorable one scene wonders that should have been included involved Byron Mann, Max Greenfield, and TFE favorite Billy Magnussen
Jamey Sheridan gives on of Spotlight's most incisive performances.
SPOTLIGHT
Nominated Cast: Billy Crudup, Brian D'Arcy James, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, and Stanley Tucci
Who was left out: The number one horror in terms of exclusion is Jamey Sheridan who is amazing as "Jim Sullivan" and gets one of the film's key and best scenes as he and Keaton do some uncomfortable soul searching and blame-laying. Every single victim of abuse that gives their testimony was excluded and how do you leave out theater great Len Cariou who plays the system enabling "Cardinal Law"
R Marcos Taylor plays Suge Knight in the music bio
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
Nominated Cast: Neil Brown Jr, Paul Giamatti, Corey Hawkins, Aldis Hodge, O'Shea Jackson Jr, and Jason Mitchell
Who was left out: The most obvious "why is he excluded?" is R Marcos Taylor who has a fairly large role as "Suge Knight" and Short Term 12 breakout Keith Stanfield as "Snoop Dogg" but there's also Marlon Yates Jr as "The D.O.C.". And though Compton has a lot of trouble with misogyny there are a few girlfriends/wives who get more than one scene.
TRUMBO
Nominated Cast: Adewale Akinnyoye-Agbaje, Louis CK, Bryan Cranston, David James Elliott, Elle Fanning, John Goodman, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Alan Tudyk
Who was left out: All of Trumbo's kids (save Elle Fanning) who are in quite a few scenes are missing, John Getz as "Sam Wood" and Roger Bart as "Buddy Ross" are also not accounted for despite fairly big roles. Worst of all the ensemble nomination is missing Dean O'Gorman as Kirk Douglas and Christian Berkel as Otto Preminger. They both show up late in the narrative but they have crucial roles and do right by those memorable men.
What do you make of their choices for ensemble and is there any way at all to fix the issue of who is or isn't included?