The SAG Nominations are Here
Wednesday, December 12, 2018 at 9:41AM 
Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians) and Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) announced the nominations and joked about their height difference, while pronouncing all the names beautifully, being totally gorgeous, and staying enthusiastic about the whole damn thing. We thank them profusely because the ACTUAL nominations were among the worst we've ever seen in our long history of awards-watching and we might have experienced dry-heaving ourselves had we been forced to read them off.
Did the SAG nominating committees only screen 8 movies and 7 tv shows this year?
Screen Actors Guild rules make voting your conscience about who is supporting and lead impossible (the members are required to vote however the actor is campaigned by the studio) unless you are conscientous enough to just not nominate the person if they are cheating... as we are when we vote on such things... but most nominators aren't. So this year we have even worse Category Fraud than usual -- there is barely a Supporting Actress category this year, at all, which is such a shame given all the worthy actual supporting female actors out there.
The nominations and some comments after the jump...
MOVIE AWARDS
Female Actor, Leading Role
- Emily Blunt, MARY POPPINS RETURNS
- Glenn Close, THE WIFE
- Olivia Colman, THE FAVOURITE
- Lady Gaga, A STAR IS BORN
- Melissa McCarthy, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME
We've been predicting these five for the Oscar for awhile and it looks like they're going to hold despite a very rich lead actress field that also includes Nicole Kidman, Toni Collette, Carey Mulligan, Charlize Theron, Viola Davis, Elsie Fisher, and more...
IF there is a surprise we suspect that McCarthy is the vulnerable one.
Male Actor, Leading Role
- Christan Bale, VICE
- Bradley Cooper, A STAR IS BORN
- Rami Malek, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
- Viggo Mortensen, GREEN BOOK
- John David Washington, BLACKKKLANSMAN
Perhaps we have to start considering that Washington has a better shot at Oscar than we've previously thought? On the other hand, SAG often defers to their best picture preferences for acting awards (see also Joseph Fiennes in Shakespeare in Love and many others that didn't transfer to Oscar)
We still believe that Ethan Hawke is going to make the Oscar list. If Washington gets in he's going to displace someone else and people will be surprised. But Hawke is going to make it in.
Supporting Actress Female
- Amy Adams, VICE
- Emily Blunt, A QUIET PLACE
- Margot Robbie, MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS
- Emma Stone, THE FAVOURITE
- Rachel Weisz, THE FAVOURITE
This category is ABSURD. There are only 2 supporting performances in it. That's 40% supporting performances in a supporting category. Boo. We're just going to ignore it despite "supporting actress" being a category we are inordinately fond of moving forward.
Supporting Actor, Male
- Mahershala Ali, GREEN BOOK
- Timothée Chalamet, BEAUTIFUL BOY
- Adam Driver, BLACKKKLANSMAN
- Sam Elliott, A STAR IS BORN
- Richard E Grant, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME?
This appears to be the Oscar five with so many other worthy performances out there that just couldn't muster traction. That said if anyone is slightly vulnerable here it's Timothée Chalamet so if he's weaker than he appears (he's the only contender that isn't partially buoyed by traction in other categories for the same film). If he drops at the last second, expect Michael B Jordan from Black Panther or someone from Vice to replace him.
Ensemble
- BLACK PANTHER
- BLACKKKLANSMAN
- BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
- CRAZY RICH ASIANS
- A STAR IS BORN
FOR FUCK'S SAKE, ACTORS. Who thinks the supporting cast of Bohemian Rhapsody is one of the best casts of the year? It's the Malek show. And you already nominated him! I can name 30 movies from 2018 with stronger casts, instantly and without even looking at my spreadsheet. PLEASE READ OUR ANNUAL EXPOSE ON WHO WAS SNUBBED IN THIS CATEGORY DESPITE THEIR FILM BEING NOMINATED. IT'S ALWAYS MADDENING!
Black Panther is the obvious future winner we think... and it's the "cast" nomination that's the most complete without any egregiously shunned actors, Crazy Rich Asians, A Star is Born and BlacKkKlansman all skipped like half of their key players.
who were their stunt doubles?Stunt Ensemble
- ANT-MAN AND THE WASP
- AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
- THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS
- BLACK PANTHER
- MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE -FALLOUT
3/5 on our predictions here but very happy about Ant-Man and the Wasp's inclusion. Definitely didn't see Buster Scruggs coming. A bit surprised that A Quiet Place isn't here.
TV AWARDS
Female Actor Drama Series
- Julia Garner, OZARK
- Laura Linney, OZARK
- Elisabeth Moss, THE HANDMAID'S TALE
- Sandra Oh, KILLING EVE
- Robin Wright, HOUSE OF CARDS
Male Actor Drama Series
- Jason Bateman, OZARK
- Sterling K Brown, THIS IS US
- Joseph Fiennes, THE HANDMAID'S TALE
- John Krasinksi, JACK RYAN
- Bob Odenkirk, BETTER CALL SAUL
Drama Ensemble
- THE AMERICANS
- BETTER CALL SAUL
- THE HANDMAID'S TALE
- OZARK
- THIS IS US
Female Actor in Comedy Series
- Alex Borstein, MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL
- Alison Brie, GLOW
- Rachel Brosnaham, MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL
- Jane Fonda, GRACE & FRANKIE
- Lily Tomlin, GRACE & FRANKIE
SAG's strange insistence on one size fits all categories (no supporting or lead differentiation) makes their honorees so insanely limited. The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and The Kominsky Method and The Handmaid's Tale and Ozarks basically hogged the individual nominations AND the ensemble nominations. It's crazy!
Male Actor in a Comedy Series
- Alan Arkin, KOMINSKY METHOD
- Michael Douglas, KOMINSKY METHOD
- Bill Hader, BARRY
- Tony Shalhoub, MARVEOUS MRS
- Henry Winkler, BARRY
Comedy Ensemble
- ATLANTA
- BARRY
- GLOW
- THE KOMINKSY METHOD
- MARVELOUS MRS MAISEL
Female Actor Miniseries/Movie
- Amy Adams, SHARP OBJECTS
- Patricia Arquette, ESCAPE TO DANNEMORA
- Patricia Clarkson, SHARP OBJECTS
- Penelope Cruz, ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE
- Emma Stone, MANIAC
Male Actor Limited Series, Movie
- Antonio Banders, GENIUS: PICASSO
- Darren Criss, ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE
- Hugh Grant, A VERY ENGLISH SCANDAL
- Anthony Hopkins, KING LEAR
- Bill Pullman, THE SINNER
Stunt Ensemble
- DAREDEVIL
- GLOW
- JACK RYAN
- THE WALKING DEAD
- WESTWORLD
Good list for the stunts, donch'a think? Although the absence year after year of Into the Badlands which is like 80% crazy stunt fighting is bizarre.
OVERALL TAKEAWAY 2018. THIS IS A UNIQUELY EMBARRASSING YEAR FOR THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD; THE STUNT PEOPLE ARE BETTER JUDGES OF THEIR OWN CRAFT THAN THE ACTORS ARE.
Reader Comments (87)
Really hoping for a Lucas Hedges nomination.
this................. is us
No Regina King?
How, precisely, is Emily Blunt supporting in A Quiet Place?
I'm just going to sit here and pat myself on the back for predicting Emily Blunt's double nomination.
Imagine thinking Emily Blunt gives a supporting performance in A Quite Place. Yeesh.
I'm all there for the John David Washington nomination, though - hope it can happen at the big show, too.
@John T: I think SAG requires voters to vote for people in the category they’re submitted as (but also I would argue as I have all year that Millicent Simmonds is the female lead of The A Quiet Place)
Shout Out to Laverne Cox and Awkwafina for actually putting some drama and entertainment into saying the names!
oh wow i forgot mary queen of scots was a thing that happened
That Margot Robbie nomination looks pretty silly without Saoirse Ronan (though I guess no sillier than Claire Foy but no Ryan Gosling, which most people had predicted). Leaving out Regina King is unforgivable.
The Bohemian Rhapsody nomination is rather dumb. It's a biopic about the most charismatic singer of all time - it's all eyes on Freddie!
What the... Bohemian Rhapsody for cast? And actor? What the...?
No Regina King makes her a non-sweeper and also vulnerable to other awards bodies to look elsewhere. Hollywood Foreign Press saw this and BAFTA can act accordingly. I do believe she's good for wins with Critics Choice and Independent Spirits.
The shutout of Nicole Kidman for Emily Blunt is bullshit.
BlacKkKlansman over performing with acting nods is strange when the best performance in the whole thing was by Topher Grace.
Marcia Gay Harden was the last Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner who did not get a SAG nomination... and that was when the Oscars were in late March and campaigning and publicity were different.
The last time the SAG Best Supporting Actress winner did not go on to win the Oscar was in 2008, when Winslet won both SAG awards.
It's difficult to see King as the frontrunner now.
And A Star Is Born is the Best Picture frontrunner. People will continue to deny it, but there is obvious broad support for the film.
From all the movies nominated for cast just one didn't make more than 100 million in the box offices, blackkklansman.
Terrible news for Beale Street, Roma, First Man (which was not even that expected), Widows saw its chances of being pushed almost disappear, i think First Reformed never had the appeal for Sag voters, so I think it still has a big chance with the academy (a la Phantom Thread way)
Seeing the actors branch reflected here and voting for Bohemian Rhapsody makes me a bit sick.
I'm having flashbacks to 2015 when Rooney and Alicia were nominated for their lead performances in the Supporting category.
I'm also getting pissed at Rachel and Emma. In every interview they stress how great it is to have a film with three female leads, but they're apparently not beneath accepting these Supporting nominations. Same for Timothee. It's gross and it reflects as badly on them as on the studio.
Diane Ladd, save us all.
I was so shocked by the movie nominations that I forgot about the TV nominations. They are always awful, but how do you nominate The Americans for Best Ensemble and not nominate Russell or Rhys?
Joseph Fiennes is terrible on The Handmaid's Tale. He is the weakest link in that show. I can't imagine anyone watching his performance and Matthew Rhys's performance and then opting to vote for Fiennes.
Shocked that King missed. I'm guessing she replaces one of these, but does Foy? And are we really getting Blunt twice? Incredible category fraud there...
Robbie was OK but if we were going to go out of the box, Kidman or Ywoh would have been nice.
Poor Michael B. Jordan. And Malek is one thing but Bohemian Rhapsody should NOT be a BP nominee, and I actually liked the film. Still - no.
Those Margot Robbie and Emily Blunt nods in Supporting are terrible.
I can't help but be happy for Emily though.
Super happy also for the other double nominee, Emma Stone, who gave my favourite performance of the year in any medium in Maniac.
Awkwafina and Laverne Cox to present everything please.
Not to rush to conclusions, but Amy Adams is winning her Oscar this year.
So we have our five ladies at last!
When it comes to men, the battle for the 5th slot between Hawke, Dafoe and Washington is going to be interesting to watch.
Blunt over Foy. Crazy!
The BUSTER SCRUGGS stunt ensemble nomination makes total sense when you realize how much SAG voters are obsessed with Netflix (two actress nominations for OZARK? The bloody Kaminski Method or whatever it is...).
It's an awards season hate crime by SAG to make me root for VICE or MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS by default in a year full of so many great supporting actress performances.
And to be honest, I can see why BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY is there. People love this movie and it's got a big cast even if they're not individually memorable. Remember SAG is a whole lot of out of work people just wishing they could make a movie like that. And they nominated all three majors from THE FAVOURITE and clearly didn't bother with BEALE STREET. It makes total sense.
Yay for Laura Linney!
Weird noms in supporting actress, but I still think King is getting the Oscar nom and most likely winning it.
Wow this is even crazier than the Globes nomination!
Grateful for the diverse and surprising nominees.
They are going gaga over Blunt and Krasinski?!!
Awkwafina and Laverne Cox to host the Oscars!
Glenn: LOL I that hadn't really sunk in yet. The only female supporting performances nominated are from Vice and freaking Mary Queen of Scots. It could have been SUCH a good category if there was any thought put into the voting at all.
Here comes the curveball nominations!
Amy Adams may just win two Globes, two SAGs, an Oscar and an Emmy in 2019. Wow.
Amy is winning both the Oscar and Emmy now!!!!!
Oh.. well this is upsetting. No King? No Collette? Blunt in supporting?? Bohemian Rhapsody??? Burn it down!
How is it that year in and year out we're left with the same 5-6 contenders per acting category? I'm aware that everybody just wants to predict the Oscars these days, but this is getting to be ridiculous.
Are any of you predicting sweeps in these acting categories? I LOVE Regina King and her snub is quite surprising, but at least for viewers it means the Supp Actress doesn't have a mainstay winner yet. I feel like the GG will give Regina supp film and Amy lead mini.
Why is it that they separate leading and supporting roles for films, but combine them for the television categories? Is it just to save time during the ceremony?
Some of these nominations are... puzzling, but I wonder about how early or late they received screeners for some of the films/performances that missed out on nominations.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY FOR ENSEMBLE?! Are they for real?! I rolled my eyes so hard at this that they got stuck in the back of my head.
John David Washington doesn't deserves it but they can't nominate Adam Driver for a Spike Lee movie named BLACKKKLANSMAN and not nominate the Black Lead Actor, son of Denzel Washington.
For Fuck's sake. In such a glorious year the fact that we know most of our winners so early is pretty stupid and boring!
SAG predictions
Ensemble: ASIB
Actress: Close
Actor: Malek
S.Actor: Grant or Ali
S. Actress: Adams
Oscar predictions
Picture: ASIB
Director: Cooper
Actress: Close
Actor: Malek
S. Actor: only difficult one to predict. Grant more possibly!
S. Actress: Adams
I love the Supporting Actress list because it shakes things up.
What a coup for Amy Adams. Now she's likely to win the SAG.
Also, King's momentum took this big hit while HFPA ballots are out. If those voters sense that it's not her year, maybe they'll pick Amy. They certainly love her and Vice already.
I co-sign Michael R!
George: Malek is SO not taking Oscar. I'm not settled yet on Close. And Adams only became the top contender literally an hour ago.
When are BFCA ballots due? It will be hilarious/embarrassing if that group picks Adams now that her Oscar chances look decent.
If they show their hand like that (after Janney and Rockwell last year) I hope they dissolve the organization lol.
I told yall Claire Foy in FIRST MAN is not as safe as ya think ;-)
Bruno, there have only ever been two acting winners at the Oscars who got there without a SAG nom. One was Christoph Waltz, whose film was not screened to SAG voters, and the other was Marcia Gay Harden in perhaps the most split supporting actress year in memory. King is not winning the Oscar now.
Washington was just ok in BK. Jasper Paakkonen gave by far the film's best performance as Felix. Did you all realize that he hails from Finland? Incredible.
Jesus, they only watched 10 shows. All the double nomineres from one show in all the TV categories... Really? SAG had never been THIS crazy.
@ George I think you’re oscar winning predictions aren’t bad, but I agree with whoever said Malek isn’t taking home the Oscar. I think Bale is probably the front runner in best actor unless they don’t give Cooper director and picture then I think they reward Cooper in actor. Cooper can’t take all 3 and Bale is beloved enough to be considered an actor worthy of a 2nd win. I also still think Gaga is going edge out close, because the Oscars have gotten so concerned with tv ratings and a lot of people will just be tuning in to see if she wins.
Jane & Lily! :)
I want to see Weisz win the Oscar over Adams again !
I think we're looking at our Best Actress and Supporting Actor nominees for the Oscars. There's some wiggle room in the Actor and Supporting Actress nominations, but let's not kid ourselves. This awards season has already become a snoozer.
Simple solution: just rename “best supporting actress” as “best actress: overflow” or something
Believe it or not I think Blunt and McCarthy are still shaky.