by Nathaniel R
Each year when the SAG nominations for Outstanding Cast are named, we bemoan the rules which cause unneccessary exclusions. If an actor is in a movie lucky enough to be nominated for OUTSTANDING CAST it doesn't actually mean that they themselves were nominated. Allow us to explain...
To be an official SAG nominee if your film is up for OUTSTANDING CAST you need to have your own title card in the credits. Having your own title card generally requires that you either already have a degree of fame or a strong agent if you don't. Sometimes having a very large role will do it but not always. Everyone who doesn't get their own title card gets a certificate but they aren't officially "nominees" based on SAG's rules which is just a terrible rule as it often ends up excluding key people or ends up feeling super random. There are so many examples of how unjust the rule is but the way it is most visible is when a famous person with a few seconds of screentime will be an official nominee while a considerably less famous actor with a much larger role won't be. (Two examples: 2004's Aviator where Gwen Stefani was a nominee but Matt Ross wasn't, or 2017's Crazy Rich Asians when Pierre Png wasn't nominated for a major role wasn't but his "romantic replacement" cameo at the end of the movie (Harry Shum Jr) was.) Our rage about this reached full peak exactly a decage ago when the Midnight in Paris cast nomination did not include the now ubiquitous Corey Stoll despite the fact that he was widely considered the MVP of the sprawling cast. Recent annoying exclusions have included Taylour Paige for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Alanna Ulbach for her sensational take on Jeanine Pirro in Bombshell, or that very egregious 'this rule is terrible!' moment when both LilRel Howery and Betty Gabriel were excluded from the Get Out nomination even though EVERYONE remembers their performances in that movie.
We plan to keep bitching about this for as long as we live or until SAG changes their rules. One solution that is VERY simple is for everyone on a title card, even if its shared, is included. This would cover about 90% of the egregious problems and it would really only cost SAG a little extra since they'd just have to make about 3-6 extra statues a year, depending on which film won.
Here are the nominees for Outstanding Cast this season... and the unfortunate exclusions from those lists.
BELFAST
6 Nominated Cast Members: Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Ciarán Hinds, Judi Dench, Jude Hill, and Colin Morgan.
Belfast's nominated family... and Lewis McAskie (far right) as Will
Who was excluded: Belfast stays tight on the family unit (the only non-family member in the mix with a nomination is the antagonist neighbor Colin Morgan). But Belfast has a large cast in smaller roles, lots of aunts, cousins, and neighbors, and teachers and such. The big miss is surely Lewis McAskie who plays Will, since he's the only member of Belfast's central family who didn't receive a nomination.
CODA
6 Nominated Cast Members: Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Daniel Durant, Troy Kotsur, and Eugenio Derbez
Amy Forsyth was very charming in "CODA"
Who was excluded: The most unfortunate exclusion here is Amy Forsyth who has a lot of screen time as Emilia's friend who falls for her deaf brother. Some other actors who weren't cited in the SAG nomination include John Fiore as Tony Salgado, Lonnie Farmer as Arthur, and Kevin Chapman as Brady, along with all the fishermen and Coast Guard members and any highschooler or teachers or faculty member like the guidance counselor played by Ayana Brown.
DON'T LOOK UP
14 Nominated Cast Members: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Rob Morgan, Jonah Hill, Mark Rylance, Tyler Perry, Timothée Chalamet, Ron Perlman, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi, Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, "with" Cate Blanchett, "and" Meryl Streep
Tome Sisley, Hettiene Calder, and Paul Guilfoyle in "Don't Look Up"
Who was excluded: Michael Chiklis as "Dan Pawketty" and Tomer Sisley as "Adul Grelio" share a title card so they're out. Same thing with Paul Guilfoyle as "General Themes" who gives the movie that great running gag about the vending machine, and Robert Joy as "Congressman Tenant". Other actors with no title cards at all and thus excluded are Chalamet's gang, DiCaprio's kids, plus various astronomers, reporters, politicians, and scientists including some with key scenes and closeups like Hettiene Calder as "Dr Calder" (who resigns in disgrace) and Chris Everett as "Chief Editor Paula Woods" at the New York Herald offices.
Fun trivia: TEXT
HOUSE OF GUCCI
7 Nominated Cast Members: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Al Pacino, Jack Huston, and Salma Hayek
Camille Cottin, Reeve Carney, and Mãdãleina Ghenea from "House of Gucci"
Who was excluded: Alexia Murray and Vincent Riotta who play Lady Gaga's relatives Silvana and Fernando Reggiani, Reeve Carney who plays superstar designer Tom Ford as a young man, and Camille Cottin who plays the new woman in Adam Driver's life in the last act of the movie. Other exclusions were less severe like actors in cameos as fashion icons like Mãdãleina Ghenea as Sophia Loren, and Catherine Walker as Anna Wintour plus many more lawyers, criminals, businesspeople, and models in bit parts.
KING RICHARD
6 nominated cast members: Will Smith, Anjanue Ellis, Saniyaa Sidney, Demi Singleton, "with" Tony Goldwyn "and" Jon Bernthal
Kevin Dunn, Craig Tate, and Andy Bean from "King Richard"
Who was excluded: Kevin Dunn as "Vic Braden", Craig Tate as "Bells", and Andy Bean as "Laird Stabler" share a title card so they were not included in the nomination. The wierdest exclusion, given his fame, is surely Dylan McDermott as "George Macarthur" who does not even have a shared title card. Other exclusions were all the other teenage girls in the Williams household from prior marriages, all the reporters, and all the athletes including actors playing famous tennis stars like Christopher Wallinger as "John McEnroe", and Chase Del Rey as "Pete Sampras". The people playing corporate sports figures including Mad Men's Rich Sommer as "Patrick Dougherty" also did not get title cards.
THEY WEREN'T NOMINATED BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT THEM ANYWAY...
The following films weren't nominated for "Cast" but since we didn't know who would be nominated we prepped some of the possibilitles last night and here are two more films that show the problems with this SAG rule... had they been nominated in this category
THE POWER OF THE DOG would have had 8 nominated cast members if it had been selected
Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Thomasin McKenzie, Genevieve Lemons "as Mrs Lewis", "with" Keith Carradine, "and" Frances Conroy
Alison Bruce, Sean Keenan, and Adam Beach in "Power of the Dog"
Who would have been excluded: The governors wife played by Alison Bruce, Phil and George's father played by Peter Carroll, all of the ranch hands including who plays Ramontay McConnell as Theo, George Mason as Cricket, and Sean Keenan who plays Sven (the three who get the most dialogue / screentime and are clearly Phil's favourites), Adam Beach as Edward Nappo who stops by the ranch to buy hides in an affecting scene, the doctor played by Steven Lovatt, as well as all of the barkeeps, whores, and restaurant patrons of Rose's establishment including rowdy Pianola man Richard Falkner.
Fun trivia: Australian actor Sean Keenan (who we loved in Glitch and True History of the Kelly Gang) gets a songwriting credit so that little ditty he's singing while the ranch-hands are all resting, shirtless, is something he wrote himself. Also, blink and you'll miss her (we did!) but Jane Campion's actress daughter Alice Englert (Beautiful Creatures, Top of the Lake: China Girl, Ratched) is also in the cast as someone named "Buster" - we assume in either the restaurant scene or at the whorehouse in the first act since it's "order of appearance" in the credit scroll and she's early in the acting list.
DUNE would have had 13 nominated cast members
Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Zendaya, Chang Chen, "with" Charlotte Rampling, "with" Jason Momoa, "and" Javier Bardem.
Who would have been excluded: TFE favourite David Dastmalchian as "Piter de Vries" Harkonnen's right hand man, Babs Olusanmokun as "Jamis" who Paul defeats in the climactic desert hand-to-hand battle, Roger Yuan as "Lieutenant Lanville", and Golda Rosheuvel as "Shadout Mapes" all share a title card so they're excluded despite contributing indelible moments to the movie. Other cast members missing in the official nominations are Benjamin Clémentine as "Herald of the Change", and of course many Bene Gesserit sisters including the vocal work on the ancestors, warrior Fremen, and Harkonnen troopers.
Not So Fun Trivia: David Dastmalchian is the only actor in Dune Part One who got an official character poster without having his own title card in the credits. With this role and his larger fan-favourite supporting role "Polka Dot Man" in The Suicide Squad, surely he will now start getting his own title card in movies. It's long past time given his career!