SAG-AFTRA Honors Awards Highlights
On Wednesday, “One Battle After Another,” directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, stood out at the SAG-AFTRA Honors Awards, securing an unprecedented seven nominations. This marks a notable milestone, as no film has achieved more than five nominations in the event’s 31-year history.
The film’s nominations include the prestigious Best Ensemble award, alongside individual nods for actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infinity, Teyana Taylor, Sean Penn, and Benicio Del Toro, as well as their stunt performers.
In the race for Best Ensemble, the competition includes films such as “Sinners,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” and “Frankenstein.” Historically, the SAG Ensemble nomination is a good predictor for the Oscars, as very few films have taken home the Best Picture award without it. Notably absent this year were “Sentimental Value,” “Wicked: For Good,” and “Train Dreams.”
Speaking of “Sinners,” it also fared well with nominations for Michael B. Jordan as Best Male Actor, and additional nominations for supporting roles including Miles Caton and Wunmi Mosaku, totaling five nominations for the film.
Shifting to television, Apple’s “The Studio,” HBO’s “White Lotus,” and Netflix’s “Adolescence” led the pack with their nominations.
The acting awards tend to be a strong indicator of Oscar outcomes. With the actors comprising the largest segment of the film academy, SAG nominees often mirror Oscar nominees about 80% of the time. Here are some of the key nominations:
Best Male Actor: DiCaprio, Timothee Chalamet (“Marty Supreme”), Michael B. Jordan (“Sinners”), Ethan Hawke (“Blue Moon”), Jesse Plemons (“Bugonia”). The most unexpected name here might be Plemons.
Best Female Actor: Infinity, Jesse Buckley (“Hamnet”), Rose Byrne (“Kick You If I Had Legs”), Kate Hudson (“Song San Bleu”), Emma Stone (“Bugonia”).
In the supporting actor category, nominees include Del Toro, Penn, Cayton, Jacob Elordi (“Frankenstein”), and Paul Mescal (“Hamnet”).
For Best Supporting Actress, the nominees are Taylor, Mosaku, Ariana Grande (“Wicked: For Good”), Amy Madigan (“Weapons”), and Odessa Azion (“Marty Supreme”). Azion, at just 25, was a bit of a surprise in this lineup.
Interestingly, Joachim Trier’s acclaimed film “Emotional Value” did not receive any nominations, despite having solid contenders like Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård widely regarded as favorites. The actors’ union, comprising over 122,000 voting members, tends to favor more populist choices and often edges away from non-English language films.
Meanwhile, the Academy has been diversifying its membership, suggesting that films like “Emotional Value” and others, including an Iranian revenge drama and a Brazilian political thriller, might attract more attention. Nominations will be revealed on January 22nd.
It’s worth noting there are some disparities between SAG and Oscar nominations. Last year, for instance, Chalamet won the Oscar for Best Actor while losing to Adrien Brody at SAG. “Conclave” took home Best Ensemble at SAG, but Sean Baker’s “Anora” won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
On the TV side, comedy ensemble nominations included the cast of “The Studio,” featuring Seth Rogen, Kathryn Hahn, Catherine O’Hara, and Ike Barinholtz. “White Lotus” led in drama nominations with four, while the limited series “Adolescence” also picked up acknowledgments for its actors.
The acting awards ceremony is set for Sunday, March 1st, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, with Netflix streaming the event. Harrison Ford is slated to receive the Guild’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
