SAG Awards Snub Joaquin Phoenix & Amy Adams, Javier Bardem Gets Nod, 'Lincoln' & 'Silver Linings' Lead Field

Awards

by Oliver Lyttelton
December 12, 2012 9:10 AM
26 Comments

Just when you think that awards season might follow the Critics Choice Awards with no real surprises, the Screen Actors Guild have thrown something of a curveball into the mix with the nods for their annual awards. Led by "Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook" with four nominations apiece (as was expected), the guild have very much stuck with the establishment this year, with big names favored in almost every case over breakout actors or 'difficult' films.

Most notable is a seeming distaste for "The Master," which only picked up a nomination for Philip Seymour Hoffman in Supporting Actor, with Joaquin Phoenix and Amy Adams nowhere to be found. Other notable absences (excluding "Beasts of the Southern Wild" star Quvenzhane Wallis, who was ineligible for arcane guild-related reasons) were Emmanuelle Riva, for "Amour," Leonardo DiCaprio for "Django Unchained," Rachel Weisz for "The Deep Blue Sea" and Ann Dowd for "Compliance," all of whom have been lauded recently by critics groups.

Also something of a surprise: the absence of awards darling "Zero Dark Thirty" from the Best Ensemble prize, with "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" joining "Argo," "Les Miserables," "Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook" in its place. With another nomination locked in for Maggie Smith, John Madden's 'Hotel,' certainly got a boost for its fading awards chances -- could it be this year's equivalent to "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," sneaking in due to being beloved by Academy membership, despite being sniffed at by critics?

Also getting boosts; Helen Mirren, Naomi Watts and Marion Cotillard, who all picked up Best Actress nominations, despite none necessarily being locked into the Actress category. We wouldn't expect to see all five repeat with the Academy, particularly with Quvenzhane Wallis a likely nominee, but one has to wonder if Emmanuelle Riva will definitely be heading to the Dolby Theater in February. The supporting categories had some surprising inclusions too, in the shape of Javier Bardem for "Skyfall" and Nicole Kidman for the much-derided "The Paperboy." Turns out star power still has some currency...

All that said, this isn't going to be exactly how it plays out with the Academy, but the guild have matched up relatively well in recent years -- 18/20 in the acting categories in 2010, and 17/20 in 2011 and 2012. So there's sure to be some disappointed faces come Oscar time next month, and more than a few of them may hail from Paul Thomas Anderson's film... Check out the full list of SAG nominees below.

Best Ensemble
"Argo"
"Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"
"Les Miserables"
"Lincoln"
"Silver Linings Playbook"

Best Male Actor In A Leading Role
Denzel Washington - "Flight"
Daniel Day-Lewis - "Lincoln"
Hugh Jackman - "Les Miserables"
Bradley Cooper - "Silver Linings Playbook"
John Hawkes - "The Sessions"

Best Female Actor In A Leading Role
Helen Mirren - "Hitchcock"
Naomi Watts - "The Impossible"
Marion Cotillard - "Rust & Bone"
Jennifer Lawrence - "Silver Linings Playbook"
Jessica Chastain - "Zero Dark Thirty"

Best Actor In A Supporting Role
Alan Arkin - "Argo"
Tommy Lee Jones - "Lincoln"
Philip Seymour Hoffman - "The Master"
Robert DeNiro - "Silver Linings Playbook"
Javier Bardem - "Skyfall"

Best Actress In A Supporting Role
Maggie Smith - "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"
Anne Hathaway - "Les Miserables"
Sally Field - "Lincoln"
Nicole Kidman - "The Paperboy"
Helen Hunt - "The Sessions"

Best Stunt Ensemble In A Motion Picture
"The Amazing Spider-Man"
"The Bourne Legacy"
"The Dark Knight Rises"
"Les Miserables"
"Skyfall"

Best Ensemble In A Drama
"Boardwalk Empire"
"Breaking Bad"
"Downton Abbey"
"Homeland"
"Mad Men"

Best Actor In A Drama
Steve Buscemi - "Boardwalk Empire"
Bryan Cranston - "Breaking Bad"
Damian Lewis - "Homeland"
Jon Hamm - "Mad Men"
Jeff Daniels - "The Newsroom"

Best Actress In A Drama
Maggie Smith - "Downton Abbey"
Michelle Dockery - "Downton Abbey"
Julianna Margulies - "The Good Wife"
Claire Danes - "Homeland"
Jessica Lange - "American Horror Story Asylum"

Best Ensemble In A Comedy
"30 Rock"
"The Big Bang Theory"
"Glee"
"Modern Family"
"Nurse Jackie"
"The Office"

Best Actor In A Comedy
Alec Baldwin - "30 Rock"
Jim Parsons - "The Big Bang Theory"
Louis CK - "Louie"
Ty Burrell - "Modern Family"
Eric Stonestreet - "Modern Family"

Best Actress In A Comedy
Tina Fey - "30 Rock"
Betty White - "Hot in Cleveland"
Sofia Vergara - "Modern Family"
Edie Falco - "Nurse Jackie"
Amy Poehler - "Parks and Recreation"

Best Actor In A Miniseries
Ed Harris - "Game Change"
Woody Harrelson - "Game Change"
Bill Paxton - "Hatfields & McCoys"
Kevin Costner - "Hatfields & McCoys"
Clive Owen - "Hemingway & Gellhorn"

Best Actress In A Miniseries
Julianne Moore - "Game Change"
Nicole Kidman - "Hemingway & Gellhorn"
Sigourney Weaver - "Political Animals"
Charlotte Rampling - "Restless"
Alfre Woodard - "Steel Magnolias"

Best Stunt Ensemble - Television
"Boardwalk Empire"
"Breaking Bad"
"Game of Thrones"
"Sons Of Anarchy"
"The Walking Dead"

Awards

More: Awards, The Amazing Race, Screen Actors Guild, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Javier Bardem, Nicole Kidman

26 Comments

| Reply
Josh | December 13, 2012 8:19 AMReply

And I agree to some other comments. Nicole Kidman did not sneak into the nominations because of star power and a "loving relationship" with SAG. She was snubbed for To Die For, snubbed for her two 2001 flicks, Moulin Rouge! and The Others. Zero wins. 2 previous nominations (The Hours and Rabbit Hole). She was just brilliant. PERIOD. The Screen Actors Guild got this one right!
Josh | December 13, 2012 8:16 AMReply

Nicole Kidman DESERVED her Screen Actors Guild nomination for The Paperboy. Yes, the film was lambasted, but when you nominate an actor for an acting category, the performance is the one being judged, and NOT THE FILM. She gave one of the best performances of the year, hands down.
ashlee | December 12, 2012 10:44 PMReply

Django and zero dark didn't screen in time but jessica not unlike nicole is loved among her peers so thats why she still got the nom.
Holly | December 12, 2012 3:25 PMReply

The thing is Bardem is possibly the most highly regarded actor coming from a non-English speaking country, and Kidman is a living legend.
a.te | December 12, 2012 2:17 PMReply

Amy didn't get nominated???????? well there are still the golden globes and the oscars, hopefully they don't forget her.
Ike | December 12, 2012 1:59 PMReply

Snubbing Parks & Recreation for Best Ensemble in a Comedy is absolutely criminal. The deep-in-decline, seen-much-better-days Office and Modern Family over Parks & Rec, REALLY SAG, REALLY?!?!? Have you WATCHED those shows lately? Are you giving them awards based on what they USED to be, when they were great YEARS AGO?
cinematic_high | December 12, 2012 1:12 PMReply

Bullshit. That's what it is. Amy Adams gave one of the best performances I have ever seen, and they fucking snub her for it? She was amazing in The Master! I would follow this up with "I hope the Globes and Oscars don't make that same mistake", but who am I kidding?
Steve | December 12, 2012 12:04 PMReply

But....Where is the Wonderul "Life of Pi"?
Nicole | December 12, 2012 11:49 AMReply

Nicole Kidman for the paperboy?
Travis | December 12, 2012 10:54 AMReply

The SAG doesn't care about star power-they care about power in the organization. It's why the big players usually end up there, like Kidman or Mirren.
Bauggs | December 12, 2012 10:22 AMReply

Django Unchained wasn't screened in time for a SAG, at least from what I've read.
Sara | December 12, 2012 9:51 AMReply

Best Ensemble In A Drama no Game of Thrones, or The Walking Dead, or American Horror Story?
and honestly this season of Boardwalk Empire was horrible. and "Downton Abbey" is not THAT good.
Alan | December 12, 2012 7:02 PM

I am not sure whether the SAG would have recognised the second or third season of The Walking Dead, but Andrew Lincoln was far, far better in the first season of the show than the second season. Most emotions in that season was registered with strain, rather than intensity, and Lincoln seems to think that he needed to tilt his head every single time he had to say something IMPORTANT (which seemed to be every other scene). Watching that season, I thought that Darabont (who wasn't a perfect showrunner) clearly had a better handle on actors and could elicit far more authentic performances from his team. You only need to compare the Buscemi/Pitt confrontation to the equivalent Lincoln/Bernthal sequence at the end of their respective second seasons: whilst Lincoln and Bernthal (who I actually like, because - unlike his co-stars - he has a personality on-screen) overact like crazy, Buscemi and Pitt are far more relaxed in their performances. Buscemi and Pitt have the benefit of a better written and directed sequence, however.
Sara | December 12, 2012 12:09 PM

you don't think Andrew Lincoln (Rick) don't deserve an award?? c'mon...
JD | December 12, 2012 11:45 AM

Reckon the reason The Walking Dead wasnt included was because Season 2 was poor. SPOILER ALERT. Stuck on the farm for the whole season with the 1st half searching for a kid who turned out to be a zombie & 2nd half spent with them arguing over boring stuff. Reckon it will be included next year cos Season 3 is much better
Zack McGhee | December 12, 2012 9:50 AMReply

Mr. Lyttelton seems to reveal a casual distate for organized labor by attributing the exclusion of "Beasts of the Southern Wild" to "arcane guild-related reasons." As reported in the New York Times and elsewhere, Fox Searchlight had the opportunity to retroactively comply with the guild's "low-budget feature agreement," which would've required them to pay the actors some more money, among other things. They declined. Indiewire has already been forced to correct its reporting on this issue, having erroneously reported that the use of non-professional actors is what rendered the film ineligible: http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/sag-aftra-clarifies-beasts-of-the-southern-wild-actors-sag-awards-ineligibility-report
amanda | December 12, 2012 9:28 AMReply

The Paperboy was a terrible movie and Kidman was bad in it. It wasnt a brave performance it was over the top. SAG going for star power.
ash | December 13, 2012 2:20 AM

I agree.and they give up Joaquin and Amy. that was a really BAD choice.
Alan | December 12, 2012 6:52 PM

Err, Ken, the title of this article states that Adams and Phoenix were snubbed before declaring anyone that was nominated. The Playlist clearly have an entitlement problem towards the film, and people are perhaps sick of hearing that, OMG, it wasn't nominated for THIS AWARD or THAT LIST and that this is an INJUSTICE and an OUTRAGE.
amanda | December 12, 2012 3:06 PM

Um Ken I didnt trash the Master. I didnt even mention the Master.
Ken | December 12, 2012 12:32 PM

Wow, do I have to read someone trashing The Master in the comments section of any playlist article where The Master is mentioned? We get it, you didn't like it. I swear, it's every single article. Some people happened to like the movie a lot and there is a lot of merit behind it. I'm sick of hearing from the detractors. Where's the "Flight" detractors for god's sake?
JD | December 12, 2012 11:47 AM

P - Both Joaquin Pheonix & Amy Adams were poor in The Master, a boring film with the former almost hard to understand for most of it while any scenes the latter was in involved her saying stupid stuff & then walking out of the room.
LilY | December 12, 2012 10:50 AM

You forget the relationship between Kidman and SAG. She was never a favourite of them. She has zero SAG wins and has been snubbed a couple od times. Sorry, but I doubt they went for star power.
P | December 12, 2012 9:47 AM

I agree with you, it's sad that amy adams and joaquin phoenix are not nominated maybe they are not famous enough
S | December 12, 2012 9:23 AMReply

I personally think Bardem and Kidman deserve it. Good on SAG for rewarding two polarizing (yet gripping) performances...
AE | December 12, 2012 10:59 AM

Yeah, I don't think 'star power' had much to do with their noms, they were both just damn good performances, and envelope pushing at that. Bardem was the only reason I didn't hurl my popcorn at the screen during Skyfall, and Kidman managed to stare down, without a jot of condecension, one of the most marginalised female characters in a long time. But why no Amour?