Giggly Rosario Dawson & Angie Harmon announced the SAG nominations at 9:00 AM EST after being introduced by JoBeth Williams.
Though this is the last major clue as to where Oscar acting nominations will go, it is not the "this is it!" twin that many like to claim.
Important Differences From SAG to Oscar: Contrary to what you often read on the internet there is not significant overlap in the voting pools between SAG and Oscar. Unless they've recently changed their rules, SAG randomly chooses a sliver of its membership each year to do the nominations. Some miniscule percentage of them might be Academy members but the numbers don't add up to a big percentage. SAG is a mammoth union, representing 200,000 film, tv and background performers and all dues paying members can vote on the winners. Oscar's acting branch is infinitely harder to join; it's a final club on steroids to use The Social Network as handy 2010 reference. There are 1,205 voting actors in the Academy who all get nominating ballots. All of the Academy's 1,000+ actors are or were SAG members (having acted in films for years) but the other 198,795 SAG members are definitely not members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Other key differences: SAG nominators are (statistically) fonder of child and very young adult actors than Oscar. They're also arguably more populist in their choices overall having given the big prizes to people from smash comedies like Renée Zellweger in Chicago (2002) or Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) and arguably more influenced by your place in the Hollywood food chain, choosing legends over newbies for wins in hotly contested contests like Bening beating Swank in 99/00, Day-Lewis over Brody in 02/03 or Christie beating Cotillard in 07/08. They are also not allowed to vote their own mind when it comes to "lead" versus "supporting" issues. Oscar voters may vote for you in whichever category they personally feel is correct. SAG voters may only vote for you in the category that your studio submits you in (which explains Keisha Castle Hughes' bizarre "supporting" citation at SAG for Whale Rider).
Nominations with commentary after the jump
2010 NOMINATIONS TELEVISION
Best Female Actor (Drama Series)
- Glenn Close (Damages)
- Mariska Hargitay (L&O: SVU is a Comedy)
- Julianna Marguiles (The Good Wife)
- Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men)
- Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer)
- Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire)
- Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)
- Michael C Hall (Dexter)
- Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
- Hugh Laurie (House)
- Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie)
- Tina Fey (30 Rock)
- Jane Lynch (Glee)
- Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)
- Betty White (Hot in Cleveland)
Best Male Actor (Comedy Series)
- Alec Baldwin (30 Rock)
- Ty Burrell (Modern Family)
- Steve Carell (The Office)
- Chris Colfer (Glee)
- O'Neill (Modern Family)
Another terrific lineup. Well chosen.
Best Female Actor (Miniseries/Movie)
- Claire Danes (Temple Grandin)
- Catherine O'Hara (Temple Grandin)
- Julia Ormond (Temple Grandin)
- Winona Ryder (When Love is Not Enough)
- Susan Sarandon (You Don't Know Jack)
- John Goodman (You Don't Know Jack)
- Al Pacino (You Don't Know Jack)
- Dennis Quaid (That Special Relationship)
- Edgar Ramirez (Carlos)
- Patrick Stewart (Macbeth)
- Boardwalk Empire
- The Closer
- Dexter
- Teh Good Wife
- Mad Men
- 30 Rock
- Glee
- Hot in Cleveland
- Modern Family
- The Office
It wasn't enough to give Betty White one nomination when you can give her two. As much as I continue to love 30 Rock and admire Glee for casting actors who can actually sing... Modern Family deserves this ten-fold. Such a seamless cast, no weak spots; everyone is hilarious.
Stunt Ensemble (Series)
- Burn Notice
- CSI New York
- Dexter
- Southland
- True Blood
I'm confused how five series get nominated for stunts but only three movies? Last I checked movies had lots of stunts, too.
Best Female Actor (Supporting Role)
- Amy Adams (The Fighter)
- Helena Bonham-Carter (The King's Speech)
- Mila Kunis (Black Swan)
- Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
- Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)
- Christian Bale (The Fighter)
- John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)
- Jeremy Renner (The Town)
- Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)
- Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech
- Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
- Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
- Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)
- Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
- Hilary Swank (Conviction)
Hilary Swank's surprise appearance here is noteworthy in that it shows how (still) hotly contested the Best Actress race is. The way I see it there are 3 locks (Bening, Portman, Lawrence) due to support for both the performances and the films which house them and then there is 1 probable but vulnerable (Kidman) due to support for performance but not the film and then there are still 6 women (Williams, Rapace, Moore, Swank, Swinton, Manville) trying to nab 1 remaining spot. Theoretically, any of them might for various reasons and 1, at least, will.
Best Male Actor (Leading Role)
- Jeff Bridges
- Robert Duvall
- Jesse Eisenberg
- Colin Firth
- James Franco
- Black Swan
- The Fighter
- The Kids Are All Rigth
- The King's Speech
- The Social Network
Stunt Ensemble
- Green Zone
- Inception
- Robin Hood
Your turn. Share opinions in the comments. Particularly about those crazy tight fifth spots in all four acting categories.
Related Post: SAG injustice (the ensemble category) BFCA & Globe nominations (good comparison points. In an unholy union of the three, you basically have your Oscar list)