2014 Screen Actors Guild FILM Nominations: Aniston, Gyllenhaal Shake Up Race

Erik Anderson December 10, 2014

The nominations for the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced this morning to some shock and awe with surprise nominations in nearly all of the motion picture categories.

Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture saw the expected mentions from Steve Carell, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Keaton and Eddie Redmayne but instead of Bradley Cooper or David Oyelowo it was Jake Gyllenhall who was called. His performance in the dramatic indie thriller Nightcrawler has been heralded by many as his best ever and clearly the SAG nominating committee agreed.

In Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture, Jennifer Aniston’s name garnered gasps from the crowd. Her inclusion left Amy Adams, Marion Cotillard and Hilary Swank with their cake out in the rain.

Female Actor in a Supporting Role also found a shocker in Naomi Watts for her performance as an aging, pregnant Russian prostitute in St. Vincent. She bested Jessica Chastain and Laura Dern for a nomination here.

Less of a surprise in Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture was Robert Duvall in The Judge. He had been gaining some momentum in the recent weeks and benefitted from an early screener release to SAG, and we all know how important that can be. The surprise nominees this morning are a testament to that.

Finally, in the Cast in a Motion Picture category, The Theory of Everything came in and stole a slot here, much the way that Focus Features’ Dallas Buyers Club was able to do last year at this time. The film cements its status as a top 5 contender with this nomination.

The full list:

21st ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS NOMINATIONS

Ceremony will be Simulcast Live on Sunday, January 25, 2015 on TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. (ET)/5 p.m. (PT)

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

STEVE CARELL / John du Pont – “FOXCATCHER” (Sony Pictures Classics)
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH / Alan Turing – “THE IMITATION GAME” (The Weinstein Company)
JAKE GYLLENHAAL / Louis Bloom – “NIGHTCRAWLER” (Open Road Films)
MICHAEL KEATON / Riggan – “BIRDMAN” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
EDDIE REDMAYNE / Stephen Hawking – “THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING” (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

JENNIFER ANISTON / Claire Bennett – “CAKE” (Cinelou Films)
FELICITY JONES / Jane Hawking – “THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING” (Focus Features)
JULIANNE MOORE / Alice Howland-Jones – “STILL ALICE” (Sony Pictures Classics)
ROSAMUND PIKE / Amy Dunne – “GONE GIRL” (20th Century Fox)
REESE WITHERSPOON / Cheryl Strayed – “WILD” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

ROBERT DUVALL / Joseph Palmer – “THE JUDGE” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
ETHAN HAWKE / Mason, Sr. – “BOYHOOD” (IFC Films)
EDWARD NORTON / Mike – “BIRDMAN” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
MARK RUFFALO / Dave Schultz – “FOXCATCHER” (Sony Pictures Classics)
J.K. SIMMONS / Fletcher – “WHIPLASH” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

PATRICIA ARQUETTE / Olivia – “BOYHOOD” (IFC Films)
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY / Joan Clarke – “THE IMITATION GAME” (The Weinstein Company)
EMMA STONE / Sam – “BIRDMAN” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
MERYL STREEP / The Witch – “INTO THE WOODS” (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
NAOMI WATTS / Daka – “ST. VINCENT” (The Weinstein Company)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

BIRDMAN (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
ZACH GALIFIANAKIS / Jake
MICHAEL KEATON / Riggan
EDWARD NORTON / Mike
ANDREA RISEBOROUGH / Laura
AMY RYAN / Sylvia
EMMA STONE / Sam
NAOMI WATTS / Lesley

BOYHOOD (IFC Films)
PATRICIA ARQUETTE / Olivia
ELLAR COLTRANE / Mason
ETHAN HAWKE / Mason, Sr.
LORELEI LINKLATER / Samantha

THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
F. MURRAY ABRAHAM / Mr. Moustafa
MATHIEU AMALRIC / Serge X.
ADRIEN BRODY / Dmitri
WILLEM DAFOE / Jopling
RALPH FIENNES / M. Gustave
JEFF GOLDBLUM / Dep. Kovacs
HARVEY KEITEL / Ludwig
JUDE LAW / Young Writer
BILL MURRAY / M. Ivan
EDWARD NORTON / Henckels
TONY REVOLORI / Zero
SAOIRSE RONAN / Agatha
JASON SCHWARTZMAN / M. Jean
LÉA SEYDOUX / Clotilde
TILDA SWINTON / Madame D
TOM WILKINSON / Author
OWEN WILSON / M. Chuck

THE IMITATION GAME (The Weinstein Company)
MATTHEW BEARD / Peter Hilton
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH / Alan Turing
CHARLES DANCE / Commander Denniston
MATTHEW GOODE / Hugh Alexander
RORY KINNEAR / Nock
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY / Joan Clarke
ALLEN LEECH / John Cairncross
MARK STRONG / Stewart Menzies

THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (Focus Features)
CHARLIE COX / Jonathan Hellyer Jones
FELICITY JONES / Jane Hawking
SIMON McBURNEY / Frank Hawking
EDDIE REDMAYNE / Stephen Hawking
DAVID THEWLIS / Dennis Sciama
EMILY WATSON / Beryl Wilde

Outstanding Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

FURY (Columbia Pictures)
GET ON UP (Universal Pictures)
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES (Warner Bros. Pictures)
UNBROKEN (Universal Pictures)
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (20th Century Fox)

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Fun Facts and Stats

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES WITH MULTIPLE NOMINATIONS

BIRDMAN – 4
BOYHOOD – 3
THE IMITATION GAME – 3
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING – 3
FOXCATCHER – 2

Full list of stats at: www.sagawards.org.

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.