Screen Actors Guild Film Nominations: 12 Years a Slave Leads Mentions

After beginning the pre-awards season as the perceived frontrunner, only to be hobbled by the major critics awards, 12 Years a Slave came roaring back to the lead with a field best four nominations at the Screen Actors Guild this morning. Nominations for the film’s Cast, Chiwetel Ejiofor (Lead Actor), Michael Fassbender (Supporting Actor) and Lupita Nyong’o (Supporting Actress) put it ahead of all other films this morning, including critic’s winners American Hustle (which managed two nods) and Gravity (with just a single nod for Sandra Bullock). August: Osage County garnered three mentions as well as Lee Daniels’ The Butler, including a semi-surprising nomination for Forest Whitaker.

Supporting Actor had been a prediction conundrum with no less than eight or nine possible candidates for the top 5. In the end it was Bradley Cooper’s exclusion and Daniel Brühl’s inclusion that gave some focus to a confusing category. While Barkhad Abdi has been doing the SAG Q&A’s with Hanks to secure his nom, Brühl hasn’t so there is clearly a passion vote there.  The big surprise of the morning though was for Dallas Buyers Club. Yes, McConaughey and Leto were nominated as expected but the film snagged a Cast nomination in place of more heavily predicted films like Nebraska, Blue Jasmine, Prisoners and Saving Mr. Banks. To go along with the shocking addition of Dallas Buyers Club in Cast was the equally shocking snub of Robert Redford in Lead Actor for All is Lost (and right after picking up a Stunt Ensemble nomination, no less) and the total exclusion of The Wolf of Wall Street. Some may chalk it up to the SAG nominating committee not seeing the film in time (remember Django Unchained last year?) but it also hasn’t faired to well with critics awards either. Also missing from the list was any mention for Spike Jonze’s Her, which has been a bit of a critic’s darling this week, and Fruitvale Station, which saw a resurgence with the critics but featured nowhere in the nominations today.

But what does this all mean for the Oscars? While the inclusion of Dallas Buyers Club in Cast increases its chances for a Best Picture nomination it will be difficult for it to break through a very solid group of ten that currently holds favor. And since we know there isn’t likely to be ten nominated films (history and math just aren’t in its favor), what would it replace? One just needs to look at AFI’s top films of the year  to see the tea leaves of what’s getting in. Most vulnerable are Fruitvale Station and Inside Llewyn Davis, which hasn’t received much mention outside of technical categories so far.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2014 at 8pm EST/5pm PST and simulcast on TNT and TBS.

Full list on nominations:

Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Dallas Buyers Club
Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Forest Whitaker, Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks

Outstanding Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Daniel Brühl, Rush
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini, Enough Said
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey, Lee Daniels’ The Butler