2015 SAG Award Nominations

The SAG Awards got the jump on the Golden Globes nominations by one day, announced live by Eva Longoria and Ansel Elgort the morning of Wednesday December 10th. Birdman led the movie nominations with four and Modern Family television, also with four. Boyhood, The Imitation Game, and The Theory of Everything each received three film nominations. HBO led the networks with fourteen nominees. Jennifer Aniston received best female actor nomination for her much buzzed about performance in the movie Cake. Mark Ruffalo was nominated for both his work in television and film. The SAG film nominations provide a solid gage of the potential Oscar nominees, sometimes even more than the Golden Globes.

The confusion and debate about what qualifies a television program as a series or a miniseries is exemplified by the Outstanding Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries and Male Actor in a Drama Series categories with the SAG Awards. Both Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey received actor nominations in the drama series category for True Detective but Billy Bob Thornton was nominated for Fargo in the tv movie or miniseries category. Fargo had ten episodes and True Detective had eight. The Golden Globes have chosen to address this issue by renaming the miniseries category, Limited Series, which will include True Detective. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has stated that the limited series category will be based on story and content, not on length or number of episodes. Earlier this year the Primetime Emmys had the same designations for True Detective and Fargo as SAG. The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has a pretty specific definition for miniseries, "A miniseries is based on a single theme or storyline, which is resolved within the piece. In a single awards year, all of the parts must be presented under the same title and have continuity of production supervision. A miniseries consists of two or more episodes with a total running time of at least four broadcast hours (at least 150 program minutes)." Sounds simple enough but there is an additional rule that a miniseries can not include a 'created by' credit, which explains why True Detective lands in the full series category at the Emmys. As television evolves -- see also streaming content and its crop of nominees, the categories of awards shows will continue to change with the times.

There is also a television Stunt Team category that 24: Live Another Day, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, Homeland, Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead were nominated for. Should be The Walking Dead all the way. The stunt categories will be announced as part of the live red carpet coverage.

The SAG awards will air live on tbs and TNT on Saturday January 25th at 8pm Eastern and 5pm Pacific. The Golden Globe nominations will be announced tomorrow morning by Kate Beckinsale, Peter Krause, Paula Patton and Jeremy Piven at 8:20 and 8:35am Eastern time from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Hollywood.


MOVIES
OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
JK Simmons, Whiplash

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Naomi Watts, St. Vincent

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEAD ROLE
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

OUTSTANDING CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything

TELEVISION
OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Adrien Brody, Houdini
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow
Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A TELEVISION MOVIE OR MINISERIES
Ellen Burstyn, Flowers in the Attic
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
Julia Roberts, The Normal Heart
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Louis CK, Louis
William H Macy, Shameless
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY SERIES
The Big Bang Theory
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Modern Family
Orange Is the New Black
Veep

OUTSTANDING FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Robin Wright, House of Cards

OUTSTANDING MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Woody Harrelson, True Detective
Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA SERIES
Boardwalk Empire
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards

STUNT ENSEMBLES
OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Fury
Get On Up
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
X-Men: Days of Future Past

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY OR DRAMA SERIES
24: Live Another Day
Boardwalk Empire
Game of Thrones
Homeland
Sons of Anarchy
The Walking Dead

SAG LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Debbie Reynolds