- The nominations for the 25th Annual Screen Actor's Guild (SAG) Awards are here, and they're filled with surprises and snubs.
- Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell didn't get nominated for their leading roles on the excellent final season of "The Americans."
- "Bohemian Rhapsody," a movie that has only been praised for one performance, got a nomination for best ensemble cast.
- We're confused.
We thought actors (people who professionally act) would be really good at voting for acting awards, but we were wrong!
The SAG Awards, which take place a few weeks before the Oscars every year, is an awards show hosted by the Screen Actor's Guild. Actors vote on their peers in film and television, but the focus is performances, with awards for best lead and supporting actors and actresses, and awards for best ensemble casts.
Usually SAG nominees are a bit better than the bigger shows like the Oscars and Golden Globes, because SAG voters really know their craft. But not in 2018.
This year's nominations are filled with shocking snubs and unpleasant surprises, including no nomination for the leads on FX's "The Americans," and a strange outstanding ensemble cast nomination for "Bohemian Rhapsody."
The 25th Annual SAG Awards ceremony will be broadcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, January 27 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Here are the five biggest snubs and surprises from the SAG Awards nominations:
Matthew Rhys didn't get nominated for outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series, but Jason Bateman and John Krasinski did.
The nominees:
Jason Bateman, “Ozark”
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us”
Joseph Fiennes, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
John Krasinski, “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Rhys's portrayal of the KGB spy Philip Jennings who's somewhat seduced by the American life has been the absolute best performance on television for years, overshadowed by more popular AMC shows. But this was finally his year. On the sixth season, Rhys did his best work to date, which included Philip's classic line dancing, an emotional final trip to McDonald's, but also an intense ten minute stand-off in a parking garage. Rhys carried carried the scene while allowing his co-stars Keri Russell and Noah Emmerich to shine, too. Rhys should have had a nomination, and he should have won.
"The Americans" earned a SAG nomination for best ensemble cast on a TV drama, and while its cast has always been the best (and the most ignored), the lead performances deserve recognition the most.
Keri Russell didn't get nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, but two actresses from "Ozark" did.
The nominees:
Julia Garner, “Ozark”
Laura Linney, “Ozark”
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Sandra Oh, “Killing Eve”
Robin Wright, “House of Cards”
For the past five years, Russell, like her co-star Matthew Rhys, has been doing some of the best acting in television history on "The Americans" as the cold, dutiful, but sometimes conflicted KGB spy Elizabeth Jennings. Her character made some major advancement during the final season, and Russell captured every feeling, from the obvious to the subtle.
And yet, two actresses from Netflix's second season original series "Ozark," a mediocre drama with very good performances (not great), got nominated over Russell. Laura Linney is, as always good on the show, but she's not doing anything particularly groundbreaking. The same goes for her co-star and fellow nominee Julie Garner, who had a major role on "The Americans" and appeared briefly on the final season earlier this year.
"Bohemian Rhapsody" got nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture for some reason.
The nominees:
“A Star Is Born”
“Black Panther”
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Bohemian Rhapsody”
“Crazy Rich Asians”
This particular nomination is truly baffling, considering the only positive reception this movie has gotten is strictly related to Rami Malek's performance as Freddie Mercury. While there are other people in this movie, like Mike Meyers apparently, no one is talking about them. You probably, like me, just found out that Mike Meyers is in this movie in the previous sentence.
It feels like no SAG members even saw the movie, and just picked the movie out of a hat. Or maybe they just voted for it to avoid giving "Avengers: Infinity War" -- the biggest crossover event of all time -- a nomination in the category.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider