The late Chadwick Boseman earned double Screen Actors Guild awards nominations on Thursday, February 4, boosting hopes of posthumous Oscars glory for the trailblazing Black Panther star.
Hollywood's acting union nominated Boseman for his lead role as an ambitious young horn player in 1920s blues drama Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and his supporting role as a Vietnam War soldier in Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods.
Both films also scored nominations for best cast – the top prize at the Sag ceremony, which like much of the Tinseltown awards calendar has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Although less high-profile than the Golden Globes nominations, which came out on Wednesday, February 3, the Sag awards are seen as a stronger indicator of Oscars glory, since actors represent the largest branch of the roughly 10,000 Oscar voters in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Only two actors have ever posthumously won Oscars: Peter Finch for 1976's Network, and Heath Ledger for 2008's The Dark Knight.
Boseman died aged 43 in August last year from colon cancer, a diagnosis he never publicly discussed.
His co-star Viola Davis also earned a lead actress nod for Ma Rainey, putting it in a tie atop the Sag film acting nominations with Korean-American drama Minari.
Minari follows an immigrant family who move to 1980s rural Arkansas to scrape together a new life.
Egyptian-American actor Ramy Youssef has also been nominated for outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series for his eponymous TV show Ramy. He has also received a Golden Globe nomination for the second year in a row.
Rounding out the prestigious best cast category were a pair of 1960s-set civil rights movies: One Night in Miami and courtroom drama The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Netflix again dominated the film nominations with 13 nods, while rival streamer Amazon followed with four.
Trump row
Former US president Donald Trump threatened to overshadow the morning's announcement with an angry letter resigning from the Hollywood union, which had recently launched disciplinary action against him.
In the letter published on Thursday, the former star of reality TV show The Apprentice dismissed Sag's threat to expel him with the words: "Who cares!"
"I no longer wish to be associated with your union... You have done nothing for me," wrote Trump, whose screen credits include Home Alone 2 and Zoolander.
Sag-Aftra offered a succinct reply: "Thank you."
The union had voted last month to find "probable cause of a violation" by Trump in connection with the Wednesday, January 6 mob attack on the US Capitol.
It instructed a committee to investigate those events and Trump's mistreatment of broadcast journalists – whom the 160,000-member union also represents.
Also among the ranks of Sag members are Hollywood's stunt workers, who receive their only major awards recognition at the annual ceremony.
Da 5 Bloods and Chicago 7 landed stunt nominations Thursday, alongside Disney's Mulan, Tom Hanks-starring western News of the World, and superhero movie Wonder Woman 1984.
On the television side, The Crown and Schitt's Creek followed a strong showing at the Globes by topping the Sag nominations with five apiece.
The Sags nominated several TV shows overlooked by the Globes, including Netflix mega-hit Bridgerton and acclaimed British drama I May Destroy You.
The nominations were announced on Instagram Live by Daveed Diggs – who earned a television acting nod for the Disney+ version of Broadway hit Hamilton – and Lily Collins (Emily in Paris).
The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were twice postponed, first by the pandemic and later by a clash with music's Grammys.
They will now take place on Sunday, April 4, followed by the Oscars on Sunday, April 25.
See the full list of Sag Award 2021 nominees below:
Television Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Bill Camp, The Queen's Gambit
Daveed Diggs, Hamilton
Hugh Grant, The Undoing
Ethan Hawke, The Good Lord Bird
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Michaela Coel, I May Destroy You
Nicole Kidman, The Undoing
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen's Gambit
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Josh O'Connor, The Crown
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Rege-Jean Page, Bridgerton
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Gillian Anderson, The Crown
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Emma Corrin, The Crown
Julia Garner, Ozark
Laura Linney, Ozark
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Nicholas Hoult, The Great
Daniel Levy, Schitt's Creek
Eugene Levy, Schitt's Creek
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Ramy Youssef, Ramy
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Annie Murphy, Schitt's Creek
Catherine O'Hara, Schitt's Creek
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Better Call Saul
Bridgerton
The Crown
Lovecraft Country
Ozark
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Dead to Me
The Flight Attendant
The Great
Schitt's Creek
Ted Lasso
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
The Boys
Cobra Kai
Lovecraft Country
The Mandalorian
Westworld
Motion Picture Awards
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Amy Adams, Hillbilly Elegy
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Jared Leto, The Little Things
Leslie Odom Jr, One Night in Miami
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Youn Yuh-Jung, Minari
Helena Zengel, News of the World
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Da 5 Bloods
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
Minari
One Night in Miami
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Da 5 Bloods
Mulan
News of the World
The Trial of the Chicago 7
Wonder Woman 1984
With additional reporting from Katy Gillett
