The membership of the Screen Actors Guild has what we can only say is a “reputation.” And this year it might have caught up with them just a bit. The nominating committee for SAG, the select group of members who vote on the nominations, is known to skip out on major film screenings (something distributors have been complaining about since October this season) and focus on the TV shows they have right in front of them. Not all of them, mind you, but enough that SAG has left studio and network publicists and consultants pulling their hairs out every December.
This year, SAG voters made a few things abundantly clear with their 2019 nominations. After a few solid years of championing indie performances here and there with their film nods, they instead went with big studio releases (or films that market on that scale) and big stars this time around. On the TV side, they were still preconditioned to favor Netflix and delivered multiple nods to programs they clearly love (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Barry,” “The Handmaids Tale,” “Ozark”).
That being said, there were a ton of snubs and…surprises.
Snub: Regina King
King has dominated the critics honors in the Supporting Actress category and earned a Golden Globe nod for her role in “If Beale Street Could Talk” last week. But this isn’t a normal snub. The three-time Emmy winner has only been nominated for a SAG Award once and it was in the context of an ensemble for “Ray.” She was never nominated by SAG in the same category she won three Emmys in. Something tells us she’s going to be A-OK when it comes to the Oscars, but a BAFTA nomination is key. Moreover, “If Beale Street” was completely snubbed by SAG (it missed out in the Ensemble category) and hasn’t hit theaters yet. Sure, the screener was sent out the same time as fellow Annapurna release “Vice,” but King is the biggest “name” in “Beale” and nowhere on the key art. Do you think enough of the general members on the nom committee really watched it?
Snub: Ethan Hawke
Like King, Hawke likely was overlooked because “First Reformed” was a small, indie release that earned just $3.4 million in theaters. A24 send out a screener, but it’s a similar case of being just too under the radar for most SAG voters. Moreover, Hawke has come on in the past month or so with a Gotham Awards win, a Spirit Award nod and critics honors but don’t assume SAG nom com voters were paying attention.
Snubs: “Vice,” “The Favourite” and “Mary Poppins Returns” in Ensemble
If you were a major release that did not hit theaters before the first week of November you simply didn’t get nominated in the Ensemble category. It’s sort of that simple. Voters reserved this for the big titles they saw earlier in the year, “BlacKkKlansman,” “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Black Panther” (whew) and “A Star is Born.” Also, please note that last year’s Best Picture winner, “The Shape of Water,” was not nominated in this category despite earning two individual acting nods. So, as always, take Ensemble with a grain of salt.
Surprise: Emily Blunt for…”A Quiet Place”
As expected, Blunt earned a nod for her great work in “Mary Poppins Returns” in the lead category, but also was recognized for her performance in “A Quiet Place” last spring. Paramount has done sporadic FYC campaigning for their blockbuster so it’s a true compliment from her peers that Blunt’s impressive, mostly non-verbal performance was remembered.
Surprise: “Bohemian Rhapsody” in Ensemble
As someone who moderated the first SAG Q&A for this movie, the Ensemble nomination was something of a surprise. The members adored star Rami Malek (he’s a real challenger to Bradley Cooper in Lead Actor) but had few questions for the rest of the cast. In a year of big hits making the Ensemble category, that was apparently enough.
