SAG nominations announced

Source: Variety

Winners will be announced Jan. 23

"Inglourious Basterds," "Precious" and "Up in the Air" scored the most traction among thesps with three Screen Actors Guild feature nominations each as actors opted for a mix of mainstream and specialty titles. On the TV side, "30 Rock," "The Closer" and "Dexter" led the way with three nominations apiece.

In the guild's ensemble cast category, "Basterds" and "Precious" landed nods as did "An Education," "The Hurt Locker" and "Nine." Though "Up in the Air" wasn't cited in that category, George Clooney took a best actor nom and castmates Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick each received nods in the supporting actress contest.

"Basterds" castmates Christoph Waltz and Diane Kruger scored nominations in the supporting actor and actress categories. Kruger's nod may have been the biggest surprise of the morning's announcements, which mostly followed expectations.

Newcomer Gabourey Sidibe continued to rack up recognition with an actress nomination for "Precious," as did castmate Mo'Nique in the supporting actress category.

Michelle Monaghan and Chris O'Donnell announced the nominations Thursday morning at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. Nominations were based on voting by a panel of 2,100 randomly selected SAG members across the country. (Many of the late-year-debut films sent out screeners to nomination committee members.)

Clooney will face competition for the actor kudo from Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart," Colin Firth for "A Single Man," Morgan Freeman for "Invictus" and Jeremy Renner for "The Hurt Locker." Four of them had also received Golden Globe drama noms, with Renner replacing Globes contender Tobey Maguire for "Brothers."

Besides Sidibe, actress noms went to Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side," Helen Mirren for "The Last Station," Carey Mulligan for "An Education," and Meryl Streep for "Julie and Julia." All five also received Golden Globe noms; Bullock's prospects as an awards candidate have gained momentum amid the surprise box office success of "The Blind Side," now at more than $152 million domestically.

The longest relationship I have had has been with the Screen Actors Guild, and I am so happy that after all these years together familiarity did not breed contempt," Bullock said.

Waltz faces competition in the supporting actor field from Matt Damon for "Invictus," Woody Harrelson for "The Messenger," Christopher Plummer for "The Last Station" and Stanley Tucci for "The Lovely Bones." That quintet matched the Golden Globes list.

Penelope Cruz took the remaining supporting actress nomination for "Nine." She won the supporting actress Oscar this year for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."

Paramount and the Weinstein Co. tied for the most noms by studio with six each, followed by Sony Classics with four. (Three of TWC's noms were shared by Universal for "Basterds.")

Among thesps who'd received kudos attention recently but were absent from SAG's roster were Michael Stuhlbarg for "A Serious Man"; Julianne Moore, "A Single Man"; Alfred Molina, "An Education"; Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard for "Nine"; Emily Blunt, "Young Victoria"; Abby Cornish, "Bright Star"; and Damon, "The Informant."

In TV, "30 Rock" was nominated for ensemble in a comedy series, Alec Baldwin as lead comedy actor and Tina Fey as lead comedy actress; the NBC skein won all three categories this year.

Baldwin has won the category for three years running while Fey has taken the last two trophies.

Other noms for ensemble comedy were scored by "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "The Office" and newcomers "Glee" and "Modern Family." "The Closer" and "Dexter" took ensemble drama nods along with "The Good Wife," "True Blood" and "Mad Men," which won the category this year.

Hugh Laurie of "House" will be vying for his third SAG trophy as actor in a drama series against Simon Baker of "The Mentalist," Bryan Cranston of "Breaking Bad," Michael C. Hall of "Dexter" and Jon Hamm of "Mad Men."

NBC led with eight nominations, followed by CBS and HBO with seven each.

All five actresses tapped in the drama series category have been nominated previously for the same program, but none has won. Mariska Hargitay for "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" and Kyra Sedgwick for "The Closer" scored their fifth nods; Patricia Arquette ("Medium") and Holly Hunter ("Saving Grace") received their third; and Glenn Close took a second nomination for "Damages."

Ballots will be sent to the 120,000 SAG members Winners will be announced Jan. 23 in ceremonies at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles.