On Thursday morning the nominations for the 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, dedicated to honoring outstanding performances in movies and prime-time television, were announced. Doubt lead the race with five nominations, followed by Milk and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which each garnered three, including one each in the Male Actor in a Leading Role category for Sean Penn and Brad Pitt, respectively. Along with the aforementioned movies, Frost/Nixon and Slumdog Millionaire received nods for their ensemble casts.
Based on John Patrick Shanley’s acclaimed play, Doubt also scored nominations for Meryl Streep (Female Actor in a Leading Role), Amy Adams and Viola Davis (Female Actor in a Supporting Role) and Philip Seymour Hoffman (Male Actor in a Supporting Role).
Kate Winslet received dual nominations—for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading (Revolutionary Road) and Supporting Role (The Reader). Dev Patel, young star of Danny Boyle’s breakout indie hit Slumdog Millionaire, received a surprise nomination for his supporting role. James Earl Jones will receive the Life Achievement Award.
Of the numerous industry accolades presented to performers, only the SAG Awards are selected solely by actors’ peers. The winners will be announced at the SAG Awards ceremony airing on Sunday, Jan. 25, 2009 at 8 p.m. on TBS and TNT.
For a complete list of nominees, go to www.sagawards.org.