2015 SAG Awards Nominations: The 11 Biggest Snubs & Surprises!

By
Variety

On Wednesday, the Screen Actors Guild announced the nominees for its 21st annual award ceremony, which will honor achievements in TV and film. Because these are the first major awards, people are going to be grumbling about the snubs and surprises – and what it all means for this year’s awards season.

SAG Awards: A Complete List of Nominees


First up, the awards' biggest surprises:

1. Viola Davis: While it should not be shocking that Oscar-nominated actress picked up a nomination for her portrayal of Annalise Keating in How to Get Away With Murder, it just was a surprise given that her category is filled with repeat nominees. Plus, she was a powerhouse all season long so this is well deserved.

2. Tatiana Maslany: Also joining the pack is the star of Oprhan Black, who was shockingly overlooked at this year’s Emmy Awards. It's about time the clone club gets some love! 

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3. Modern Family: Why, oh why does the sitcom continuously get nominated? It's not that it's bad, it just has exhausted fans and critics alike with its domination of awards. 

4. Matthew McConaughey: It's only surprising because hasn't he won every award available to him already this year? Clearly, the mixed reviews for Interstellar didn't tarnish the love he earned from his turn on True Detective.  

5. The Gyllenhaals: It's going to be a sibling affair come January when both Jake and Maggie attend the 2015 SAG Awards. The bigger surprise of the two is Maggie, who was recognized for her buzzy British spy thriller, The Honorable Woman.

6. Naomi Watts: The actress is a bit of a surprise for St. Vincent. The film didn’t quite connect with audiences as hoped but maybe that was largely due to her absurdly comical Russian accent. 


Now for the snubs:

7. Channing Tatum: After earning early Oscar buzz, 'Magic Mike' was left off the list when it came to film’s two individual male acting categories. The actor, who underwent a physical transformation to portray Olympic champion Mark Schultz in Foxcatcher, was shut out while his two co-stars, Mark Ruffalo and Steve Carell were both recognized. Consider this an end to his buzz.

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8. Kerry Washington: It seems that the Guild only has room for one Shondaland series and it looks like How to Get Away With Murder edged out Scandal, which failed to earn a nomination for Olivia Pope.

9. American Horror Story: How was one of the Emmy Awards' biggest winner completely shut out? Nothing for Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, or the ensemble cast.

10. Amazon: Looking to carve out some digital space created by Netflix, Amazon has launched several great shows over the past year, especially Transparent. Sadly the show was ignored this season.

11. Into the Woods: Maybe the Guild isn't smitten with the changes made to the film adaptation of the popular Broadway musical, or maybe the competition on the drama side was too much for this whimsical saga about fractured fairy tales. But at least we still have Meryl Streep to fall back on. 

Into the Woods: Go Behind the Scenes


And what does this mean for the Golden Globes or future awards?

On one hand, maybe nothing, but we know that isn’t quite true. This is where the bandwagon effect stars. Birdman and Boyhood are the two films to beat.

Meanwhile, the acting categories have firmly put Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Carell (Foxcatcher), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), J.K. Simmons (Whiplash), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Reese Witherspoon (Wild), and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) in the competition for their respective categories. Get used to seeing these names everywhere for the next few months.