‘Doubt,’ ‘Button’ top SAG nods

The Screen Actors Guild Award nominations were both “Curious” and full of “Doubt.”

In fact, “Doubt,” a drama based on the award-winning Broadway play about a stern nun who believes a new young priest may have prurient interests in an altar boy, dominated the 15th annual SAG Award nominations, announced Thursday morning, with five nods.

Among them: Meryl Streep for outstanding female actor in a leading role, Philip Seymour Hoffman for outstanding male actor in a supporting role, and Amy Adams and Viola Davis each for outstanding female actor in a supporting role. In addition, the film was nominated for best ensemble cast. “Doubt” earned five Golden Globe nominations last week, including one for screenwriter John Patrick Shanley, who wrote the play.

So far, “Doubt” has been viewed by many industry pundits as an outlier in the award-season run-up. Even though Streep and Hoffman have been singled out for their performances, the film was not among the best dramatic motion picture nominees in last week’s Golden Globe nominations. With the SAG nominations, including the best ensemble nod, it seems as if Shanley’s cinematic adaptation finally has some potential best-picture momentum.

The same could be said for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” which earned three nominations from the guild, including outstanding male actor in a lead role for star Brad Pitt. The film, about a man who is born old and grows younger as he ages, opens on Christmas. “Milk,” about slain gay politician Harvey Milk, also had three nominations, including one for lead actor Sean Penn.

The award season also continues to show support for “Slumdog Millionaire,” the indie darling about a poor young man from Mumbai who ends up on a TV game show. “Slumdog Millionaire” garnered SAG nominations for outstanding male actor in a supporting role for Dev Patel and for the ensemble.

Since its inception, the SAG Awards have become a major bellwether for the Academy Awards. In fact, if history is any indication, rarely does an actor win an Oscar without first receiving a SAG nomination -- only Marcia Gay Harden, who won the supporting actress Oscar for 2000’s “Pollock,” failed to earn a SAG nomination.

That’s not to say the Screen Actors Guild and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences always coincide. Last year, the road drama “Into the Wild” dominated the SAG nominations with four, including ensemble, but managed to earn only one Oscar nomination for supporting actor Hal Holbrook. .

Joining Pitt and Penn in the best actor category are Frank Langella for “Frost/Nixon,” Mickey Rourke for “The Wrestler” and Richard Jenkins for “The Visitor.”

“I’ve been doing this so long and worked with so many great actors, and some haven’t gotten the opportunities that I have, so it’s very gratifying to be recognized by your peers,” Jenkins said Thursday morning. As far as celebrating his nomination, he added: “The truth is I’m going to go to the store to get Caesar salad -- I’m craving one -- and I’m on a list to get a haircut. I might be able to get in, the barber wasn’t sure. My point is, I have a ton of juice after the nomination.”

There were a few surprises among the movie nominees. Notably missing from the SAG list are National Board of Review of Motion Pictures best actor Clint Eastwood for “Gran Torino” and Golden Globe nominee Leonardo DiCaprio for “Revolutionary Road.”

Sally Hawkins, a Golden Globe nominee who was named best actress by the Los Angeles and New York film critics’ groups for “Happy-Go-Lucky,” was a surprise shut-out in the female lead category, as was Globe nominee Kristin Scott Thomas for “I’ve Loved You So Long.”

Competing with Streep for female actor in a lead role are Angelina Jolie for “Changeling,” Anne Hathaway for “Rachel Getting Married,” Melissa Leo for “Frozen River” and Kate Winslet for “Revolutionary Road.”

“This is most definitely my year,” Leo said Thursday. “Even if they take back the nomination this morning and say it was all just a dream. It’s my pleasure to act. I’ve had to wait at times without knowing what’s ahead. If this is the portion I’m being served up now, I will eat it with relish.”

Winslet also received a nomination for outstanding female actor in a supporting role for “The Reader.” Joining her in that category are Adams and Davis, as well as Penelope Cruz for her role in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” and Taraji P. Henson for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”

In addition to Hoffman and Patel, the nominees for best male actor in a supporting role are Josh Brolin for “Milk,” Robert Downey Jr. for “Tropic Thunder” and Heath Ledger for “The Dark Knight.”

The complete ensemble category includes “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “Doubt,” “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and “Slumdog Millionaire.”

On the television front, “The Closer,” “John Adams,” “Mad Men” and “30 Rock” had reason to celebrate, garnering three SAG nominations apiece.

The SAG Awards are scheduled to be presented Jan. 25 at the Shrine in Los Angeles, with a planned telecast on TBS and TNT. However, the ceremony is set to take place just two days after SAG announces the results of its strike authorization vote, which could potentially lead to a work stoppage in the film and television business. Last year, the 100-day writers strike disrupted the award season, essentially reducing last January’s Golden Globes to a star-free news conference, as SAG members refused to cross threatened Writers Guild of America pickets of the event.

For a complete list of nominees, go to TheEnvelope.latimes.com.

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susan.king@latimes.com