SAG Award nominations are coming
Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis from “Black Swan,” Jesse Eisenberg from “The Social Network,” Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo from “The Kids Are All Right,” Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale from “The Fighter” and James Franco from “127 Hours” are among the contenders when the 17th annual Screen Actors Guild Award nominations are announced early Thursday morning.
On the television front, the projected front-runners are Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss from “ Mad Men,” Michael C. Hall from “Dexter,” Jim Parsons from “The Big Bang Theory” and Edie Falco from “Nurse Jackie.”
Of course, that still leaves plenty of room for some surprises, and validation. One thing to watch: The Golden Globes snubbed Joel and Ethan Coen’s remake of “True Grit” this week, so will they get a taste at redemption come Thursday when their fellow actors have their say about the best performances of the year?
The guild award has become one of the movie season’s major bellwethers for the Academy Awards. Last year, both the academy and SAG agreed on all four feature acting winners, including lead male actor for Jeff Bridges for “Crazy Heart,” lead female actor for Sandra Bullock for “The Blind Side,” supporting male actor for Christoph Waltz for “Inglourious Basterds” and supporting female actor for Mo’Nique for “Precious.” The two bodies disagreed, however, on the big one. The outstanding ensemble award, which is SAG’s equivalent to the academy’s best picture, went to “Basterds” while the Oscars chose “ The Hurt Locker.”
As previously announced, Ernest Borgnine will receive the Life Achievement Award when the SAGs are handed out Jan. 30 at the Shrine Exposition Hall during a two-hour telecast on TNT and TBS.
susan.king@latimes.com
