'The Fighter' & 'The King's Speech' Lead Screen Actors Guild Award Nominees

Following Monday’s farce that was the The Golden Globe nominations, we’re back into the serious territory of real awards that aren’t bought and paid for, with the Screen Actors Guild revealing the nominees for their 17th annual awards ceremony.

Across the board, all the usual films and suspects are here. The films vying for Outstanding Performance By A Cast In A Motion Picture are pretty much five of this year’s Best Picture Oscar nominees. Heading into the individual acting categories, again, the names appearing here are likely to end up on Academy ballots as well, though there are some eyebrow raising nominations. Most notably, Hilary Swank receiving a nod for Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor for “Conviction.” The film was a non-starter and even by Swank standards, the performance was nothing of particular note. Sort of a low rent Erin Brockovich without the push-up bra and sass (or, much less of it). We’re thrilled that John Hawkes got recognized for his turn in “Winter’s Bone” and while Mila Kunis‘ performance in “Black Swan” is strong, we’re not sure how awards-worthy it is, though Hailee Steinfeld from “True Grit” deserves every bit of praise coming to her. She is the picture’s heart and soul.

The nominees here are usually a very strong indication of how the acting award nominees will play out at the Oscars — last year, 19 out of 20 SAG nominees went to the Oscars as well. And this year it looks like the acting camp will be fought between two feel good films “The Fighter” and “The King’s Speech,” with each picture landing four nominations. Check out the full list below. [IndieWire]

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“The King’s Speech”
“The Social Network”

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network”
Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech”
James Franco, “127 Hours”
Jeff Bridges, “True Grit”
Robert Duvall, “Get Low”

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Annette Benning, “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman, “The Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence, “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”
Hilary Swank, “Conviction”

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Christian Bale, “The Fighter”
Mark Ruffalo, “The Kids Are All Right”
John Hawkes, “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner, “The Town”
Geoffrey Rush, “The King’s Speech”

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams, “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter, “The King’s Speech”
Mila Kunis, “Black Swan”
Melissa Leo, “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld, “True Grit”