Will Smith boosts Oscar hopes with Screen Actors Guild nomination

14th Jan 2022 | Source: BBC

Smith has been nominated for two Oscars in the past, but has never won

Will Smith has boosted his hopes of winning his first Oscar after being nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award, one of Hollywood's top prizes.

His nomination for playing Venus and Serena Williams' father in King Richard comes days after he won the best drama actor prize at the Golden Globes.

But there was less good news for Kristen Stewart, who was surprisingly snubbed by the Screen Actors Guild.

She has been widely tipped for an Oscar for playing Princess Diana in Spencer.

Scroll down for the full list of SAG nominations.

But in a crowded best actress field, the US star's performance as the Princess of Wales was overlooked by SAG in Hollywood's dedicated acting awards.

Rachel Zegler's leading role in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story remake was also omitted from the SAG nominations, despite critical acclaim and a Golden Globe victory at the weekend.

Bradley Cooper is nominated for despite his small amount of screen time in Licorice Pizza

The SAG Awards, which are voted for by other actors, are seen as one of the key Oscars precursors.

They aren't as high-profile as the Oscars, Baftas or Golden Globe Awards, but their winners - to be announced on 27 February - often match up with those chosen by the Academy.

Since the guild's annual ceremony began in 1994, 105 out of 108 Oscar winners for acting have also scored a SAG nomination - meaning Stewart and Zegler's exclusions from Wednesday's shortlists will be seen as a blow to their chances of getting their hands on an Oscar statuette in March.

Several other awards season contenders have also missed out on a SAG nomination, including Peter Dinklage for Cyrano, Alana Haim for Licorice Pizza, Frances McDormand for The Tragedy of Macbeth and Ciarán Hinds for Belfast.

Jennifer Hudson scored a surprise nomination for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in Respect

Benedict Cumberbatch's Western drama The Power of the Dog and Lady Gaga's House of Gucci lead the film nominations overall, with three each.

Two different actresses are nominated for playing Aretha Franklin in separate projects - Jennifer Hudson for the film Respect and Cynthia Erivo for TV mini-series Genius: Aretha.

Bradley Cooper is nominated in the best supporting actor category for Licorice Pizza, despite playing a relatively small role in the film.

The film to have received perhaps the most significant boost from SAG is Apple TV's Coda, about the hearing daughter of deaf parents who wants to become a singer.

Considered an outsider early in awards season, its two nominations from SAG will significantly increase its chances of showing up in the Oscar nominations next month.

Ted Lasso stars Brett Goldstein and Hannah Waddingham follow their recent Emmy wins with SAG nominations

British SAG nominees include Cumberbatch for The Power of the Dog, Andrew Garfield for Tick Tick... Boom! and Olivia Colman for The Lost Daughter.

Brits in the TV categories include Erivo, Kate Winslet (Mare of Easttown), Brian Cox (Succession) and Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple and Brett Goldstein (all for Ted Lasso).

The Bafta Awards longlists were also published on Wednesday. Don't Look Up and West Side Story each earned 15 mentions, while Belfast and The Power of the Dog each scored 14.

Those longlists will now be whittled down to the Bafta nominations, which will be announced on 3 February.