‘Beasts of No Nation’ Nabs a Best Ensemble Nomination as Netflix Crashes the SAG Awards

Wednesday morning’s Screen Actors Guild nominations had the highest percentage of “WHAT?!” reactions from awards junkies in at least a decade, and maybe ever. After a week’s worth of critics awards championing films like Carol, The Martian, and Mad Max: Fury Road, the SAG nominating committee threw all the curveballs, giving Best Ensemble nominations to five other films entirely: Beasts of No Nation, The Big Short, Spotlight, Straight Outta Compton, and Trumbo. 

The nomination for Beasts of No Nation is Netflix making its first mark in the movie awards game. That film’s star Idris Elba also got a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. The SAG ensemble nominations have historically been a bellwether for the Academy Awards’ Best Picture category, particularly in recent years. Twenty-five of the last thirty films to have been SAG nominated for Best Ensemble have gone on to Best Picture nominations. If that’s still the case, Netflix and Beasts of No Nation could really have something to brag about in a month’s time.

In the TV categories, Netflix also picked up their fair share of nominations. House of Cards got a Best Ensemble in a Drama nomination, plus individual nominations for Robin Wright and Kevin Spacey. Orange Is the New Black saw its ensemble nominated in the Best Comedy category, continuing that show’s all-over-the-map categorization at awards shows (they were a comedy at the Emmys two years ago before being deemed a drama at the Emmys last year). Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) and Uzo Aduba (Orange Is the New Black) also received individual nominations.

Also in streaming news, Transparent and Jeffrey Tambor also got nominations in the comedy categories, and Bill Murray got a nomination in Best Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for Netflix’s A Very Murray Christmas.

But the real surprises were saved for the movie awards. The thus-far overlooked Trumbo nabbed three nominations, for Best Ensemble and for stars Bryan Cranston and Helen Mirren, making it the most nominated film of the morning. Spotlight, which got the Ensemble nomination it expected, got a nomination for Rachel McAdams but none in Best Supporting Actor, where they had multiple actors in contention (and who may have cancelled out each other’s votes). Rooney Mara (Carol) and Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) were both nominated in Best Supporting Actress, despite many awards types claiming that they’re actually in lead roles. The Golden Globes, for example, are considering both as leads for purposes of their nominations (which will be announced tomorrow).

The full slate of nominees:

Best Ensemble – Film

Beasts of No Nation
The Big Short
Spotlight
Straight Outta Compton
Trumbo

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Johnny Depp, Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Helen Mirren, The Woman in Gold
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Sarah Silverman, I Smile Back

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale, The Big Short
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Jacob Tremblay, Room

Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Rooney Mara, Carol
Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

TELEVISION:

Best Drama Ensemble
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Mad Men

Best Actor in a Drama
Peter Dinklage, House of Cards
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards

Best Actress in a Drama
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Best Comedy Ensemble
The Big Bang Theory
Key & Peele
Modern Family
Orange Is the New Black
Transparent
Veep

Best Actor in a Comedy
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Louis CK, Louie
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Best Actress in a Comedy
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Ellie Kemper, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation