Squid Game became the first ever non-English language television series to receive a nod at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, when the nominations for 2020 were announced on Wednesday.
Also the first Korean show to be nominated for SAG awards, it received nods in four categories – ensemble in a drama series, stunt ensemble, and lead female and male performances in a drama series (for Jung Ho-Yeon and Lee Jung-Jae, respectively).
The biggest Netflix show was tied in total nominations with Mare of Easttown and The Morning Show, both of which also received four nods each.
However, the shows with the most nominations were Succession and Ted Lasso, with five each. The former – HBO’s series on a media mogul and his family – saw three of its actors make it to the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series shortlist while Sarah Snook got a nod in the corresponding female category as did the show’s ensemble. Ted Lasso, on the other hand, received individual recognitions for four of its actors in the comedy series category as well as a nomination for its ensemble.
In the motion picture categories, House of Gucci and Netflix‘s The Power of the Dog topped the nominations with three nods each.
Actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Kodi Smit-McPhee are all nominated for Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog – Cumberbatch as the lead actor and the other two for their supporting roles.
Speaking to Variety, Cumberbatch said, “I wish that Jesse [Plemons] was acknowledged as well. He’s such an exceptional actor. The film, it’s a quartet.”
Lady Gaga and Jared Leto, who essayed the roles of Patrizia Gucci and Paolo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s screen adaptation of Sara Gay Forden’s 2001 book The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, have been nominated in the leading female actor and supporting male actor categories, respectively.
The motion picture leading male actor nominations also include Golden Globe-winning actor Will Smith for his role in King Richard and Andrew Garfield for his performance in Tick, Tick, Boom!
Garfield’s co-star in the film, Vanessa Hudgens, had announced the SAG nominations along with Rosario Dawson, via an Instagram live event.
Post the announcements, multiple individuals as well as studios acknowledged the nominations. It is notable that the Golden Globes received no such acknowledgement this year.
Ted Sarandos, who heads Netflix, shared the SAG nominations of Maid, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick, Boom!, and Squid Game on his Instagram stories, but skipped mentioning Campion’s win at Golden Globes last week. Likewise, Amazon Studios acknowledged the nominations of actors Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem for Being the Ricardos, while it did not do so when Kidman won a Golden Globe for the same film.
As a notable precursor to the Academy Awards, the 28th annual SAG award nominations were conspicuously missing a few Oscars frontrunners.
Among the notable overlooked performances was Kristen Stewart’s celebrated turn as Princess Diana in Spencer. And while Rachel Zegler and Ariana DeBose both won the Golden Globes for their performances in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, only Debose received a SAG nod.
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Mj Rodriguez, who became the first ever trans woman to win a Golden Globe for her performance in Pose, and is an Emmy nominee as well, was also left out by SAG, as was her co-star Billy Ray Porter.
Similarly, the stars of Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast were ignored with the exception of Caitriona Balfe, who is nominated in the supporting actor category.
Also, while Marvel‘s Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings are nominated in the best stunt ensemble category, Spider-Man: No Way Home did not feature in it.
The 28th edition of the SAG Awards is scheduled to be held on February 28.