The SAG Awards were founded in 1995 and are a film and TV awards ceremony unlike the Oscars. Simply put, the SAG Awards celebrate actors and their performances. Each year the SAG nominating committee, comprised of their own union members, choose the most noteworthy performances of the year to complete their nomination choices.The SAG Awards are actors honoring actors, and although great films and acting go hand-in-hand it is acting that is the focus of this particular awards show.
The SAG awards offers just five selections per category which is less than the Oscars. With less choices voting members are able to zero in on noted performances, yet some fans believe other worthy performances are often left off the list. For instance this year there were no nominations for the films Selma, Unbroken and American Sniper, which received high praise at other award ceremonies. However there is usually always one surprise nomination overlooked by the academy that SAG considers. This year that’s Jennifer Aniston for her performance in Cake. Aniston’s nomination was a complete shock and the talk of this award season. Chosen despite the lack of nominations at other award shows Aniston is expected to be a top contender for Outstanding Performance By A Female Actor in a leading role. It’s no wonder considering the amount of SAG-AFTRA members that work in Television, and Aniston’s history with the hit show Friends. Aniston is even expected to rival Julianne Moore, a huge contender for lead actress at the Oscars.
In addition, unlike other award shows SAG honors the best performance of an entire cast in a film. An acting ensemble award recognizes how actors interact as a group, as some films don’t have just one stand out role. This year nominations include Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game and the Theory of Everything. The cast of these films were so unified they contributed to the success of the film as a whole. It will definitely be exciting to see which cast takes the award this Sunday.
The SAG Awards are considered a precursor for the Oscars that air in February. Last year all four best actor performance winners, McConaughey, Blanchett, Leto and Nyongo’o won the same exact awards at the Oscars.
If none of these reasons make you consider watching the SAG Awards perhaps the star-studded presenter list will. Tune in for presenters that include Laverne Cox, Benedict Cumberbatch and Viola Davis. Joining them are Adrien Brody, Bryan Cranston, Erica Dane, Felicity Jones, Lenny Kravitz, Eddie Redmayne, Tony Revolori, J.K. Simmons, Matthew McConaughey, Matt McGorry, Edward Norton, Julia Roberts, Emma Stone, Michael Keaton, Rashida Jones, Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, and Ethan Hawke.
Check out a full list of the nominees here:
http://www.sagawards.org/media-pr/press-releases/nominees-announced-21st-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards%C2%AE