'12 Years a Slave' tops SAG Awards with 4 nominations

Clark Gregg and SAG Awards Social Media Ambassador/actress Sasha Alexander pose after announcing the nominees for the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Pacific Design Center on Wednesday December 11, 2013 in Los Angeles. (Photo by Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Editor's note: Click here for the full list of nominations

Clark Gregg and SAG Awards Social Media Ambassador /Actress Sasha Alexander announce the nominees for the 20th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES  — Steve McQueen’s historic saga “12 Years a Slave” topped the nominations list for 20th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards today, boosting its Academy Awards prospects with four nominations.

John Wells’ dysfunctional family adaptation “August: Osage County,” which hits theaters Dec. 25 and features an all-star cast including Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, also picked up awards-season momentum with three nominations, including outstanding performance for the cast.

The SAG nominations are one of Hollywood’s first major announcements on the long road to the March 2 Oscars. The Golden Globe nominations will be revealed Thursday morning.

Joining the SAG list for outstanding cast performance are Jean-Marc Vallee’s AIDS drama “Dallas Buyers Club” and the sweeping White House servant tale “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.” Both films topped the list with three nominations each.

Also nominated for cast performance was David O. Russell’s 1970s con-artist romp “American Hustle.” And the film scored an individual supporting nomination for Jennifer Lawrence.

“12 Years a Slave” also attained individual acting nominations, including male lead for Chiwetel Ejiofor as a displaced free African-American man, Michael Fassbender for supporting actor as a ruthless slave owner and Lupita Nyong’o for female support as a favored fieldworker.

“Osage County” had individual nominations for Streep for female lead as the conflicted matriarch in the adaptation of Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play, and Roberts as the domineering daughter for supporting female actor.

Additional best-actress nominees included Cate Blanchett as a fallen socialite in Woody Allen’s “Blue Jasmine,” Sandra Bullock as a brave astronaut in Alfonso Curaon’s lost-in-space odyssey “Gravity,” Judi Dench as a woman in search of her son in “Philomena” and Emma Thompson as author P.L. Travers in the Disney comedy “Saving Mr. Banks.”

June Squibb, as a spitfire in Alexander Payne’s small town comedy “Nebraska” and Oprah Winfrey, as the bold Gloria Gaines in “The Butler,” also received supporting role noms.

“Dallas Buyers Club” also scored nominations for best actor for Matthew McConaughey as a HIV-positive rodeo-lover and Jared Leto for supporting actor as a transgender. Forest Whitaker received the lead actor nomination for his portrayal of a long-time White House butler in “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”

Others bringing in lead actor nominations included Bruce Dern for his portrayal of an aging dreamer in “Nebraska” and Tom Hanks, who plays the title role in Paul Greengrass’ Somali pirate story.

Ron Howard’s Formula One tale “Rush” brought in two nominations, including stunt ensemble.

Noticeably absent from the list was Spike Jonze’s futuristic computer love story “Her,” starring Joaquin Phoenix, and Martin Scorsese’s stockbroker fete “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which features performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill.

Among TV ensemble contenders were HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and “Game of Thrones,” AMC’s “Breaking Bad,” PBS’s “Downton Abbey” and Showtime’s “Homeland” for drama and NBC’s “30 Rock,” Netflix’s “Arrested Development,” CBS’s “The Big Bang Theory,” ABC’s “Modern Family” and HBO’s “Veep” in the comedy category.

The SAG Awards will be presented Jan. 18.

NOMINEES FOR THE 20TH ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS:

MOVIES:

Actor: Bruce Dern, “Nebraska"; Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave"; Tom Hanks, “Captain Phillips"; Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club"; Forest Whitaker, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”

Actress: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine"; Sandra Bullock, “Gravity"; Judi Dench “Philomena"; Meryl Streep, “August: Osage County"; Emma Thompson, “Saving Mr. Banks.”

Supporting actor: Barkhad Abdi, “Captain Phillips"; Daniel Bruhl, “Rush"; Michael Fassbender, “12 Years a Slave"; James Gandolfini, “Enough Said"; Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club.”

Supporting actress: Jennifer Lawrence, “American Hustle"; Lupita Nyong’o, “12 Years a Slave"; Julia Roberts, “August: Osage County"; June Squibb, “Nebraska"; Oprah Winfrey, “Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”

Cast: “12 Years a Slave,” ‘’American Hustle,” ‘’August: Osage County,” ‘’Dallas Buyers Club,” ‘’Lee Daniels’ The Butler.”

Stunt ensemble: “All is Lost,” ‘’Fast & Furious 6,” ‘’Lone Survivor,” ‘’Rush,” ‘’The Wolverine.”

TELEVISION:

Actor in a movie or miniseries: Matt Damon, “Behind the Candelabra’’’; Michael Douglas, “Behind the Candelabra"; Jeremy Irons, “The Hollow Crown"; Rob Lowe, “Killing Kennedy"; Al Pacino, “Phil Spector.”

Actress in a movie or miniseries: Angela Bassett, “Betty & Coretta"; Helena Bonham Carter, “Burton and Taylor"; Holly Hunter, “Top of the Lake"; Helen Mirren, “Phil Spector"; Elisabeth Moss, “Top of the Lake.”

Actor in a drama series: Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire"; Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad"; Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom"; Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones"; Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards.”

Actress in a drama series: Claire Danes, “Homeland"; Anna Gunn, “Breaking Bad"; Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story: Coven"; Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey"; Kerry Washington, “Scandal.”

Actor in a comedy series: Alex Baldwin, “30 Rock"; Jason Bateman, “Arrested Development"; Ty Burrell, “Modern Family"; Don Cheadle, “House of Lies"; Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory.”

Actress in a comedy series: Mayim Bialik, “The Big Bang Theory"; Julie Bowen, “Modern Family"; Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie"; Tina Fey, “30 Rock"; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep.”

Drama series cast: “Boardwalk Empire,” ‘’Breaking Bad,” Downton Abbey,” ‘’Game of Thrones,” ‘’Homeland.”

Comedy series cast: “30 Rock,” ‘’Arrested Development,” ‘’The Big Bang Theory,” ‘’Modern Family,” ‘’Veep.”

Stunt ensemble: “Boardwalk Empire,” ‘’Breaking Bad,” ‘’Game of Thrones,” ‘’Homeland,” The Walking Dead.”

Lifetime Achievement: Rita Moreno.