By John H. Foote
The surprises went both ways, to who was included and who was snubbed when the nominees for the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations were announced this morning.
Emily Blunt was nominated twice, for Best Actress in Mary Poppins Returns and Supporting Actress in A Quiet Place. Denzel’s son John David Washington was a surprise nominee for Best Actor in BlacKkKlansman.
But incredibly no Ethan Hawke in First Reformed, and most astounding, no Regina King from If Beale Street Could Talk! The cast of First Man was also snubbed.
Wow.
The nominees for Best Actor, joining Washington are Christian Bale in Vice, Viggo Mortensen in Green Book, Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody and Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born.
Joining Blunt for Best Actress are Glenn Close in The Wife, Olivia Colman in The Favourite, Lady Gaga in A Star is Born, and Melissa McCarthy in Can You Ever Forgive Me?
For Best Supporting Actor we have Sam Elliott in A Star is Born, Adam Driver in BlacKkKlansman, Timothee Chalametin Beautiful Boy, Richard E. Grant in Can You Ever Forgive Me? and Mahershala Ali in Green Book.
With Blunt for Supporting
The Ensemble nominees, SAG’s version of Best Picture are A Star is Born, Black Panther, BlacKkKlansman, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Crazy Rich Asians.
That is good news for Black Panther, upping its Oscar chances. Nicole Kidman in Destroyer was robbed, and it seems strange that Green Book and The Favourite were snubbed for Best Ensemble.
These awards are the best indicators for the Academy’s acting nominations.

John H. Foote is a well-recognized Canadian film critic/historian who has been an active critic for 30 years. His deep love for the movies began at a very young age. He began his career as co-host of the popular TV show Reel to Real where he remained for nine years. While on TV he began dabbling in education, eventually ascending to Director of the Toronto Film School, where he also taught film history. After leaving the college to care for his wife, he returned to teaching at Humber College where he taught both Film History and Method Acting Theory. John has written two books: “Clint Eastwood – Evolution of a Filmmaker” and the upcoming “Spielberg – American Film Visionary”. He is currently working on two books, one about the films of the seventies and another on the films of Martin Scorsese. Through his career he has worked in TV, radio, print and the web. John has interviewed everyone in the industry (more than 300 interviews) except Jack Nicholson, he says sadly. Highlights include Martin Scorsese, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep Robert Duvall, Jane Fonda, Francis Ford Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow.