ShareThisIf you're searching for clues on who to pick in your Oscar pool, check out the 15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, simulcast at 8 p.m. EST Sunday on TNT and TBS.
The SAG Awards have often served as a bellwether for the acting categories at the Academy Awards. Last year, two SAG Award winners -- Daniel Day Lewis, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for "There Will Be Blood"; and Javier Bardem, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for "No Country For Old Men" -- went on to win Oscars.
And although the Screen Actors Guild doesn't give out an award for Best Picture, it does honor the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Last year's winner was the cast for "No Country For Old Men," which went on to win the Best Picture Oscar.
Not in an Oscar pool? No worries. Like the Golden Globe Awards, the SAG Awards also honor television acting.
Among the celebrities expected to present awards are TV personalities: Christina Applegate, Angela Bassett, Jon Hamm, John Krasinski, Eric McCormack and Kyra Sedgwick.
In addition, esteemed actor James Earl Jones will receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, honoring his acting career and humanitarian accomplishments.
Several stars could be busy Sunday night, especially Taraji P. Henson, who could win awards for her TV and film work. She is nominated for her supporting role and for her work in the cast of the film "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," as well as being part of the cast in the TV drama, "Boston Legal."
Six film stars, including Henson, are nominated both for their supporting roles and for their work in a cast: Josh Brolin in "Milk," Dev Patel in "Slumdog Millionaire" and Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Viola Davis in "Doubt."
Four movie actors -- Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon," Sean Penn in "Milk," Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and Meryl Streep in "Doubt" -- are nominated for their lead roles and for their work in the casts in their films.
Kate Winslet, who won a SAG Award in 1996 for her supporting role in "Sense and Sensibility," is the only nominee who could win two individual awards: one for her lead role in the film "Revolutionary Road," and one for her supporting role in "The Reader."
"The Office" is looking to become the first television show in SAG Awards history to win three straight awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. It will compete against two-time winner "Desperate Housewives" (2005-2006), "30 Rock," "Entourage" and "Weeds."
"24," last year's winner for Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series, isn't eligible for an award this year because its 2008 season was scrapped due to the writers' strike. The shows vying for the honor this year are "Boston Legal," "The Closer," "Dexter," "House" and "Mad Men."
(E-mail David Nielsen at nielsend(at)shns.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
