AFP
Los Angeles (AFP) โ Jane Campionโs gothic Western โThe Power of the Dogโ and campy true-crime drama โHouse of Gucciโ on Wednesday jointly topped the film nominations from Hollywoodโs Screen Actors Guild โ usually a key indicator in the race to the Oscars.
Days after โThe Power of the Dogโ won the Golden Globe for best drama, the filmโs stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Kodi Smith-McPhee each received nods from the actorsโ union, tying the film with Ridley Scottโs โHouse of Gucciโ on three.
But offering hope to its rivals, Campionโs presumed frontrunner failed to land a nomination for best cast โ the top prize at the SAG ceremony on February 27.
โThe Power of the Dog,โ a tale of two feuding brothers in 1920s Montana, first screened at Septemberโs prestigious Venice film festival, where Campion won the best director award.
It has since drawn rave reviews, and was released by Netflix with a limited theatrical run.
SAG overlooked widespread mockery of Jared Letoโs exuberant Italian accent to nominate him for best supporting actor in โHouse of Gucci,โ alongside Lady Gaga and the ensemble cast, which also includes Adam Driver and Al Pacino.
Also nominated for best cast โ the SAG equivalent of the best picture Oscar โ were โBelfast,โ โCODA,โ โDonโt Look Upโ and โKing Richard.โ
But Kenneth Branaghโs โBelfastโ โ which depicts the violence of late-1960s Northern Ireland from a childโs view and had been seen by pundits as a strong awards contender โ landed only one individual nod, for Caitriona Balfe.
Other surprising snubs included Kristen Stewartโs much-touted portrayal of Princess Diana in โSpencer,โ and โWest Side Storyโ Golden Globe-winning star Rachel Zegler.
Voted for by actors, the SAG awards are seen as a strong indicator of Oscars glory, since actors represent the largest branch of the roughly 10,000 Oscar voters in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.ย
The SAG awards will be unveiled in Santa Monica, California exactly one month before the Oscars.
โSuccessionโ and โTed Lassoโ top TV noms
On the television side, SAG handed five nominations apiece to โSuccessionโย andย โTed Lasso.โ
Netflixโs South Korean smash hit โSquid Gameโ became the first non-English-language series nominated by SAG for best cast in a TV drama.
Stars Jung Ho-Yeon and Lee Jung-Jae also earned individual nominations.ย
It comes two years after โParasiteโ โ also from South Korea โ became the first non-English-language winner of SAGโs best cast film prize, a key step on its way to Oscars success.
โYellowstone,โ the hugely popular cable series about a wealthy ranch-owning family in Montana which has been largely overlooked by tastemakers on the US coasts, finally earned its first SAG nomination for best cast.
Starring Kevin Costner, its fourth season finale was watched by more than 11 million people earlier this month โ numbers comparable to โGame of Thronesโ in its heyday.
And Cynthia Erivo was nominated for her portrayal of Aretha Franklin in the limited TV series โGenius: Arethaโ โ on the same day that SAG recognized Jennifer Hudson for playing the Queen of Soul in the film โRespect.โ