The late Chadwick Boseman has earned double Screen Actors Guild awards nominations, boosting hopes of posthumous Oscars glory for the trailblazing Black Panther" star.
Hollywood's acting union nominated Boseman for his lead role as an ambitious young horn player in 1920s blues drama Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and his supporting role as a Vietnam War soldier in Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods.
Both films also scored nominations for best cast - the top prize at the SAG ceremony, which like much of the Tinseltown awards calendar has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Although less high-profile than the Golden Globes nominations on Wednesday, the SAG awards are seen as a stronger 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.
Only two actors have ever posthumously won Oscars - Peter Finch for 1976's Network, and Heath Ledger for 2008's The Dark Knight.
Boseman died at age 43 in August last year from colon cancer, a diagnosis he never publicly discussed.
Boseman's co-star Viola Davis also earned a lead actress nod for Ma Rainey, putting it in a tie atop the SAG film acting nominations with Korean-American drama Minari.
Minari, which follows an immigrant family who move to 1980s rural Arkansas to scrape together a new life, is hoping to emulate Parasite, which won last year's SAG best cast prize before ultimately being named the Oscars best picture.
Rounding out the prestigious best cast category were a pair of 1960s-set civil rights movies: One Night in Miami and courtroom drama The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Netflix again dominated the film nominations with 13, while rival streamer Amazon followed with four.
Former US president Donald Trump threatened to overshadow the morning's announcement with an angry letter resigning from the Hollywood union, which had recently launched disciplinary action against him.
In the letter published on Thursday, the former star of reality TV show The Apprentice dismissed SAG's threat to expel him with the words: "Who cares!"
Trump sent this letter to SAG-AFTRA to submit his resignation from the union representing Radio, TV and movie personalities. He mentions his film work in such movies as Home Alone 2 and Zoolander. pic.twitter.com/EdxaZipxqg
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) February 4, 2021
"I no longer wish to be associated with your union... You have done nothing for me," wrote Trump, whose screen credits include Home Alone 2 and Zoolander.
SAG-AFTRA offered a succinct reply: "Thank you."
The union had voted last month to find "probable cause of a violation" by Trump in connection with the mob attack on the US Capitol on January 6th.
It instructed a committee to investigate those events and Trump's mistreatment of broadcast journalists, whom the 160,000-member union also represents.
On the television side, The Crown and Schitt's Creek followed a strong showing at the Globes by topping the SAG nominations with five apiece.
The SAGs nominated several TV shows overlooked by the Globes, including Netflix mega-hit Bridgerton and acclaimed British drama I May Destroy You.
The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were twice postponed, first by the pandemic and later by a clash with music's Grammys. They will now take place on April 4, followed by the Oscars on April 25.
Here are the nominees in full:
Cast in a motion picture
- Da 5 Bloods
- Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
- Minari
- One Night In Miami
- The Trial Of The Chicago 7
Male actor in a leading role
- Riz Ahmed (Sound Of Metal)
- Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)
- Sir Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
- Gary Oldman (Mank)
- Steven Yeun (Minari)
Female actor in a leading role
- Amy Adams (Hillbilly Elegy)
- Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom)
- Vanessa Kirby (Pieces Of A Woman)
- Frances McDormand (Nomadland)
- Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)
Male actor in a supporting role
- Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial Of The Chicago 7)
- Chadwick Boseman (Da 5 Bloods)
- Daniel Kaluuya (Judas And The Black Messiah)
- Jared Leto (The Little Things)
- Leslie Odom Jr (One Night In Miami)
Female actor in a supporting role
- Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)
- Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)
- Olivia Colman (The Father)
- Yug-Jung Youn (Minari)
- Helena Zengel (News Of The World)
Stunt ensemble in a motion picture
- Da 5 Bloods
- Mulan
- News Of The World
- The Trial Of The Chicago 7
- Wonder Woman 1984
Stunt ensemble in a comedy or drama series
- The Boys
- Cobra Kai
- Lovecraft Country
- The Mandalorian
- Westworld
Ensemble in a drama series
- Better Call Saul
- Bridgerton
- The Crown
- Lovecraft Country
- Ozark
Ensemble in a comedy series
- Dead To Me
- The Flight Attendant
- The Great
- Schitt's Creek
- Ted Lasso
Male actor in a drama series
- Jason Bateman (Ozark)
- Sterling K Brown (This Is Us)
- Josh O'Connor (The Crown)
- Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
- Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton)
Female actor in a drama series
- Gillian Anderson (The Crown)
- Olivia Colman (The Crown)
- Emma Corrin (The Crown)
- Julia Garner (Ozark)
- Laura Linney (Ozark)
Male actor in a comedy series
- Nicholas Hoult (The Great)
- Dan Levy (Schitt's Creek)
- Eugene Levy (Schitt's Creek)
- Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso)
- Ramy Youssef (Ramy)
Female actor in a comedy series
- Christina Applegate (Dead To Me)
- Linda Cardellini (Dead To Me)
- Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant)
- Annie Murphy (Schitt's Creek)
- Catherine O'Hara (Schitt's Creek)
Male actor in a television movie or miniseries
- Bill Camp (The Queen's Gambit)
- Daveed Diggs (Hamilton)
- Hugh Grant (The Undoing)
- Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird)
- Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much Is True)
Female actor in a television movie or miniseries
- Cate Blanchett (Mrs America)
- Michaela Coel (I May Destroy You)
- Nicole Kidman (The Undoing)
- Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen's Gambit)
- Kerry Washington (Little Fires Everywhere)
