SAG 2015: And the Winners are...

Another Sunday in January and another award show. Kidding aside, however, a SAG Award holds special prestige for its winner as it comes from the peers of every nominated member. As the general voice of actors (or their union) in Hollywood, the Screen Actors Guild is usually a better barometer than the Golden Globe or BAFTA for how the Academy will vote in acting categories, in no small part due to the ranks of actors that comprise Oscar’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

And judging from this winner list, Birdman is increasingly the biggest competitor for Boyhood in the Best Picture race, albeit ironically, not enough so to cement Michael Keaton as the frontrunner in his category of Best Actor. After all, tonight the SAG Award went to Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything. However, I’d suggest that just as Birdman winning ensemble is not a nail in Boyhood’s coffin, neither is Redmayne’s victory. The SAG voting body tends to go to the most showy ensemble and performance, whereas the Academy will have more non-actors that can split the difference for the more prevailing winds. In other words, while SAG is great for calling Colin Firth to win Best Actor for The King’s Speech in 2011 at the Oscar, it did not change that same movie’s momentum for winning Best Picture when SAG gave the ensemble prize to David O. Russell’s more actor-friendly The Fighter.

In any event, here are the nominees and winners of the 2015 vintage of the SAG Awards.

Best Ensemble:

Birdman

Boyhood

The Grand Budapest Hotel

The Imitation Game

The Theory of Everything

Best Female Actor in a Leading Role

Jennifer Aniston – Cake

Felicity Jones – The Theory of Everything

Julianne Moore – Still Alice

Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Male Actor in a Leading Role

Steve Carell – Foxcatcher

Benedict Cumberbatch – The Imitation Game

Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler

Michael Keaton – Birdman

Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

Best TV Drama Ensemble

Boardwalk Empire

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

Homeland

House of Cards

Best Female Actor in a Drama Series

Claire Danes – Homeland

Viola Davis – How to Get Away with Murder

Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife

Tatiana Maslany – Orphan Black

Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey

Robin Wright – House of Cards

Best Male Actor in a Drama Series

Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire

Peter Dinklage – Game of Thrones

Woody Harrelson – True Detective

Matthew McConaughey – True Detective

Kevin Spacey – House of Cards

Best Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries

Ellen Burstyn – Flowers in the Attic

Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Honorable Woman

Frances McDormand – Olive Kitteridge

Julia Roberts – The Normal Heart

Cicely Tyson – The Trip to Bountiful

Best Male Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries

Adrien Brody – Houdini

Benedict Cumberbatch – Sherlock: His Last Vow

Richard Jenkins – Olive Kitteridge

Mark Ruffalo – The Normal Heart

Billy Bob Thornton – Fargo

Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Robert Duvall – The Judge

Ethan Hawke – Boyhood

Edward Norton – Birdman

Mark Ruffalo – Foxcatcher

J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

Keira Knightley – The Imitation Game

Emma Stone – Birdman

Meryl Streep – Into the Woods

Naomi Watts – St. Vincent

Best Ensemble Comedy Series Cast

The Big Bang Theory

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Modern Family

Orange is the New Black

Veep

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Ty Burrell – Modern Family

Louis C.K. – Louie

William H. Macy – Shameless

Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory

Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Uzo Aduba – Orange is the New Black

Julie Bowen – Modern Family

Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie

Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep

Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation