SAG nominations: 'Birdman,' starring Michael Keaton, a front-runner
Michael Keaton portrays Riggan in a scene from "Birdman." Credit: AP / Atsushi Nishijima
"Birdman" earned four nominations from the Screen Actors Guild Wednesday morning, including best actor for Michael Keaton and best ensemble cast.
The film, about a Hollywood actor trying to make a comeback on Broadway, is now the front runner in the SAG Awards, which will be handed out Jan. 25.
Three films earned three nominations each: "Boyhood," also nominated for best cast; "The Theory of Everything," starring best actor nominee Eddie Redmayne as the physicist Stephen Hawking and best actress nominee Felicity Jones as his wife; and "The Imitation Game," another biopic, which picked up nods for Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightley.
Two unlikely actors seemed to boost their Oscar chances with SAG nominations. Steve Carell, who plays a creepy millionaire in "Foxcatcher," and Jennifer Aniston, star of the little seen drama "Cake," earned nods in the best actor and actress categories. The SAG awards are voted on by actors, who also make up the largest voting block at the Oscars.
Wes Anderson’s "The Grand Budapest Hotel" was nominated for one award, best cast. "Nightcrawler," a dark media satire, earned a best actor nod for Jake Gyllenhaal. Rounding out the best actress category are Julianne Moore as an Alzheimer's victim in "Still Alice" and Rosamund Pike as a vanished wife in "Gone Girl."
