Dreamgirls, Sunshine among SAG Award nominees

(Reuters)
Updated: 2007-01-05 14:16

LOS ANGELES - A trio of movies -- musical "Dreamgirls," comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" and drama "Babel" -- led a wide range of Screen Actors Guild award nominees on Thursday with three nominations apiece including the top honor, best ensemble acting.

The three were joined in the category by the actors of crime thriller "The Departed" and surprise nominee, "Bobby," and each film earned a boost in this year's Oscar race by making the SAG list, industry experts said.

"I've been doing this 25 years and haven't been nominated for anything," said "Bobby" actor and director Emilio Estevez. "This is cool ... especially given the fact I wasn't expecting anything. It didn't blow off the doors box office-wise and critically, it was mixed. Now this. It's really overwhelming."

The Screen Actors Guild, or SAG, represents film and television actors, and many of its members also belong to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which gives out Hollywood's top film honors, the Oscars.

As a result, SAG awards are often a key indicator of films and actors vying for Academy Awards. Last year, the actors in "Crash" won SAG's top honor, and the film went on to win the Oscar for best movie.

"I think the news out of (SAG) is the support for 'Babel' is consistently strong, where we all had thought 'Dreamgirls,' 'Departed' and 'Sunshine' were solid contenders for Oscar," said Tom O'Neil, columnist for Web site The Envelope.com.

"Bobby" is a still a long shot, but its SAG nomination coupled with a recent nod for a Golden Globe award for best film drama moves it up in the race, experts said.

WIDE-RANGING NOMINEES

This year's SAG list also highlighted a wide mix of films from different genres and filmmaking styles.

"Dreamgirls," for instance, is a major studio movie with top stars such as Jamie Foxx and singer Beyonce Knowles. "Little Miss Sunshine" is a low-budget comedy made outside Hollywood's studios, and "Babel" is a searing drama exploring cultural gaps among people around the world.

The SAG nominees for best movie actor were led by Forest Whitaker playing former dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland," and Britain's Peter O'Toole, as an elderly actor smitten with a young woman in "Venus."

The pair were joined by Will Smith as a father overcoming huge odds to better his life in "The Pursuit of Happyness," Leonardo DiCaprio as a diamond smuggler in "Blood Diamond" and Ryan Gosling as a drug using school teacher in "Half Nelson."

DiCaprio scored a second nomination for best supporting actor playing an undercover cop in "The Departed." He is joined by Alan Arkin for "Little Miss Sunshine," Eddie Murphy for "Dreamgirls," Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond" and Jackie Earle Haley in adult drama "Little Children."

Best actress nominees were Helen Mirren as Britain's Queen Elizabeth in "The Queen," Judi Dench playing a school teacher in "Notes on a Scandal" and Kate Winslet as a woman involved in an extramarital affair in "Little Children."

Rounding out the competitors were Penelope Cruz as a woman hiding her husband's murder in "Volver" and Meryl Streep as a wicked fashion magazine editor in "The Devil Wears Prada."

Nominations for best supporting actress went to Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi, both in "Babel," Jennifer Hudson for "Dreamgirls," Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal" and 10-year-old Abigail Breslin for "Little Miss Sunshine."

Unlike the Oscars, SAG gives out awards for television, and among the nominees for best cast in a drama was "The Sopranos." Joining it were the casts of hospital drama "Grey's Anatomy," thriller "24," western "Deadwood" and "Boston Legal."

Nominees for best ensemble acting in a TV comedy were in "Desperate Housewives," "The Office," "Entourage," "Weeds" and "Ugly Betty."

SAG award winners will be named on January 28 in a ceremony in Los Angeles. The Academy Awards are handed out on February 25.