LOS ANGELES (AP) — Rainy skies over the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles cleared just as celebrities, including Jesse Eisenberg, Angie Harmon and Bryan Cranston, began arriving on the red carpet for tonight’s Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Colin Firth and Christian Bale are expected to take home major SAG prizes in a ceremony that looks to be a prelude for acting honors at the Academy Awards.
Out of the 20 guild nominees, 17 also earned Oscar nominations, with Firth considered the almost certain best-actor winner at both shows for “The King’s Speech” and Bale the likely supporting-actor recipient for “The Fighter.”
Best-actress and supporting-actress honors are more competitive. Natalie Portman for “Black Swan” and Annette Bening for “The Kids Are All Right” are in a tight race for lead actress, while “The Fighter” co-stars Melissa Leo and Amy Adams both are strong contenders for supporting actress, along with 14-year-old newcomer Hailee Steinfeld for “True Grit.”
Other lead-acting nominees for both the guild honours and the February 27 Oscars include last year’s winner Jeff Bridges for “True Grit”; Nicole Kidman for “Rabbit Hole”; James Franco for “127 Hours”; Jesse Eisenberg for “The Social Network”; and Jennifer Lawrence for “Winter’s Bone.”
Nominated for overall cast performance at the guild awards are “Black Swan,” ”The Fighter,” ”The Kids Are All Right,” ”The King’s Speech” and “The Social Network.” All five were among the 10 best-picture nominees at the Oscars, where “The Social Network” and “The King’s Speech” are considered the front-runners for Hollywood’s biggest prize.
