SCREEN ACTOR NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED
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Written By: John. H. Foote
The nominations for the 11th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced early Tuesday morning, making it clear this is the year of Jamie Foxx.
  
The actor earned four nominations in all, including best actor in a motion picture for Ray, best supporting actor in a motion picture for Collateral, and best actor in a television film for Redemption. His fourth nomination came as part of the Ray ensemble. Foxx is the odds on favourite to win the award for Ray, and is a likely Academy Award winner as well for his astonishing performance.
  
The nominations for best actor in a feature film are Foxx in Ray, Johnny Depp in Finding Neverland, Don Cheadle in Hotel Rwanda, Leonardo di Caprio in The Aviator, and Paul Giamatti in Sideways.
  
For best actress we have Annette Bening in Being Julia, Catalina Sandino Moreno in Maria Full of Grace, Imelda Staunton in Vera Drake, Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
  
Nominated for best supporting actor are Foxx for Collateral, Morgan Freeman in Million Dollar Baby, Thomas Haden Church in Sideways, Freddie Highmore in Finding Neverland and James Garner, this year’s sentimental choice for The Notebook.
  
For best supporting actress are Cate Blanchett in The Aviator, Virginia Madsen in Sideways, Cloris Leachman in Spanglish, Laura Linney in Kinsey and Sophie Okonedo in Hotel Rwanda. Overlooked for best supporting actress were Natalie Portman in Closer and Meryl Streep in The Manchurian Candidate, both considered likely nominees.
  
Films that earned nods for their ensemble work are The Aviator, Sideways, Million Dollar Baby, Finding Neverland and Hotel Rwanda.

   In television, several major film actors have been nominated for their performances on the small screen.
 
Hilary Swank was nominated for best actress in a made for TV film in Iron Jawed Angels, joining Foxx as a double nominee. Last year’s Screen Actors Guild best actress Charlize Theron was nominated along with Geoffrey Rush for their performances in the HBO film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, while Glenn Close earned a nod for her work in The Lion in Winter.
  
With the announcement of these nominations, Oscar chances for several of these actors have increased dramatically. Considered a possibility at one point, Freddie Highmore and James Garner are now likely Oscar nominees for best supporting actor. The same is true for Sophie Okonedo for Hotel Rwanda and Cloris Leachman for Spanglish, both considered long shots for an Oscar nod…until today.










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