The nominations for the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced today and are set stream live with Kristen Bell as host on Netflix Sunday, February 23 at 8 pm ET / 5 pm PT at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall.
Jon M. Chu‘s movie musical juggernaut Wicked leading the pack and holding space on the motion picture side with five nominations. Awards season frontrunners Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande received noms in the Female Actor in a Leading Role and Supporting Role, respectively. Jonathan Bailey also nabbed a nomination for Male Actor in a Supporting Role. Bailey was also nominated for Bridgerton on the TV side for Outstanding Ensemble. The pic also earned a nomination for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.
In an interview with GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos, Bailey talked about Fiyero’s queerness and how the himbo heartthrob is not just into the ladies at Shiz University. He just loves attention. “I think he also appreciates giving the attention too,” said Bailey. “I think he’s someone who is so tired really of the world that he lives in and I think labels for him would be infuriating.”
Erivo and Grande also spoke about strong LGBTQ energy in the film. “Oz is a very queer place,” Grande told Ramos. She continues, “It has always been, even from the L. Frank Baum books. It’s always been queer.”
Erivo addressed LGBTQ fans around the world that, “You deserve all the good things, that your difference is what makes you special, that your queerness is beautiful, that I love you.”
“Elphaba is just like you and she understands what it feels like to be alone and to feel different, but that doesn’t make you any less special than you were born to be.”
With the film’s LGBTQ representation and beyond, Chu wanted to make Wicked as inclusive as possible. “I always feel like fantasy films are sort of the standard of what a story is supposed to be like in a way,” the director told Ramos. “They’re timeless and they live forever and Wizard of Oz is an American story. So, the idea of re-representing what a fantasy world should look like was very important to me.”
“We didn’t want to make it a giant story issue. We wanted to normalize what the world looks like. And when you have great actors, when you have a great story, it makes it very easy.”
The Wicked cast, which also includes Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Peter Dinklage, and Ethan Slater for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Also nominated in the category is Conclave. The winner of this category has been known to be a good predictor of Best Picture at Academy Awards. Oppenheimer (2024) and Everything Everywhere All At Once (2023) won the coveted trophy and went on to win at the Oscars.
Other noteworthy feature nominees are Daniel Craig in Queer and Colman Domingo in Sing Sing for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.
On the TV side, Shōgun was the leader of the pack with five nominations. Baby Reindeer‘s Richard Gadd and Jessica Gunning received nominations while Andrew Scott earned a nod for Ripley. In addition, Lily Gladstone earned a nomination for Under The Bridge and Jodie Foster earned one for True Detective: Night Country.
Jean Smart‘s role in Hacks landed a nom for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series as did Ayo Edebiri for The Bear. The two series were also nominated for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series along with Abbott Elementary.
View the complete list of nominees here.