Into The Wild Scores Four SAG Nominations

Actor-turned-director SEAN PENN’s INTO THE WILD leads the Screen Actors Guild
(SAG) Awards with four nominations.

The drama – which is based on the book of the same name by Jon Krakauer, about the life of tragic adventurer Chris McCandless – was nominated in the Best Actor category for leading man Emile Hirsch’s performance, while supporting stars Hal Holbrook and Catherine Keener have also received nods.

Into the Wild is also named in the Best Ensemble Cast category. Penn’s movie will compete against Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, Ethan and Joel Coen’s No Country for Old Men, James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma, and Adam Shankman’s musical, Hairspray, for the award.

In the Best Actor group, Hirsh will be going up against George Clooney for his role in Michael Clayton; Ryan Gosling for Lars and the Real Girl; Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood, and Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises.

The leading females battling it out for the Best Actress gong are Angelina Jolie (for A Mighty Heart); Julie Christie (for Away From Her); Ellen Page (for Juno); Marion Cotillard (in La Vie En Rose), and Cate Blanchett (for Elizabeth: The Golden Age).

Australian star Blanchett has also been recognized in the nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her turn as Bob Dylan in the biopic I’m Not There – mirroring the nods she received last week (13Dec07) for the Golden Globes.

Meanwhile, Into The Wild’s Holbrook is joined by Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones in the Best Supporting Actor category for their performances in No Country for Old Men.

In the TV category, The Sopranos earned notable mentions for James Gandolfini as Best Actor and Edie Falco as Best Actress, while the hit mob show was also recognised in the Best Ensemble Cast category.

Other nominees for Best Ensemble include Grey’s Anatomy, The Closer, Boston Legal and Mad Men.

Heading up the TV comedy category are Desperate Housewives, Ugly Betty, 30 Rock, Entourage and The Office.

The nominations for the SAG Awards were announced by Jeanne Tripplehorn and Terrence Howard in Los Angeles at dawn on Thursday morning (20Dec07).

The SAG Awards are one of the key indicators of glory at the forthcoming Golden Globes and Oscars, with many SAG winners going on to triumph at the bigger Hollywood ceremonies.

The 14th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony will not be directly affected by the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike – unlike the Golden Globes or the Academy Awards – because SAG has agreed with the Writers Guild of America to have one of the union’s members write the script for the show. The SAG Awards are due to take place on 27 January (08).

(MT/WNWA/CG)