"Manchester by the Sea" took leading of four nomination for SAG Awards

Feature film "Manchester by the Sea" took a leading of four nominations including one for its ensemble cast at the 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards nomination presentation on Wednesday morning in Los Angeles. Among other films vying for the awards, "Fences" and "Moonlight" got three nominations for each.

The Screen Actors Guild ensemble award is widely considered the equivalent of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' best picture Oscar.

In addition to Kenneth Lonergan's "Manchester by the Sea," other films picking up nomination for their ensemble casts included Denzel Washington's "Fences," Barry Jenkins' "Moonlight", "Hidden Figures" by writer-director Theodore Melfi and Matt Ross' "Captain Fantastic."

Musical drama film "La La Land," which won out at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards nomination earlier this week, picked up nominations for both of its leading roles, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, continue showing its possibility for more results.

Black actor Denzel Washington picked up a best actor nomination for his portrayal of a former baseball star trying to support his family as a garbage collector in an adaptation of playwright August Wilson's "Fences." He will be competing with Casey Affleck in "Manchester by the Sea," Andrew Garfield in "Hacksaw Ridge," Ryan Gosling in "La La Land" and Viggo Mortensen in "Captain Fantastic."

Emma Stone, who portrayed an aspiring actress in "La La Land," will be up against Amy Adams ("Arrival"), Emily Blunt ("The Girl on the Train"),Natalie Portman

("Jackie") and Meryl Streep ("Florence Foster Jenkins" ) for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role.

Actresses who garnered nominations for their supporting roles included Viola Davis in "Fences," Naomie Harris in "Moonlight," Nicole Kidman in "Lion," Octavia Spencer in "Hidden Figures" and Michelle Williams in "Manchester by the Sea."

Mahershala Ali ("Moonlight"), Jeff Bridges ("Hell or High Water"), Hugh Grant ("Florence Foster Jenkins" ), Lucas Hedges ("Manchester by the Sea") and Dev Patel ("Lion") were nominated for their supporting roles.

Ali was also nominated as part of the "Hidden Figures" cast, giving him three nominations in all. He has been nominated six times, but this is his first nomination for an individual role.

Netflix showed its muscle, beating out HBO at the number of nominations, 17 vs. 13, in television category. Television dramas scoring nominations for their ensemble casts were "The Crown", "Downton Abbey", "Game of Thrones", "Stranger Things" and "Westworld." The casts of "The Big Bang Theory", "Black-ish", "Modern Family", "Orange Is the New Black" and "Veep" were nominated for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series.

The SAG Awards are generally considered a strong predictor of who will pick up Oscar nominations for performing.

Paramount Pictures led the pack of studios with six nominations, with Amazon Studios, Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions close behind with four each.

The SAG Awards carry a prestige all their own as they represent approval by an actor's peers. Separate panels of 2,500 guild members from across the United States are randomly selected to choose nominees for film and TV.

The 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony will be held at the Shrine Exposition Center on Jan. 29, 2017. Enditem