Stars of Wicked, Anora and Conclave will compete in the Screen Actors Guild (Sag) awards, a week ahead of the Oscars ceremony.
Ariana Grande, and her Wicked co-star Cynthia Erivo, are both set to present prizes at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles for Sunday’s 31st annual awards, a bellwether for the Academy Awards’ acting categories.
The musical, based on American author L Frank Baum’s novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and the later film, is leading the way at the Sag awards with five nominations including a best actress nod for British star Erivo, and supporting nods for Bridgerton actor Jonathan Bailey, and US pop singer Grande.
Erivo, who plays the bullied green witch, Elphaba, in the film adaptation of the hit Broadway and West End musical, will compete against US actress Demi Moore, who won her first Golden Globe for her role in The Substance – a horror film which confronts the harsh reality of aging in Hollywood.
Emilia Perez star Karla Sofia Gascon, The Last Showgirl’s Pamela Anderson and Mikey Madison for Anora, who took the Bafta best actress prize last week, are in the same category.
Gascon is unlikely to attend the event, following controversial tweets she sent, that prompted her to issue a statement saying she hopes her “silence will allow the film to be appreciated for what it is”.
Her film tells the story of a Mexican drug boss who wants to change gender with help of his lawyer (Zoe Saldana) and later tries to return home as a woman called Emilia to be with her children and wife (Selena Gomez).
British actor Ralph Fiennes will present as he is up for best actor for his portrayal as a conflicted priest overseeing a papal election in Conclave.
Fiennes lost out on the same prize at the Golden Globes and Bafta ceremonies to US actor Adrien Brody for his portrayal of a Hungarian architect attempting to build a life in the US after the Second World War in The Brutalist.
They will face Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, about a man imprisoned for a crime he did not commit who finds purpose by acting in a theatre group; Timothee Chalamet for his Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown; and James Bond star Daniel Craig in Luca Guadagnino’s romance, Queer.
Saldana, who has won a Bafta and Golden Globe for Emilia Perez, will compete against The Last Showgirl’s Jamie Lee Curtis, Danielle Deadwyler for horror The Piano Lesson and Monica Barbaro in A Complete Unknown in the best supporting actress category.
In the male supporting section, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown; Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice which follows the career of Donald Trump; Yura Borisov for Anora and Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain – about mismatched cousins who tour Poland in honour of their grandmother – have been nominated.
Culkin has previously won a supporting Bafta and Golden Globe for the film, as he returns to competing against his former Succession co-star, Strong.
In the TV section, dark Netflix drama Baby Reindeer is up for best actress in a limited series after Yorkshire-born Jessica Gunning’s performance as stalker Martha Scott, as the male section of the nomination sees Scottish star Richard Gadd score a nomination for the same show.
Gadd will compete against Irish actors Colin Farrell for Marvel show The Penguin, and Andrew Scott for thriller Ripley, along with Kevin Kline for Apple TV+ show Disclaimer, and Javier Bardem for Netflix true crime series Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story.
US actress and humanitarian Jane Fonda will be presented with the SAG life achievement award to add to her many accolades during the ceremony which is hosted by Nobody Wants This star Kristin Bell.
Presenters include Farrell, Indiana Jones star Harrison Ford, Conclave actor John Lithgow, Anderson, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown, and Chalamet.
Many actors up for awards will go on to compete for Oscars including Erivo, Fiennes, Gascon and Saldana.
The Sag awards will air on Netflix at 5pm local time on Sunday, which is 1am UK time on Monday.
