Los Angeles (dpa) – Hollywood’s top actors will honour their own Saturday at the 22nd Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, where Leonardo DiCaprio, Brie Larson and the cast of The Big Short are favoured to bring home the year’s top acting prizes.
The awards ceremony broadcast drew some of the industry’s biggest stars to the red carpet at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium, among them nominees Larson, Alicia Vikander, Bryan Cranston, Idris Elba, Helen Mirren and Sarah Silverman.
Nine-year-old child actor Jacob Tremblay, who co-stars with Larson in the drama Room, told broadcaster TBS on the red carpet that he hoped the ceremony would be “a huge party.”
“There’s going to be Leonardo DiCaprio here!” he said.
DiCaprio is up against Redmayne, Cranston, Johnny Depp, and Michael Fassbender for the best leading male actor award.
For best leading female role, Larson, Silverman and Mirren will compete with Cate Blanchett and Saoirse Ronan.
Both DiCaprio and Larson won the best lead acting awards at the Golden Globes January 10 and are tipped by experts as likely winners.
Mirren and Elba lead the nominations with three nods each. Mirren is nominated for best female lead actor and best female supporting actor as well as for the ensemble cast of Trumbo.
Elba is nominated for best supporting actor and best ensemble cast for Beasts of No Nation and best television movie actor for Luther.
The awards come amid a public debate over racial diversity and inclusiveness in Hollywood, sparked by the announcement of Oscar nominations that did not include any non-white actors.
The SAG Awards feature a slightly more diverse group of nominees.
These include Elba and the casts of Beasts of No Nation and Straight Outta Compton, which were snubbed by the Oscars but are nominated at the SAG Awards for best ensemble cast – the group’s equivalent of a best picture award.
“People want to see more diverse stories,” Elba told TBS. The Big Short, Spotlight, and Trumbo are also nominated for best ensemble cast.
Television nominees include cast members from Downton Abbey, Game of Thrones, and Orange is the New Black.
Comedian Carol Burnett is to be presented with the guild’s lifetime achievement award.
In a pre-show presentation, stunt actors for Mad Max: Fury Road and the HBO series Game of Thrones won the prizes for best stunt ensembles for film and television series respectively.
The Screen Actors Guild Awards are the only televised awards ceremony to honour actors exclusively, with prizes presented in 13 categories in film and television.
