LOS ANGELES -- Birdman made some noise Wednesday after a period of relative quiet in the early goings of this awards season, nabbing a leading four Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations. Oscar front-runner Boyhood was right behind with three, along with The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game.
Boyhood got an early bounce from critics groups over the weekend, briefly shunting aside edgier rival Birdman, whose star Michael Keaton also picked up a best actor nomination Wednesday from his fellow SAG card-carriers. It was an important and timely rebound for Birdman, keeping it in the conversation for several major Oscars including best picture, as Alejandro González Iñárritu's feverish look behind the scenes of a Broadway production also picked up a nod for best ensemble.
The acting branch is the largest voting block in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, making SAG's choices an intriguing measure of how sentiment is breaking as the awards season gets into a gallop. Notably absent from the list were performances from the Martin Luther King biopic Selma, Angelina Jolie's Unbroken and Christopher Nolan's Interstellar.
There were a few notable inclusions, too: Jennifer Aniston was served a slice of hope with a nomination for Cake, while Gone Girl got back in the conversation as well, with a lead-actress nomination for Rosamund Pike. And while Meryl Streep being nominated for an acting award is no kind of surprise, her making the list for playing the Witch in Into the Woods is an endorsement of her singing skills.
The Jan. 25 SAG Awards ceremony will be broadcast live on TNT and TBS.
Here's the complete list of nominees:
Ensemble cast, movies
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Male actor, leading role, movies
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Female actor, leading role, movies
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Male actor, supporting role, movies
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
Female actor, supporting role, movies
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
Naomi Watts, St. Vincent
Ensemble cast, drama series, TV
Boardwalk Empire
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
Homeland
House of Cards
Female actor, drama Series, TV
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Male actor, drama series, TV
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Woody Harrelson, True Detective
Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
Ensemble cast in a comedy series, TV
The Big Bang Theory
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Modern Family
Orange Is the New Black
VEEP
Male Actor, comedy series, TV
Ty Burrell, Modern Family
Louis C.K., Louie
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Female Actor, comedy series, TV
Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Julie Bowen, Modern Family
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Male actor, TV movie or miniseries
Adrien Brody, Houdini
Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock: His Last Vow
Richard Jenkins, Olive Kitteridge
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
Billy Bob Thorton, Fargo
Female actor, TV movie or miniseries
Ellen Burstyn, Flowers in the Attic
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
Julia Roberts, The Normal Heart
Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful