2021 SAG Award Nominations Announced

Screen Actors Guild Awards

By Whit Fuller, Arts Writer
February 21, 2021

The nominations for the 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced on Thursday, Feb. 4. The SAG Awards are dedicated to outstanding motion picture and television works and the celebration of the artistry behind them. This year, the nominees were announced by Daveed Diggs (“Snowpiercer“) and Lily Collins (“Emily in Paris“) via an Instagram livestream.

2021 Nominees

This year’s nominations range from feel-good comedies like “Schitt’s Creek” to period dramas like “Bridgerton” — both popular shows that have taken Netflix by storm during the pandemic — to grittier works like sci-fi series “Westworld” and the crime drama “Ozark.”

There is a diverse range of actors, actresses and genres that are up for awards this year. In spite of the ongoing pandemic, this year’s nominees have put forward spectacular feats of cinematic artistry, showing viewers and critics alike the importance of recognizing artistic accomplishments.

Actors and actresses who have been nominated include Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Jared Leto (“The Little Things“), Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit“), Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night In Miami…”) and Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”).

Nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture include “Da Five Bloods,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “One Night in Miami…,” “The Trial of The Chicago 7” and University of Utah Alum Lee Issac Chung’s “Minari.”

Nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series include “Better Call Saul,” “Bridgerton,” “The Crown,” “Lovecraft Country” and “Ozark.”

Nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series include “Dead to Me,” “The Flight Attendant,” “The Great,” “Schitt’s Creek” and “Ted Lasso.”

The full list of nominees can be found here.

U Alum’s film “Minari” Nominated

Premiering at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and winning the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic and the Audience Award for dramatic film entries, U Film and Media Arts graduate Lee Issac Chung‘s feature film “Minari” is now garnering SAG recognition. The film tells the story of a Korean family who moves to a farm in Arkansas during the ’80s, in search of the American dream. The film mirrors the story of director Chung’s own family, who moved to a farm in the heartland to build a home for themselves.

“I grew up in a similar way that the little boy does in the film, but the father’s story is also very much my own, since he and I are the same age,” Chung said.

Despite being inspired by his family’s experience with immigration, Chung said he worried to ask his parents for their own memories. “Because I [was] so scared of them knowing what I was doing and then telling me, ‘You cannot tell this story.’ So I kind of kept it secret and worked on it on my own,” Chung said.

Starring Steven Yeun, Han Ye-ri and Alan S. Kim, “Minari” is a film that has been praised for its heart-warming story and heralded as both necessary and revolutionary for its portrayal of the struggles faced by those trying to make a new life for themselves in a new place.