Ahead of Oscars, Screen Actors Guild to hand out awards
AP
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Scarlett Johansson and Nicole Kidman will have two chances to win Sunday night at the 26th Screen Actors Guild Awards, but the award show’s ability to forecast the Oscars looks cloudy.

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This Jan. 27, 2019 file photo shows The Actor statue on the red carpet at the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. The 26th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be held on Jan. 19, 2020. (Photos by AP)

Among the films vying for the screen actors’ top honor, best ensemble, are Oscar heavyweights “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood” and “The Irishman.” They are competing with “Parasite” (only the second foreign language nominee after “Life Is Beautiful,” which received a nod in 1999), “Jojo Rabbit” and “Bombshell.”

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This combination of photos shows the Screen Actors Guild Award nominees for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role, from left, Scarlett Johansson in "Marriage Story," from left, Lupita Nyong'o in "Us," Renee Zellweger in "Judy," Cynthia Erivo in "Harriet" and Charlize Theron in "Bombshell."

Because actors make up the largest percentage of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, their picks are closely watched. But the last two years, the SAG ensemble winner has not gone on to win best picture: “Black Panther” last year and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” in 2018.

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This combination of photos shows the Screen Actors Guild Award nominees for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role, from left, Joaquin Phoenix in "Joker," Taron Egerton in "Rocketman," Leonardo DiCaprio in "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood," Christian Bale in "Ford v Ferrari."

Two of this year’s top best-picture contenders at the Oscars — “Joker,” more of a one-man show, and “1917,” more acclaimed for its technical acumen — weren’t nominated for best ensemble. On Saturday, “1917” won top honors at the highly predictive Producers Guild Awards, which 21 of the last 30 years has lined up with the eventual best picture winner.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards will begin at 8 p.m. EST and be broadcast live on TNT and TBS from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Coming three weeks ahead of the Oscars, it will be an early test for the chances of the Academy Awards front-runners, among them Renée Zellweger, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt and Laura Dern. Johansson is a nominee for both “Marriage Story” and “Jojo Rabbit,” as is Kidman for “Bombshell” and the HBO series “Big Little Lies.”

That show is one of the nominees for best drama series ensemble, along with “The Crown,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Stranger Things.” Up for comedy series ensemble are “Barry,” “Fleabag,” “The Kominsky Method,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Schitt’s Creek.” Apple TV Plus’ “The Morning Show” also landed three nominations, for Jennifer Aniston, Steve Carell and Billy Crudup.