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While it limits its nominations to acting awards for film and television, the Screen Actors Guild Awards are considered very prestigious because they are given to actors by their fellow thespians. The awards ceremony, which used to be a private affair for guild members, is now televised in the United States and internationally, thus adding another layer in the run-up to the Academy Awards in February.

As with the Golden Globe Award nominations announced on Wednesday, Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis both received nods for "Black Swan"; Annette Bening (and not co-star Julianne Moore) was singled out for "The Kids Are Allright" and Jesse Eisenberg continues his roll for his lead role in "The Social Network". Add to that a well deserved mention for Mark Ruffalo for "Kids" and the list demonstrates the high mark of screen acting this past year.

Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech” and David O. Russell’s “The Fighter” led the group with four nominations each, including best cast, individual acting nominations for “Speech”‘s Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter, and “Fighter”‘s Amy Adams, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo.  In the best cast category, which is considered the most prestigious honor of the evening, the above two films will compete against the cast members of such celebrated movies as Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” Lisa Cholodenko’s “The Kids Are All Right,” and David Fincher’s “The Social Network”.

Actors nominated for Golden Globes who did not appear in the SAG nomination lists include Andrew Garfield in "The Social Network", neither of the two leads in the intense relationship drama "Blue Valentine" (specifically Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams), the fighter himself Mark Wahlberg in "The Fighter"; and the mother-from-hell Jacki Weaver in the Australian drama "Animal Kingdom". It remains unclear if any of the above will show up on the Oscar boards, but chances are still good and the suspense makes this year's announcements particularly dramatic.

A few welcome surprises included John Hawkes in the best supporting actor category in the indie it film "Winter's Bone"; Hilary Swank for her strong performance in "Conviction"; Robert Duvall for his much praised career-capping work in "Get Low" and both Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld for their roles in the Coen Brothers western "True Grit" (all the above were snubbed by the Golden Globes committee). The Screen Actors Guild Awards will be announced on January 30, 2011 in Los Angeles.

Sandy Mandelberger, Awards Watch Editor

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Black Swan
The Fighter
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Robert Duvall, Get Low
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Hilary Swank, Conviction

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Green Zone
Inception
Robin Hood