LOS ANGELES - The ensemble drama "Babel,'' the musical "Dreamgirls'' and the road-trip tale "Little Miss Sunshine'' each earned three nominations Thursday for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, while drama "Grey's Anatomy," and actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Helen Mirren each had two nominations.
Mirren was nominated for playing both of England's two Queen Elizabeths, as best actress in a film as the current monarch in "The Queen'' and as best actress in a TV movie or miniseries for playing her predecessor in "Elizabeth I.''
The TV role earned Mirren an Emmy last fall, while she is considered the favourite to win the best-actress Oscar for "The Queen.''
DiCaprio had a lead-actor film nomination as a mercenary hunting a rare gem in the African adventure "Blood Diamond'' and a supporting-actor nomination as a cop undercover in a Boston crime gang in "The Departed.''
At the upcoming Golden Globes, DiCaprio was nominated as lead actor for both films, but under SAG rules, he was entered in different categories. Oscar voters are free to cast ballots for actors in lead or supporting categories.
"Dreamgirls'' grabbed supporting nominations for Eddie Murphy as a soul singer and Jennifer Hudson as a vocal powerhouse booted out of a Supremes-like trio. The film also had a slot in the guild's category for best overall acting ensemble, which includes Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles, who were shut out in the lead-acting nominations.
The other ensemble nominees were "Babel,'' the Robert Kennedy drama "Bobby,'' "The Departed'' and "Little Miss Sunshine.''
Key cast members from some of those films -- among them Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon of "The Departed,'' Brad Pitt of "Babel,'' and Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette and Steve Carell of "Little Miss Sunshine'' -- were overlooked for nominations.
Carell did score a TV nomination as best actor in a comedy series for "The Office,'' which also was among nominees for best comedy ensemble.
Along with Mirren, other likely Oscar favourites and nominees dominated the guild choices, including Forest Whitaker as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland'' and Peter O'Toole as an aging actor whose lecherous ways are revived by a young woman in "Venus.''
The guild also had some surprise nominees, including Canadian Ryan Gosling for lead actor as a teacher with a drug problem in the acclaimed but little-seen drama "Half Nelson'' and child actor Abigail Breslin for supporting actress as a seven-year-old obsessed with competing in beauty pageants in "Little Miss Sunshine.''
Will Smith rounded out the lead-actor field as a homeless dad in "The Pursuit of Happyness.''
Joining Mirren for lead-actress nominations were Penelope Cruz as a woman with bizarre family crises in "Volver''; Judi Dench as a scheming teacher in "Notes on a Scandal''; Meryl Streep as the boss from hell in "The Devil Wears Prada''; and Kate Winslet as a woman having an affair with a neighbour in "Little Children.''
"Babel'' also had supporting-actress nominations for Adriana Barraza as a nanny in peril and Rinko Kikuchi as a deaf schoolgirl. "Little Miss Sunshine'' also earned a nomination for Alan Arkin as a foul-mouthed, heroin-snorting grandfather.
The guild picks are one of the last major announcements in Hollywood awards season before Academy Awards nominations come out Jan. 23. The Oscars will be presented Feb. 25.
Actors guild winners often go on to win Oscars, including three SAG winners from last year: lead performers Philip Seymour Hoffman for "Capote'' and Reese Witherspoon for "Walk the Line,'' and supporting actress Rachel Weisz for "The Constant Gardener.''
Last year's winner for the guild's prize for the overall acting ensemble, "Crash,'' also went on to the win the best-picture Oscar.
Awards will be presented Jan. 28 in a ceremony televised on TNT and TBS. Film and TV nominees were chosen by two groups of 2,100 people randomly chosen from the guild's 120,000 members. The guild's full membership is eligible to vote for winners.
Nominees for the 13th annual Screen Actors Guild awards:
Movies:
Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond''; Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson''; Peter O'Toole, "Venus''; Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness''; Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland.''
Actress: Penelope Cruz, "Volver''; Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal''; Helen Mirren, "The Queen''; Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada''; Kate Winslet, "Little Children.''
Supporting actor: Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine''; Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Departed''; Jackie Earle Haley, "Little Children''; Djimon Hounsou, "Blood Diamond''; Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls.''
Supporting actress: Adriana Barraza, "Babel''; Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal''; Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine''; Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls''; Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel.''
Cast: "Babel,'' "Bobby,'' "The Departed,'' "Dreamgirls,'' "Little Miss Sunshine.''
Television:
Actor in a movie or miniseries: Thomas Haden Church, "Broken Trail''; Robert Duvall, "Broken Trail''; Jeremy Irons, "Elizabeth I''; William H. Macy, "Nightmares & Dreamscapes''; Matthew Perry, "The Ron Clark Story.''
Actress in a movie or miniseries: Annette Bening, "Mrs. Harris''; Shirley Jones, "Hidden Places''; Cloris Leachman, "Mrs. Harris''; Helen Mirren, "Elizabeth I''; Greta Scacchi, "Broken Trail.''
Actor in a drama series: James Gandolfini, "The Sopranos''; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter''; Hugh Laurie, "House''; James Spader, "Boston Legal''; Kiefer Sutherland, "24.''
Actress in a drama series: Patricia Arquette, "Medium''; Edie Falco, "The Sopranos''; Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer''; Chandra Wilson, "Grey's Anatomy.''
Actor in a comedy series: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock''; Steve Carell, "The Office''; Jason Lee, "My Name Is Earl''; Jeremy Piven, "Entourage''; Tony Shalhoub, "Monk.''
Actress in a comedy series: America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty''; Felicity Huffman, "Desperate Housewives''; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "The New Adventures of Old Christine''; Megan Mullally, "Will & Grace''; Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds''; Jaime Pressly, "My Name Is Earl.''
Drama series cast: "24,'' "Boston Legal,'' "Deadwood,'' "Grey's Anatomy,'' "The Sopranos.''
Comedy series cast: "Desperate Housewives,'' "Entourage,'' "The Office,'' "Ugly Betty,'' "Weeds.''
