The 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards announces nominees

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards are thought to be an indication of which films might take home Oscars later in the year. Yet on its own, an SAG nomination is a meaningful nod to some of the best film and TV talent of 2020. This year, contenders for the top awards include films like "The Trial of the Chicago 7," and "Ma Rainy’s Black Bottom" (pictured), among others.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture is the equivalent of Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Five films are vying for the top award. Will it go to Spike Lee’s military drama "Da 5 Bloods," Netflix's bluesy hit "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom" or "Minari," a unique story about chasing the American Dream? Also in the running are "One Night in Miami" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7."

Outstanding Performance for a Female Actor in a Leading Role could go to Francis McDormond the star of "Nomadland." McDormand plays a woman who leaves her life to travel west in the US and live out of a van. Other contenders are Viola Davis in "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom," Vanessa Kirby in "Pieces of a Woman," Carey Mulligan in "Promising Young Woman" and Amy Adams in "Hillbilly Elegy."

Anthony Hopkins is one of the five men in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role category. He played an aging man coming to terms with his mortality the film "The Father." Actor Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer in 2020, is also nominated posthumously for his role as trumpeter Levee Green in "Ma Rainy's Black Bottom" and his supporting role in "Da 5 Bloods."

Leave it to lighthearted period drama "Bridgerton" to win the attention of SAG voters. But the series set in Regency-era London isn't the only Netflix hit to be nominated for Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series — it's in good company with "Better Call Saul," "Ozark" and "The Crown." The only show to make the list that's not on the streaming service is "Lovecraft Country."

The success of the popular Netflix show about a fashionable chess genius may be rewarded during the SAG awards ceremony on April 4. Actress Anya Taylor-Joy could take home the prize for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries. She's competing against big name stars Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman, among others.

While Netflix has generated a host of nominees, other networks are also at the table, including HBO. Up for best male actor in a miniseries or TV movie is British actor Hugh Grant who played a successful doctor suspected of killing his mistress in the whodunnit HBO miniseries "The Undoing." Whether he will get away with taking home the award remains to be seen on April 4.