SAG nominations 2021: The Crown and Michaela Coel recognised

The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations were announced on Thursday and The Crown was given FIVE nods, more than any other show.

The Netflix show’s success comes just a day after getting an impressive six Golden Globe nominations. 

Moreover, British actress Michaela Coel, 33, who created, wrote, co-directed, and produced TV series I May Destroy You for BBC One and HBO was also finally recognised with a nod for Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series.

Michaela’s nomination comes after a huge fan backlash when her work, which was  one of the summer’s most critically-acclaimed shows, went unrecognised by the Golden Globes on Wednesday. 

The 12-part series fearlessly dives into hard-hitting issues affecting the lives of young London-based writer Arabella (Michaela) and her close group of friends. 

She’ll go up against American-born Argentine-British actress Anya Taylor-Joy, 24, for her lead role in chess series, The Queen’s Gambit. 

However it was The Crown, currently on its fourth season, which dominated the nominations, appearing in five categories. 

The show was nominated for best Ensemble in a Drama Series, while its stars Olivia Colman, 47, [Queen Elizabeth] and Emma Corrin, 25, [Princess Diana] will be battling it out for Female Actor in a Drama Series.

Additionally, Josh O’Connor, 30, has been nominated for his role as Prince Charles for the Male Actor in a Drama Series gong.  

Colman and former The Crown star Vanessa Kirby, 32, who played Princess Margaret in the first two seasons, have also both been nominated for other awards. 

Colman is up for Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for her role as Anne in The Father. 

The movie follows an aging Welshman, played by Anthony Hopkins, 83, who must deal with his progressing memory loss while Colman portrays his daughter.

Hopkins has been nominated for Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture for his part in the film, alongside fellow Brits Riz Ahmed, 38, for Sound Of Metal and Gary Oldman, 62, for Mank. 

Kirby is up for Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture for the role of Martha in Pieces of a Woman and she’ll go against fellow Brit Carey Mulligan, 35, for her role in Promising Young Woman.

Kirby stars as a young woman, Martha, who when her home birth ends in tragedy, begins a year-long odyssey of mourning that fractures relationships with loved ones in a deeply personal story about her learning to live alongside her loss.

Netflix show Bridgerton was also something of a success story in the nominations, with Rege-Jean Page, 31, up for Male Actor in a Drama Series and the series battling it out against The Crown for Drama Series. 

Bridgerton was recently announced as having been watched by a huge 82m people worldwide in its first month, making it Netflix’s biggest success ever. It didn’t feature in Wednesday’s Golden Globe nominations.

Also joining the Brits hoping to win at the SAG Awards is Daniel Kaluuya, 31, who is up for Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for his role in Judas and the Black Messiah. 

Hugh Grant, 60, has also been recognised in the Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series category for his role in The Undoing. 

Intense drama The Undoing followed the story of Elena Alves’ [Matilda De Angelis] murder and how the Fraser family – Jonathan [Hugh], Grace [Nicole Kidman] and Henry [Noah Jupe] – were involved.

And Hugh’s About A Boy co-star Nicholas Hoult, 31, has also been given a nod in the Male Actor in a Comedy Series category for his role in The Great.

The nominees for the SAGs honoring outstanding individual, cast and ensemble performances for the past year were announced by actors Lily Collins and Daveed Diggs via Instagram Live. 

And the nominees for outstanding action performances by film and television stunt ensembles were announced by Jason George and Elizabeth McLaughlin (who were introduced by SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris. 

The nods come just a day after The Golden Globes revealed their own nominations for 2021, leaving some to feel as if I May Destroy You was snubbed. 

I May Destroy You was one of the summer’s most critically-acclaimed shows around the world when it aired on BBC One and HBO.

The 12-part series fearlessly dives into hard-hitting issues affecting the lives of young London-based writer Arabella (Michaela) and her close group of friends.   

It follows Arabella as she comes to terms with a sexual assault after her drink was spiked at a nightclub, in a storyline based on the harrowing real-life experience of Michaela, who also wrote, co-directed and executive produced the series. 

Understandably upset about the snub, fans of the show took to Twitter to share their thoughts on the matter and claiming it had been the best series to air in 2020.

One viewer wrote: ‘I am genuinely embarrassed for the Golden Globes. I don’t think it’s overboard at all to say ‘I May Destroy You’ was the most important piece of TV in the past twelve months. Madness.’ 

Another added: ‘Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You was the best show of last year, outrageous overlook from the Golden Globes nominations.

While one person hit out: ‘ there was quite literally no better show that aired in the past year than I May Destroy You, and no better performance than Michaela Coel from the past year, so… yea not even going to give the Golden Globes my time.’

The 27th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simulcast on TNT and TBS on Sunday, April 4, 2021, at 9 p.m. (ET) / 6 p.m. (PT). An encore will air on TNT at 11 p.m. (ET) / 8 p.m. (PT).