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From George Clooney to Dwayne Johnson, the Actor Awards' biggest snubs

Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY January 8, 2026 at 12:05 AM

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The Oscar race is finally coming into focus.

After courting voters at extravagant parties and film festivals over the last few months, a slew of starry contenders were snubbed on Jan. 7 for nominations at the 2026 Actor Awards, including Joel Edgerton (“Train Dreams”), Tessa Thompson (“Hedda”), Julia Roberts (“After the Hunt”), Sydney Sweeney (“Christy”), and Andrew Scott (“Blue Moon”).

The Actor Awards, renamed from the Screen Actors Guild Awards, are reliable predictors of how the Oscars will shake out, given that actors make up the largest branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But SAG also isn’t afraid to take some big swings and have a little fun, with surprise nods for Pamela Anderson (“The Last Showgirl”) and Jonathan Bailey (“Wicked”) last year.

Here's who else will be sitting out this season’s Actor Awards, which will stream live on Netflix March 1 (8 p.m. ET/5 PT):

Actor Awards nominations: 'One Battle After Another' leads field with 7

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence struggles with postpartum depression in "Die My Love."

The Oscar winner has dutifully hit every roundtable and red carpet touting “Die My Love,” a dark exploration of motherhood and toxic relationships. But the polarizing film may have been too off-putting for some SAG voters, who failed to recognize Lawrence’s audacious, arresting work.

‘Wicked: For Good’

Best friends Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo, left) and Glinda (Ariana Grande) find themselves on opposite sides in the musical sequel "Wicked: For Good."

The bubble has popped for the movie musical sequel, which overperformed at last year’s SAG Awards with nominations for best ensemble, best actress (Cynthia Erivo), best supporting actress (Ariana Grande) and best supporting actor (Jonathan Bailey). Grande earned the lone SAG nod this season for her complex and emotional turn as Glinda, the Good Witch of Oz.

See which actors and films were nominated in top categories for the newly renamed Actor Awards. The 2026 honors will be handed out March 1 on Netflix.

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See which actors and films were nominated in top categories for the newly renamed Actor Awards. The 2026 honors will be handed out March 1 on Netflix.

">See which actors and films were nominated in top categories for the newly renamed Actor Awards. The 2026 honors will be handed out March 1 on Netflix.

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1 / 26The Actor Awards – See 2026's top nominees in photos

See which actors and films were nominated in top categories for the newly renamed Actor Awards. The 2026 honors will be handed out March 1 on Netflix.

Amanda Seyfried

Amanda Seyfried preaches celibacy and dances up a storm in "The Testament of Ann Lee."

Seyfried gives two of the most memorable performances of the winter in pulpy thriller “The Housemaid” and hypnotic movie musical “The Testament of Ann Lee,” portraying the founder of the Shakers religious movement. Sadly, "Ann Lee" has had a rough time getting eyes on it, and Seyfried was egregiously missing from this season’s SAG nominations.

‘Jay Kelly’

George Clooney plays a lonely movie star in "Jay Kelly."

Conventional wisdom would tell us that Hollywood loves nothing more than a movie about itself. But Noah Baumbach’s showbiz traumedy, about an aging A-lister (George Clooney) forced to reckon with his paternal shortcomings, was blanked by SAG in best ensemble, best actor and best supporting actor (Adam Sandler).

Jeremy Allen White

Jeremy Allen White is a depressed Bruce Springsteen in "Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere."

At the start of the season, “The Bear” actor was considered all but locked for his first Oscar nomination for biopic “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.” But the brooding drama, about the creation of Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” album, was a box-office disappointment, and White has lost major awards momentum after snubs from SAG and Critics Choice.

‘The Smashing Machine’

Mark (Dwayne Johnson) and Dawn (Emily Blunt) share a loving moment in "The Smashing Machine."

The true-life MMA drama has had mixed fortunes all season long: declared an Oscar frontrunner in its Venice Film Festival premiere in September, only to drop out of the conversation when the movie bombed at the box office. Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt appeared to bounce back with Golden Globe nominations last month, but have taken another hit with this week’s SAG snubs.

‘Sentimental Value’

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 30: (L-R) Elle Fanning, Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas attend the "Sentimental Value" Red Carpet during the 63rd New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center on September 30, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for FLC)

SAG has famously overlooked countless actors for foreign-language films, recently snubbing Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”) and Antonio Banderas (“Pain and Glory”) for performances that went on to be Oscar-nominated. Still, it stings to see Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning all left out of this year’s nominations for their tremendous work in “Sentimental Value,” as was expected supporting actor nominee Stellan Skarsgård for the gutting Norwegian drama.

Wagner Moura

Wagner Moura portrays a political dissident living under a dictatorship in Portuguese-language drama "The Secret Agent."

The Brazilian heartthrob has been a critics' favorite this past year for "The Secret Agent," garnering scores of critics' prizes since winning best actor at Cannes Film Festival last spring. But much like the cast of "Sentimental Value," Moura was always going to be a long shot for recognition from the internationally adverse Screen Actors Guild, despite receiving nominations from the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: SAG snubs 'Wicked,' Dwayne Johnson in newly named Actor Awards

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