SAG Splits Film Nods Five Ways

Jan. 30 -- Fully in line with the hard-to-call nature of this year's awards race, nominations for the 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which were announced this morning, are evenly split between the casts of Almost Famous, Billy Elliot, Chocolat, The Contender, and Gladiator.

Each film received two individual acting nominations and a nod each for bestcast, except Contender, which received three individual acting noms.

DreamWorks SKG leads studios in overall SAG nominations, with nine nods for its Golden Globe winners Almost Famous and Gladiator. Universal Studios, which co-produced Gladiator, follows with eight nominations.

The SAG awards, which honor actors and are voted on by their acting peers, are considered a precursor to the Oscars. Of the lead actors in films receiving a SAG award, 10 out of 12 have gone on to win Academy Awards, as publicists who made early-morning calls to the nominees surely know.

Del Toro's Leading Traffic Role

In the Male Actor in a Leading Role category, Gladiator's Russell Crowe vies with Cast Away's Tom Hanks, Quills' Geoffrey Rush, and first-time SAG Actor nominees Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) and Benicio Del Toro (Traffic).

Del Toro won a Golden Globe and has been recognized by several critics' groups in the supporting actor category, but his peers saw fit to bump the actor up to the leading category for his complex role in Steven Soderbergh's drug-trade drama.

There were fewer surprises in the women's lead category, with Golden Globe winner Julia Roberts receiving her first SAG nod, for Erin Brockovich. She'll compete with You Can Count on Me's Laura Linney (another first-time nominee), The Contender's Joan Allen, Chocolat's Juliette Binoche, and Requiem for a Dream's Ellen Burstyn.Contender, Almost Famous Co-stars Face Off

The supporting acting categories pit Contender co-stars Jeff Bridges and Gary Oldman (both first-time nominees) against each other, as well as Almost Famous' Kate Hudson and Frances McDormand.