Black Women Dominate SAG Awards’ Best Supporting Actress Nominations

By Sameer Rao Dec 14, 2016

Hollywood’s largest professional guild honored "Moonlight," "Fences" and other character of color-centered works with Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award nominations today (December 14).

On the film side, "Moonlight’s" Naomie Harris and "Fences’" Viola Davis face "Hidden Figures‘" Taraji P. Henson in the "Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role" category. Entertainment Weekly reports that this is the first time since 2008 that women of color nabbed most of that category’s nominations.

Harris’ and Davis’ respective co-stars Mahershala Ali and Denzel Washington each received acting nominations (Washington in the leading actor category, Ali in the supporting actor one). And the films’ casts square off with "Hidden Figures’" for "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture."

In television, "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story" continued its winning streak with acting nominations for Sterling K. Brown and Courtney B. Vance in the "Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series" category. They face "The Night Of’s" Riz Ahmed in that category, while their co-star Sarah Paulson faces "Billie Holiday’s" Audra McDonald and "Confirmation’s" Kerry Washington

The SAG Awards ceremony airs live on TNT and TBS on January 29. Read the full nominee list here.