SAG Predictions: Best Actress in a Supporting Role

This year, the Screen Actors Guild announces its picks one day before Golden Globe nominations are revealed, which means it will be considerably tougher to predict the nominees without that helpful handicap of knowing ten likely contenders beforehand. Without knowing all that much, here are my best guesses for SAG’s five inclusions in this category.

Last year’s nominees:
Amy Adams (The Fighter)
Helena Bonham Carter (The King’s Speech)
Mila Kunis (Black Swan)
Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)

I’m still assuming that Viola Davis (The Help) is going to land in this category, and she’ll certainly be joined by Octavia Spencer (The Help), and by the looks of it, maybe Jessica Chastain too. My thinking here, however, is that Chastain may find herself snubbed if voters can’t decide on a film in which she stars. That happened to Meryl Streep in 2002 when she found herself declared lead for both “Adaptation” and “The Hours.” Shailene Woodley (The Descendants) is looking like a good bet following her National Board of Review win, and I’d expect to see Carey Mulligan (Shame) here as well. Other threats include Vanessa Redgrave (Coriolanus), Evan Rachel Wood (The Ides of March), Bérénice Bejo (The Artist), Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs), and Kate Winslet (Carnage).

Current predictions:
Jessica Chastain (The Help)
Viola Davis (The Help)
Carey Mulligan (Shame)
Octavia Spencer (The Help)
Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)