Apple TV+ Gets a Dozen SAG Award Nominations, Including Two Historic Nominations for ‘CODA’

As the annual Hollywood awards season kicks off, Apple has managed to rack up 12 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nominations for its hit TV shows and original films, including two nominations for one of its feature films that breaks entirely new ground in the field.

Although most of the nominations are for the usual suspects — Ted Lasso picked up five, while The Morning Show garnered another four — the remaining three nods went to two of Apple’s motion picture projects, with CODA getting two nominations and The Tragedy of Macbeth picking up the final one.

As one might expect, the SAG Awards focus primarily on recognizing acting talent within film and TV production, although not all of them are directed at individual cast members. In fact, both The Morning Show and Ted Lasso received overall cast nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama series and a Comedy series, respectively.

Both shows also received multiple nominations for their individual cast members, with Billy Crudup nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, while Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon will both be vying for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. The other nominees in that category are Jung Hoyeon of Netflix’sSquid Game, Elisabeth Moss from The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu), and Sara Snook from HBO’s Succession.

Similarly, star and namesake of Ted Lasso, Jason Sudeikis has been nominated alongside Brett Goldstein, who portrays Roy Kent, but they’re also up against some pretty heavy competition, with Steve Martin and Martin Short also nominated for Only Murders in the Building on Hulu, plus Michael Douglas for Netflix’s The Kominsky Method.

Hannah Waddingham (Rebecca Welton) and Juno Temple (Keely Jones) also both received Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series nominations for their roles on Ted Lasso, where they’ll be up not only against each other, but also Elle Fanning (The Great, Hulu), Sandra Oh (The Chair, Netflix), and Jean Smart (Hacks, HBO).

History-Making Film Nominations

On the film side, Denzel Washington was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for The Tragedy of Macbeth, which makes its global debut this Friday on Apple TV+. Washington was nominated alongside Will Smith for King Richard, Andrew Garfield for Tick Tick Boom, Benedict Cumberbatch for The Power of the Dog, and Javier Bardem for Being the Ricardos.

The most significant nominations, however, were for Apple’s original film CODA, which is on the list both for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and for Troy Kotsur for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.

This makes Kotsur the first solo deaf actor to ever receive an individual SAG Award nomination, while the nomination for the overall cast also marks the first time in history that a predominantly deaf cast has ever been recognized by SAG in the ensemble category.

While these new honours are certainly more groundbreaking, Apple has already made history at the SAG Awards once before. Two years ago, Jennifer Aniston took home the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series only weeks after The Morning Show finished its first-season run, at a time when Apple TV+ had been in existence for less than three months. Never before had a streaming show been nominated in the first year of its run, much less received an award.

Apple has since gone on to receive many more awards and nominations for its original series and film projects, with a total of 195 wins and 829 nominations from the Academy Awards, SAG Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards, NAACP Image Awards, Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards, and more.

The winners will be announced at the 28th Annual SAG Awards, which will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS on Sunday, February 27, 2022.