The nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced on last Thursday and Zhang Ziyi was nominated for "Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role" for Memoirs of a Geisha. 

 

This is the third time Zhang Ziyi has been nominated for her performance in Memoirs, following the Golden Globes and Satellite Awards.

 

The stars of gay romance Brokeback Mountain, by Chinese director Ang Lee, also earned four nominations, more than any other film, further cementing the movie's position as a front-runner for the Oscars.

 

Best film actress nominees also included Judi Dench portraying a theater owner in Mrs. Henderson Presents, Felicity Huffman as a transgendered character in Transamerica, Charlize Theron as a sexually harassed mine worker in North Country and Reese Witherspoon as singer June Carter in Walk the Line.

 

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on January 29, which will be broadcast on TNT and TBS.

 

Of the top industry accolades presented to performers, only the Screen Actors Guild Awards are selected purely by actors' peers. Two randomly selected panels--one for television and one for film--each comprised of 2,100 SAG members from across the United States, chose this year's winners.

 

 

(CRI January 9, 2006)