SAG Awards Nominate Clooney, 'Bridesmaids'

Every year, card-carrying members of the Screen Actors Guild nominate their peers in movies and television for the best work. These awards, aside from being prestigious honors in their own right, get handed out a few weeks ahead of the Oscars and tend to pretty reliable indicators of who the frontrunners are.

Doubly good news, then, for films The Descendants, Bridesmaids and The Artist, each of which picked up multiple nominations, including the big one — Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (think Best Picture, only with an emphasis on acting as opposed to overall awesomeness). The Help was also heavily nominated, scoring a nomination for lead actress Viola Davis and supporting actresses Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer.

George Clooney, who directed and starred in The Ides of March this year, was honored for his portrayal of a grieving Hawaiian land baron in The Descendants. He will be up against Moneyball's Brad Pitt, The Artist's Jean Dujardin and J. Edgar's Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead actor category. A dark horse nominee, Demian Bichir, for A Better Life, rounds out the category.

SAG Award heavyweight Meryl Streep is nominated again this year for playing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. If Streep wins, it will be her third SAG award. She most recently won the award in 2009 for playing a strict nun in Doubt. But first, she'll have to beat out My Week with Marilyn's Michelle Williams and We Need to Talk About Kevin's Tilda Swinton, both of whom have received rave reviews for their work.

ABC's Modern Family, HBO's Game of Thrones and AMC's Breaking Bad are all big nominees in the television categories, and FX's American Horror Story — which premiered this fall — has grabbed one of its first major award nominees, for legendary screen actress Jessica Lange.

For more information about the SAG awards, go here. And check out a full list of the nominees below:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
DEMIÁN BICHIR / Carlos Galindo – “A BETTER LIFE” (Summit Entertainment)
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King – "THE DESCENDANTS” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / J. Edgar Hoover – "J. EDGAR" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
JEAN DUJARDIN / George – "THE ARTIST" (The Weinstein Company)
BRAD PITT / Billy Beane – "MONEYBALL" (Columbia Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
GLENN CLOSE / Albert Nobbs – "ALBERT NOBBS” (Roadside Attractions)
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark – “THE HELP” (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
MERYL STREEP / Margaret Thatcher – “THE IRON LADY” (The Weinstein Company)
TILDA SWINTON / Eva – “WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
MICHELLE WILLIAMS / Marilyn Monroe – “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN” (The Weinstein Company)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
KENNETH BRANAGH / Sir Laurence Olivier – “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN” (The Weinstein Company)
ARMIE HAMMER / Clyde Tolson – "J. EDGAR" (Warner Bros. Pictures)
JONAH HILL / Peter Brand – "MONEYBALL" (Columbia Pictures)
NICK NOLTE / Paddy Conlon – “WARRIOR” (Lionsgate)
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER / Hal – “BEGINNERS” (Focus Features)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy – "THE ARTIST" (The Weinstein Company)
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote – “THE HELP” (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
MELISSA McCARTHY / Megan – “BRIDESMAIDS” (Universal Pictures)
JANET McTEER / Hubert Page – "ALBERT NOBBS” (Roadside Attractions)
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson – “THE HELP” (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
THE ARTIST (The Weinstein Company)

BRIDESMAIDS (Universal Pictures)

THE DESCENDANTS (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

THE HELP (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)

MIDNIGHT IN PARIS (Sony Pictures Classics)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
LAURENCE FISHBURNE / Thurgood Marshall – “THURGOOD” (HBO)
PAUL GIAMATTI / Ben Bernanke – “TOO BIG TO FAIL” (HBO)
GREG KINNEAR / Jack Kennedy – “THE KENNEDYS” (REELZ CHANNEL)
GUY PEARCE / Monty Beragon – “MILDRED PIERCE“ (HBO)
JAMES WOODS / Richard Fuld – “TOO BIG TO FAIL” (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
DIANE LANE / Pat Loud – “CINEMA VERITE” (HBO)
MAGGIE SMITH / Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham – “DOWNTON ABBEY” (PBS)
EMILY WATSON / Janet Leach – “APPROPRIATE ADULT” (Sundance Channel)
BETTY WHITE / Caroline Thomas – “HALLMARK HALL OF FAME: THE LOST VALENTINE” (CBS)
KATE WINSLET / Mildred Pierce – “MILDRED PIERCE” (HBO)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
PATRICK J. ADAMS / Mike Ross – “SUITS” (USA)
STEVE BUSCEMI / Enoch “Nucky” Thomson – “BOARDWALK EMPIRE” (HBO)
KYLE CHANDLER / Eric Taylor – “FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS” (DirecTV)
BRYAN CRANSTON / Walter White – “BREAKING BAD” (AMC)
MICHAEL C. HALL / Dexter Morgan – “DEXTER” (Showtime)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
KATHY BATES / Harriet Korn – “HARRY’S LAW” (NBC)
GLENN CLOSE / Patty Hewes – “DAMAGES” (DirecTV)
JESSICA LANGE / Constance – “AMERICAN HORROR STORY” (FX)
JULIANNA MARGULIES / Alicia Florrick – “THE GOOD WIFE” (CBS)
KYRA SEDGWICK / Dept. Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson – “THE CLOSER” (TNT)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ALEC BALDWIN / Jack Donaghy – “30 ROCK” (NBC)
TY BURRELL / Phil Dunphy – “MODERN FAMILY” (ABC)
STEVE CARELL / Michael Scott – “THE OFFICE” (NBC)
JON CRYER / Alan Harper – “TWO AND A HALF MEN” (CBS)
ERIC STONESTREET / Cameron Tucker – “MODERN FAMILY” (ABC)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
JULIE BOWEN / Claire Dunphy – “MODERN FAMILY” (ABC)
EDIE FALCO / Jackie Peyton – “NURSE JACKIE” (Showtime)
TINA FEY / Liz Lemon – “30 ROCK” (NBC)
SOFIA VERGARA / Gloria Delgado-Pritchett – “MODERN FAMILY” (ABC)
BETTY WHITE / Elka Ostrovsky – “HOT IN CLEVELAND” (TV Land)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO)

BREAKING BAD (AMC)

DEXTER (Showtime)

GAME OF THRONES (HBO)

THE GOOD WIFE (CBS)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

30 ROCK (NBC)

THE BIG BANG THEORY (CBS)

GLEE (FOX)

MODERN FAMILY (ABC)

THE OFFICE (NBC)