The Screen Actors Guild announced the nominations for their 2015 annual awards.

The guild honors the best in acting and acts as a key precursor to the Oscars, especially since its ranks include a number of Academy of Motion Picture, Arts and Science members. Usually, the winner of a SAG award ends up going home with an Oscar. Last year, for example, Eddie Redmayne, Julianne Moore, Patricia Arquette and J.K. Simmons won SAG awards before going on to win Oscars.

This year, the Best Cast award nominees offered a number of surprises. "Spotlight" was nominated alongside "Trumbo," "Beasts of No Nation," "The Big Short" and "Straight Outta Compton."

In the Best Actor category, Bryan Cranston's nomination for "Trumbo" surprised many. He will compete against Johnny Depp for "Black Mass," Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Revenant," Michael Fassbender for his work on "Steve Jobs" and Eddie Redmayne for "The Danish Girl."

In the Best Actress category, Cate Blanchett is nominated for her work in "Carol," alongside Brie Larson for "Room," Saoirse Ronan for "Brooklyn," Helen Mirren for "Woman in Gold," and Sarah Silverman for "I Smile Back." Mirren and Silverman were among the surprises, as both films were completely off the radar during the awards season.

Christian Bale also surprised for his work on "The Big Short," as did Idris Elba for "Beasts of No Nation" and Jacob Tremblay for "Room." Michael Shannon was nominated for "99 Homes" alongside Mark Rylance for "Bridge of Spies."

Kate Winslet led the Supporting Actress race for her work on "Steve Jobs." She is nominated alongside Rachel McAdams for "Spotlight," Mirren for "Trumbo," Rooney Mara for "Carol," and Alicia Vikander for "The Danish Girl."

The nominations definitely surprised, as many actors were left out, possibly killing their Oscar chances. Among them were Benicio del Toro for "Sicario," Jennifer Lawrence for "Joy," Charlotte Rampling for "45 Years," Sylvester Stallone for "Creed," and the entire cast of "The Hateful Eight." Michael Caine, Jane Fonda and Harvey Keitel all missed out on their terrific work for "Youth," as did "The Martian," which was completely snubbed. Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo, who were thought to be front-runners to win the award for Best supporting Actor, were also snubbed for their performances on "Spotlight."

However, it is important to note that the SAG awards are not always 100 percent accurate. Sometimes nominees at the SAG awards do not end up with Oscar nominations. Last year, for example, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jennifer Aniston and Naomi Watts were all nominated for SAG but did not make the shortlist at the Oscars.

The SAG awards are scheduled for Jan. 30, 2016.

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