SAG or Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide.

According to SAG’s Mission Statement, the Guild seeks to: negotiate and enforce collective bargaining agreements that establish equitable levels of compensation, benefits, and working conditions for its performers; collect compensation for exploitation of recorded performances by its members, and provide protection against unauthorized use of those performances; and preserve and expand work opportunities for its members.

In the past years, SAG nominations echo earlier choices made by various movie critics organizations and the Golden Globes who announced their nominations earlier in the year. For Academy Award (Oscar) watchers, the SAG award nominations are considered a bellwether of Oscar acting nominations.

Many previous Screen Actors Guild (SAG) nominees went on the be nominated in the Oscars, and many previous SAG winners have likewise gone on to pick up the most coveted prize of them all. However, there have been misses as well. A SAG win is by no means a guarantee of an Oscar.

Here are the SAG Nominations 2010 as revealed in the SilverScreen Theater at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood.

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:
JEFF BRIDGES – “CRAZY HEART” (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
GEORGE CLOONEY – “UP IN THE AIR” (Paramount Pictures)
COLIN FIRTH – “A SINGLE MAN” (The Weinstein Company)
MORGAN FREEMAN – “INVICTUS” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
JEREMY RENNER – “THE HURT LOCKER” (Summit Entertainment)

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:
SANDRA BULLOCK – “THE BLIND SIDE” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
HELEN MIRREN – “THE LAST STATION” (Sony Pictures Classics)
CAREY MULLIGAN – “AN EDUCATION” (Sony Pictures Classics)
GABOUREY SIDIBE – “PRECIOUSE” (Lionsgate)
MERYL STREEP – “JULIE & JULIA” (Columbia Pictures)

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:
MATT DAMON r – “INVICTUS” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
WOODY HARRELSON – “THE MESSENGER” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – “THE LAST STATION” (Sony Pictures Classics)
STANLEY TUCCI – “THE LOVELY BONES” (Paramount Pictures)
CHRISTOPH WALTZ – “INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS” (The Weinstein Company)

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:
PENÉLOPE CRUZ – “NINE” (The Weinstein Company)
VERA FARMIGA – “UP IN THE AIR” (Paramount Pictures)
ANNA KENDRICK – “UP IN THE AIR” (Paramount Pictures)
DIANE KRUGER – “INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS” (The Weinstein Company)
MO’NIQUE – “PRECIOUS” (Lionsgate)

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:
AN EDUCATION (Sony Pictures Classics)
THE HURT LOCKER (Summit Entertainment)
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS (The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures)
NINE (The Weinstein Company)
PRECIOUS (Lionsgate)

SAG Nominations 2010 onOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series:
‘The Closer’
‘Dexter’
‘The Good Wife’
‘Mad Men’
‘True Blood’

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series:
’30 Rock’
‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’
‘Glee’
‘Modern Family’
‘The Office’

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series:
Simon Baker, ‘The Mentalist’
Bryan Cranston, ‘Breaking Bad’
Michael C. Hall, ‘Dexter’
Jon Hamm, ‘Mad Men’
Hugh Laurie, ‘House’

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Female Actress in a Drama Series:
Patricia Arquette, ‘Medium’
Glenn Close, ‘Damages’
Mariska Hargitay, ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’
Holly Hunter, ‘Saving Grace’
Julianna Margulies, ‘The Good Wife’
Kyra Sedgwick, ‘The Closer’

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series:
Alec Baldwin, ’30 Rock’
Steve Carell, ‘The Office’
Larry David, ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’
Tony Shalhoub, ‘Monk’
Charlie Sheen, ‘Two and a Half Men’

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Female Actress in a Comedy Series:
Christina Applegate, ‘Samantha Who?’
Toni Collette, ‘The United States of Tara’
Edie Falco, ‘Nurse Jackie’
Tina Fey, ’30 Rock’
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, ‘The New Adventures of Old Christine’

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries:
Kevin Bacon, ‘Taking Chance’
Cuba Gooding, Jr., ‘Gifted Hands’
Jeremy Irons, ‘Georgia O’Keefe’
Kevin Kline, ‘Great Performances: Cyrano de Bergerac’
Tom Wilkinson, ‘A Number’

SAG Nominations 2010 on Outstanding Performance by a Female Actress in a Television Movie or Miniseries:
Joan Allen, ‘Georgia O’Keefe’
Drew Barrymore, ‘Grey Gardens’
Ruby Dee, ‘America’
Jessica Lange, ‘Grey Gardens’
Sigourney Weaver, ‘Prayers for Bobby’