This week, the Screen Actors Guild named their nominees for the best performances of 2002. Rob Marshall's (N3RMA) Chicago (N3CHC) led the list with five nominations, including Best Ensemble, Best Actor for Richard Gere (N3RGE), Best Actress for Renee Zellweger (N3RZE), and two nods for Supporting Actress for Queen Latifah (N3QLA) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (N3CZE). The Hours (N3HRS), the movie based on Michael Cunningham's novel, followed closely on Chicago's heels with four nominations for Best Ensemble, Best Actress for Nicole Kidman (N3NKI), Best Supporting Actor for Ed Harris (N3EHA), and Best Supporting Actress for Julianne Moore (N3JMH).

Nominees for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role are Adrian Brody (N3ABR) for The Pianist (N3PIA), Daniel Day-Lewis (N3DDA) for Gangs of New York (N3GNY), and Nicholas Cage (N3NCA) for pulling double duty in Adaptation (N3ADP). Golden Globe winners Gere and Jack Nicholson (N3JNI) also snagged noms for their roles in Chicago and About Schmidt (N3SCH).

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Lead Role nominees are led by Golden Globe winners Kidman for her portrayal of author Virginia Woolfe in The Hours and Zellweger for her jazzy performance in Chicago. Other nominees include Salma Hayek (N3SHA) for Frida, Diane Lane (N3DLA) for Unfaithful, and Julianne Moore (N3JMF) for Far From Heaven (N3FAR).

Nominees for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role include Golden Globe winner Chris Cooper (N3CCO) for his portrayal of an orchid dealer in Adaptation, Harris for The Hours, and Alfred Molina (N3AMO) for Frida. The list also includes Dennis Quaid (N3DQF) for his role in Far From Heaven and Christopher Walken (N3CWA) for his performance in Catch Me If You Can.

Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role nominees surprisingly do not include Golden Globe winner Meryl Streep (N3MSA). Kathy Bates (N3KBA) got a nod for her role in About Schmidt and Julianne Moore got a second SAG nomination for The Hours. Other actresses on the list are Michelle Pfeiffer (N3MPF) for White Oleander and a pair of Chicago divas -- Latifah and Zeta-Jones.

The SAG equivalent of Best Picture is the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture category. Nominees include Adaptation, Chicago, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (N3LR2), and My Big Fat Greek Wedding (N3MBF). I don't know how the SAG vote will turn out, but I am pulling for My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

The ninth annual awards ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, March 9, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.