by Shannonn Kelly
01:26AM, EST, January 23, 2010

Continuing with award season, four-time Actor® Nominee John Slattery (Mad Men) will open the 16th Annual SAG Awards® with a ‘Red Carpet Toast’ courtesy of their sponsor Taittinger Champagne. The SAG Awards will broadcast tonight, Saturday January 22, on TBT and TNT at 8PM, EST.

Two randomly selected panels-one for television and one for film-each comprised of 2,100 Guild members from across the United States, chose this year’s Actor and Stunt ensemble honors nominees. Integrity Voting Systems, the Awards’ official teller, mailed the nominations secret ballots November 25, 2009 and Voting was completed by 5:00 PM, Monday, December 14, 2009.

Two categories with heated nominations toward the road to Oscar include:

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
MERYL STREEP for “Julie & Julia” (7 previous category noms)
SANDRA BULLOCK for “The Blind Side” (1st category nom) *Already Won Golden Globe
HELEN MIRREN for “The Last Station” (2 previous category noms)
CAREY MULLIGAN for An Education” (1st category nom)
GABOUREY SIDIBE / “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (1st category nom)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
JEFF BRIDGES for “Crazy Heart” (2 previous category noms)
GEORGE CLOONEY / “Up in the Air” (4 previous category noms)
COLIN FIRTH / “A Single Man” (3 previous category noms)
MORGAN FREEMAN for “Invictus” (4 previous category noms)
JEREMY RENNER / “The Hurt Locker” (1st category nom)

For a complete downloadable and long list of the nominees, please click here.