British actress Maggie Smith scores four SAG nominations

British actress Maggie Smith cleaned up at the SAG Awards nominations Wednesday, garnering four nods from the Screen Actors' Guild. 

The 77-year-old two-time Oscar winner was nominated for best supporting actress and ensemble for “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” a dark comedy about retired Brits who move into an Indian hotel. She garnered another best supporting and ensemble nom for her role in the beloved PBS show “Downton Abbey.”

“Lincoln," “Les Miserables” and romantic comedy “Silver Linings Playbook” also got four nominations apiece, including Best Ensemble — SAG's answer to the Academy Awards Best Picture noms — and "Argo," the dramatic retelling of 1980's joint CIA-Canadian Iranian hostage mission, got an ensemble vote and two other awards, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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Voted on by the members of the Screen Actors Guild, the SAG awards are some of the most respected and most watched in the lead-up to the Oscars. Because actors play a large role in voting for the Academy Awards, SAG nominations are read like tea leaves for which films and actors will get nods from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Reuters reported. 

It's definitely awards season in Hollywood: the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards nominees were announced Monday, and tomorrow, nominees for the Golden Globes will be announced. Oscar noms emerge on January 10, 2013 (but don't worry, people are already in full speculation mode.) 

SAG has the full list of nominees here. 

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