Kidman gets Oscar boost

Nicole Kidman's Oscar campaign has received a major boost with the actress scoring a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for her sexed up performance in The Paperboy.

Kidman, who also received a nomination for her TV movie Hemingway Gellhorn, will have plenty of mates at the January 27 SAG ceremony, with Naomi Watts and Hugh Jackman also receiving SAG nominations on Wednesday in Los Angeles.

The SAG Awards are one of the major pre-Oscar award ceremonies, with a nomination keeping Oscar campaigns alive, while SAG snubs can torpedo hopes.

Russell Crowe (Les Miserables), Toni Collette (Hitchcock) and Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook) were snubbed by SAG voters.

Jackman, for his leading performance in Les Miserables, is one of the frontrunners for the best acting Oscar and his SAG best actor nomination continues his journey to a possible Academy Award statuette.

Watts, for the tsunami survivor film The Impossible, is also a great shot at an Oscar nomination after winning over SAG voters.

Kidman's nomination for The Paperboy, based on Peter Dexter's book, was one of the big shocks of the SAG nomination ceremony as the Australian redhead has received little recognition for the role until Wednesday.

With Kidman also receiving the nod in the TV category for Hemingway Gellhorn, her Oscar chances have received a major boost.

Kidman, Jackman, Watts, Crowe, Weaver and Collette have another chance on Friday (AEDT) when the Golden Globes nominations are announced - another major pre-Oscar bellwether.

The Oscar nominations will be revealed on January 10 while the Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 24.