Streep 'robbed' of award nominations

The Hours should have been Streep's entry for best actress

Meryl Streep has missed out on two nominations for the prestigious Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards because of a clerical mistake at Sony's Columbia Pictures, according to reports.

Streep - who features in acclaimed movies The Hours and Adaptation - ended up with nothing when the SAG nods were announced this week.

Her publicist told USA Today newspaper the omission was because her name was put forward for best actress for Adaptation instead of the supporting category.

As a result she ended up competing against herself in The Hours, a role for which she was put forward as best actress, and lost out on votes for either role.

Meryl Streep won a supporting actress Golden Globe for Adaptation

"I'm sure what happened is her votes got split," said Lois Smith, Streep's publicist.

Streep won the best supporting actress Golden Globe for Adaptation.

A Sony spokesman said the company intended Streep's name to be submitted in the same supporting category for the SAG awards.

But, he added, "a low-level employee" at the studio incorrectly put her forward for best actress.

The mistake could be costly for both Streep and The Hours in the race for the Oscars.

"It had to have cost her two nominations," said The Hours producer Scott Rudin.

The SAG results are considered the strongest indicators of the winners at the Academy Awards.

Repeat error

If Streep had been nominated for The Hours, the film would have tied with Chicago for the most nominations and looked like an Oscar front-runner.

According to USA Today, the studio notified SAG of the mistake as soon as it was discovered but the guild refused to do anything about it.

Jennifer Connelly did not miss out at the Oscars

In a prepared statement, Yale Summers, chairman of SAG's awards committee, said voting had started by the time Columbia discovered the error.

The same mistake was made last year in the SAG awards when Jennifer Connelly was wrongly put forward in the best actress category for A Beautiful Mind.

However, Connelly did go on to win the best supporting actress Oscar at the Academy Awards.

The SAG awards will be held on 9 March in Los Angeles followed by the Academy Awards on 23 March, also in Los Angeles.