Screen Actors Guild Awards: British stars shortlisted

Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones in The Theory of Everything

Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones are among the nominees at the Screen Actors Guild Awards for their roles in Stephen Hawking drama The Theory of Everything.

The lead actor category sees Redmayne up against fellow Brit Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays codebreaker Alan Turing in The Imitation Game.

In the lead actress category, Jones goes head to head with Gone Girl's British star Rosamund Pike.

The SAG awards are often seen as key indicators for the Oscars.

In The Theory of Everything, Redmayne plays famous physicist Hawking while Jones plays his first wife, Jane Wilde, on whose book the screenplay is based.

Showbusiness satire Birdman has the most nominations with four. Coming-of-age drama Boyhood, The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game have three nominations each.

All are also nominated for best ensemble cast performance alongside Wes Anderson comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Michael Keaton and Edward Norton are both nominated for their roles in Birdman

Birdman, about an ex-superhero actor embarking on a Broadway theatre comeback, also picks up a nomination for its leading man, Michael Keaton, and co-star Edward Norton.

Steve Carell completes the best actor shortlist for his role as eccentric billionaire John du Pont in Bennett Miller's wrestling drama Foxcatcher.

The best actress category also features Jennifer Aniston, who plays a woman battling chronic pain in Cake, Julianne Moore as a woman with early onset Alzheimer's disease in Still Alice and Reese Witherspoon - who plays a young woman who goes on a gruelling 1,100-mile hike in Wild.

Cumberbatch's Imitation Game co-star Keira Knightley receives a best supporting actress nomination along with Patricia Arquette (Boyhood), Emma Stone (Birdman), Meryl Streep (Into the Woods) and Naomi Watts (St Vincent).

The best supporting actor shortlist consists of Robert Duvall (The Judge), Ethan Hawke (Boyhood), Edward Norton (Birdman), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher) and JK Simmons (Whiplash).

The awards, which are voted for by more than 100,000 actors, feature five film categories and eight TV categories.

Cumberbatch also has a TV miniseries acting nomination for Sherlock: His Last Vow. Dame Maggie Smith is up for best actress in a TV drama for her role as the Dowager Countess of Grantham in Downton Abbey.

The winners will be announced on 25 January in Los Angeles. The full list of nominees is on the Screen Actors Guild website.