Screen Idol nominees announced (3291)

Los Angeles's Outfest has announced the nominees for the second annual Screen Idol Awards, which honor the best four performances--Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress--in a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender role in a feature film or movie for television.

As the only awards honor of its kind, the nominees and their respective roles are as follows:

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Jane Adams, Songcatcher; Judi Dench, The Shipping News; Olympia Dukakis, Armistead Maupin's Further Tales of the City; Calista Flockhart, Things You Can Tell Just By Looking at Her; Miriam Shor, Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Billy Campbell, Armistead Maupin's Further Tales of the City; James Gandolfini, The Mexican; Ryan Phillippe, Gosford Park; Michael Pitt, Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Jonathan Tucker, The Deep End

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Rachel Griffiths, Blow Dry; Laura Harring, Mulholland Drive; Natasha Richardson, Blow Dry; Yolanda Ross, Stranger Inside; Naomi Watts, Mulholland Drive

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Brian Cox, L.I.E.; Paul Franklin Dano, L.I.E.; Arye Gross, Big Eden; John Cameron Mitchell, Hedwig and the Angry Inch; Eduardo Noriega, Plata Quemada (Burnt Money)

To have been eligible for the award, the performances must have been in a gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender role in a feature film or a film made for television or miniseries. (Performances in episodic television series such as Will & Grace and Queer As Folk are not eligible.) Feature films must have enjoyed a U.S. theatrical release of at least one week during the 2001 calendar year; films made for television and miniseries must have premiered during the 2001 calendar year.

Beginning March 1, the general public will be able to vote online at www.outfest.org for their choices for each award. Open voting will close on April 15. The Screen Idol Awards winners will be announced on April 22.

The recipients of the inaugural 2000 awards were Vanessa Redgrave (If These Walls Could Talk 2) and Robert Downey Jr. (Wonder Boys).