On Feb. 23, Netflix streamed the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG). The SAG Awards honor actors that SAG-AFSTRA (the actors union to ensure fair wages, safe working conditions, and access to benefits) votes on, which may indicate possible winners for the Oscars.
The show started with host, Kristen Bell, doing a parody of her famous song, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” titled, “Do You Want to be an Actor?” Snippets of actors in the audience were featured, showing them when they first started out as actors. It was followed by highlighting several actors in an opening bit called “I am an actor,” where Mikey Madison, Bowen Yang, Jessica Williams, and Jodie Foster shared bits and pieces of their lives.
Pamela Anderson started the night of awards by presenting “Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” to Kieran Culkin for his role in “A Real Pain.” Culkin then went on to win an Oscar for the same category. For the same award for females, Colman Domingo and Keke Palmer awarded Zoe Saldaña for her role in Emilia Peréz, who also won an Oscar for the same category.
Presenting the Actor for “Male Actor in a Drama Series” was Quinta Brunson and Andrew Scott. They awarded Hiroyuki Sanada for his memorable role in “Shōgun.” Brunson and Scott were followed by actors Millie Bobby Brown and Drew Starkey, who presented the award for “Female Actor in a Drama Series.” This award was won by Anna Sawai for her crushing role in the same film. She had a very emotional and touching acceptance speech.
Winning “Male Actor in a Comedy Series” was Martin Short for his hilarious role in “Only Murders in the Building.” Jean Smart won “Female Actor in a Comedy Series” for her role in Hacks, given the award by comedian and actors Molly Shannon and Kumail Ali Nanjiani.
The Kerri(y)s, Kerry Washington and Keri Russell banded together to award Jessica Gunning “Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series” for her role in “Baby Reindeer.” During her acceptance speech, she reflected on her journey to getting to where she is now when she started at an office job but never gave up her dreams.
Taking a break from the standard awards, Julia Louis-Dreyfus gave the “SAG Lifetime Achievement Award” to Jane Fonda, who has been on screen for over 65 years and recently wrote a memoir. She’s not only an actress, but an activist to whom most of the speech praised and featured. She was extremely grateful for the award and told the audience that she is not done yet.
The ensemble of “Shōgun” was awarded “Ensemble in a Drama Series.” Since this movie’s language consisted of 70% Japanese, the actors expressed how this award proved that acting is a universal language. The ensemble of “Only Murders in the Building” won their first ensemble award for a comedy series after being nominated several other times, to which Selena Gomez repeated how much she couldn’t believe they finally won.
After Lisa Kudrow’s memorial speech, Timothée Chalamet won “Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture” for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” During his acceptance speech, he emphasized that he wants to be “one of the greats” and devoted five and a half years to the role. Demi Moore won the female award in the category for her role in “The Substance.” Lastly, Harrison Ford handed the cast of “Conclave” the award for “Cast in a Motion Picture.”
The night was filled with previews of new movies, several awards, shoutouts to LAFD, and lots of fun. And that’s what you missed at the SAG Awards.
