The 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards: Six Key Takeaways
The 28th Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards kicked off awards season (at least the televised portion of it) with an elegant and impassioned two-hour telecast in which SAG honored the best in film and television acting over the past year. Here, I recap the show and reflect on what the winners mean (and don’t mean) for the upcoming Oscars and Emmys.
What are the SAG Awards and why are they important?
The SAG Awards are comprised of 15 competitive categories that honor to individual actors and acting ensembles across film and television. The nominations are voted on by a subset of the membership of SAG-AFTRA, a labor union that represents approximately 160,000 film, television, and radio performers. The full membership then votes for the winners. By their very nature, the SAG Awards are a star-studded affair and over the past quarter century they have evolved into a highly esteemed awards ceremony.
Although SAG’s television winners only occasionally coincide with the Primetime Emmys (the top award for television), they have a strong track record as a bellwether for the Academy Awards (the top award for film). Since their inception, the SAG winner has gone on to win the corresponding Oscar 78% of the time in Best Actor, 74% of the time in Best Actress, 67% of the time in Best Supporting Actor, and 70% of the time in Best Supporting Actress. The top SAG award (Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture) has corresponded with the top Oscar (Best Picture) 46% of the time. Although SAG hardly has a perfect track record of predicting Oscars, it cannot be ignored — especially in an Oscar race as wildly unpredictable as this year’s.
Interestingly, the SAG telecast also marks the kickoff of this awards’ season this year in terms of televised awards shows. The SAG Awards typically airs after the Golden Globe, the Critics’ Choice, and the Grammy Awards, but with the Golden Globes not having a ceremony this year due to the scandal that recently rocked their parent organization and the Critics’ Choice and Grammy Awards delayed due to the timing of the omicron variant of COVID-19, the SAG Awards marked the first major awards show to be televised this year.
SIX KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE 28th SAG AWARDS
#1. The Oscar race is still wide open in several categories.
The top SAG film award went to CODA, Sian Heder’s coming-of-age dramedy about a hearing child of deaf adults (hence the title) who is faced with the choice between remaining her deaf family’s lifeline to the hearing world and pursuing a music career. It is a beautiful film and it is lovely to see its predominantly deaf cast awarded given how little representation individuals with different abilities have in Hollywood. Its win definitely enhances its status as a Best Picture contender at the Oscars, but it remains a long shot for a number of reasons, including the fact that in the last five years only one winner in this category went on to win Best Picture. Interestingly, the presumed front-runner for Best Picture (The Power of the Dog) went home empty-handed tonight. That may be bad news for the film given that in the last 10 years, only two films have won Best Picture without picking up a single award at SAG.
The races for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor look just as up-in-the-air as the race for Best Picture. SAG gave the Leading Actress trophy to Jessica Chastain for The Eyes of Tammy Faye. She is hardly a lock for the corresponding Oscar win given that this is her first major win of the season and she faces two beloved veterans (Nicole Kidman and Olivia Colman) and two powerhouses that she did not face in this race (Penelope Cruz and Kristen Stewart). SAG gave the Supporting Actor trophy to Troy Kotsur for his performance in CODA, significantly increasing the likelihood that he will defeat presumed frontrunner Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog).
In contrast to those three categories, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress are looking increasingly locked for Will Smith (King Richard) and Ariana DeBose (West Side Story), whose wins tonight seem to be another stop on their march to the Oscar stage. They have picked up huge buzz, wins from critics’ groups, and a Golden Globe on the journey so far. However, a loss at either the forthcoming Critics’ Choice or BAFTA Awards could make these races more competitive.
Click here for my article on this year’s Academy Award nominations
#2. Squid Game, Ted Lasso, and Succession are the top Emmy contenders
There are many reasons the SAG Awards and Primetime Emmy Awards rarely converge when it comes to winners. These include the fact that their eligibility calendars diverge significantly (SAG follows the calendar year and the Emmys follow the traditional summer- to-summer television season) and the fact that they do not separate their acting nominees into lead and supporting. But major love from SAG can certainly portend Emmy glory.
Perhaps the most notable story of the evening in terms of television winners is that Lee Jung-jae and Jung Ho-yeon defeated the cast of Succession and The Morning Show for the SAG Award for Actor and Actress in a Drama Series. Their wins suggest that Squid Game has major love in the industry, which bodes well for its performance at the Emmys in September. However, Succession’s win in the top category (Ensemble in a Drama Series) and the standing ovation the cast got suggests that love for Succession in the industry remains rampant.
The comedy series awards were split between Ted Lasso and Hacks, just like they were at last year’s Emmys. With Hacks unlikely to air its second season in time to be eligible for this year’s Emmys, the smart money is on a Ted Lasso sweep. I had suspected — and frankly hoped — that the even more brilliant Only Murders in the Building would win big tonight, but it went home empty-handed. It will be interesting to see if it can become a serious contender for some major wins at the Emmys.
As for the two limited series/TV movie awards, Kate Winslet added a SAG award to her impressive and deserved haul for Mare of Easttown. She already won the Emmy last year so will not be eligible this year. In contrast, Michael Keaton will be eligible for his SAG-winning role in Dopesick and given what an incredible highlight his acceptance speech was, he should not be underestimated.
Click here for my recap of last year’s Primetime Emmy Awards
#3. The list of winners include historic diversity and inclusivity
Last year, all four individual acting winners for film (Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, Daniel Kaluuya, and Youn Yuh-jung) were non-white. It was a historic milestone undercut somewhat by the fact that the top award went to the only nominee with an ensemble dominated by white actors (The Trial of the Chicago 7) and all eight television awards went to white actors (with the lone exception of Karen Robinson who won as part of Schitt’s Creek’s ensemble).
In some ways, this year was even more impressive. Lee Jung-jae and Jung Ho-yeon are Korean, adding to the impressive list of Korean actors who have won SAG Awards in recent years (i.e. the cast of Parasite and Youn Yuh-jung). Will Smith became the fifth black actor to win the SAG in this category. Ariana DeBose identifies as queer and is both black and Latina. And as previously stated, Troy Kotsur and the majority of the cast of CODA are deaf. It was wonderful to see so many members of underrepresented and marginalized groups get feted.
#4: The show was elegant and entertaining.
The SAG Awards have never been a television “event” in the ways that other award shows like the Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, Golden Globes, or even Tonys have been. They have always been straightforward and workmanlike. Due to COVID, last year’s telecast was cut in half from 2 hours to 1 hour, conducted remotely, and was pre-recorded. Overall, the experiment was mostly a success. The show was well-produced, fast-paced, and technical snafus were virtually nonexistent (thanks to the producers ability to edit the telecast before airing). This year’s ceremony was a return to form.
The theme was “Together Again,” but it was never clear if that referred to the fact that they were all gathered together again in person following last year’s virtual ceremony or that they were reuniting iconic co-stars throughout the night as presenters. The confusion was fueled by the fact that there were really only three notable cast reunions — Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino from the 1997 cult classic Romey and Michele’s High School Reunion, Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn from the hit drama Scandal, and Hamilton trio Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, and Leslie Odom, Jr. Overall the presenters were very well chosen and awkward banter was kept to a minimum.
There were numerous memorable acceptance speeches throughout the ceremony. Troy Kotsur and Marlee Matlin’s tributes to deaf actors were beautiful and powerful. The sheer shock and joy of Lee Jung-jae and Jung Ho-yeon was infectious. Succession star Brian Cox made an impassioned and effective speech about Ukraine. Will Smith, Jessica Chastain, Jason Sudeikis, and Jean Smart were extraordinarily humble and charismatic. And then there’s Michael Keaton. His acceptance speech was a tour de force that started with him comically running to the stage because he was in the restroom when he won, then turned into a compelling discussion about the simultaneous narcissism and transformative power of actors, and ended with a devastating tribute to his late nephew and sister. It was the unexpected highlight of the night and is a reminder of how powerful and spontaneous televised award shows can be.
#5: Helen Mirren is a Legend and a Class Act
Dame Helen Mirren became the 59th recipient of the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award. (SAG started giving out the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1962 and with a few exceptions have continued to give them out annually since then.) Originally, Kate Winslet was supposed to present the award to Mirren. Unfortunately, she was unable to be there and appeared briefly via a live feed from her home in England. She handed over the reins to the equally brilliant Cate Blanchett, who did a lovely introduction of Mirren. Before the Dame took the stage, a fantastic clip package was presented that highlighted the extraordinary diversity of roles that she has played. Seeing her scenes in Prime Suspect, Calendar Girls, The Queen, and the Fast & Furious films side-by-side is jaw-dropping. She had nothing to prove and gave a predictably elegant, humorous, and humble speech. Hopefully the 76-year-old legend will give us another decade or more of brilliant work.
#6: The Losses This Past Year Were Unfathomable
As the show entered the final stretch, Maggie Gyllenhaal took the stage to introduce the annual “In Memoriam” segment, which highlight the great actors that died since the last ceremony. I feel like I say this every year, but the sheer number of iconic actors that died in the past year feels devastating and unfathomable. This year’s list included Ed Asner, Bob Saget, Clarence Williams III, Olympia Dukakis, Howard Hesseman, Markie Post, Gavin MacLeod, Michael K. Williams, Peter Scolari, Charles Grodin, Meat Loaf, Ned Beatty, Norm MacDonald, Louie Anderson, and Peter Bogdanovich. The segment finished with a pair who left us recently and are likely among the top 10 most beloved actors in America history — Betty White and Sidney Poitier.
28th SAG Awards Film Winners:
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: CODA (AppleTV+)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture: Will Smith, King Richard (Warner Bros.)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye (Searchlight Pictures)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Troy Kotsur, CODA (AppleTV+)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story (Disney/20th Century Studios)
- Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture: No Time To Die (MGM/UA)
28th SAG Awards Television Winners:
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series: Succession (HBO)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series: Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game (Netflix)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series: Jung Ho-yeon, Squid Game (Netflix)
- Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series: Ted Lasso (AppleTV+)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso (AppleTV+)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series: Jean Smart, Hacks (HBO)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series: Michael Keaton, Dopesick (Hulu)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series: Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown (HBO)
- Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series: Squid Game (Netflix)
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