The 30th annual SAG Awards were held in Los Angeles on Saturday night (February 24th)—marking the first time an awards show streamed live on Netflix. Though the ceremony had no host, Idris Elba kicked things off and made mention of the SAG-AFTRA strike last year. He honored “all of you both here and at home that stood up for SAG-AFTRA in solidarity and support.”
In the same vein, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher gave a powerful speech later in the evening, telling union members: “You survived the longest strike in our union’s history with courage and conviction. The journey was arduous, it came with great sacrifice and unrelenting stress. Your solidarity ignited workers around the world, triggering what forever be remembered as the hot labor summer.”
The big winner of the evening for film was Oppenheimer, taking home three awards in total. Alongside Best Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, Cillian Murphy won the award for Best Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture while Robert Downey Jr. won Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.
Lily Gladstone took home the award for Best Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon, heating up the race for Best Actress at this year’s Academy Awards. “It's truly a gift that we get to do this for a living," Gladstone said during her acceptance speech. “We bring empathy into a world that so much needs it. It's so easy to distance ourselves. It's so easy to close off, to stop feeling, and we all bravely keep feeling, and that humanizes people. That brings people out of the shadows; it brings visibility."
For television, The Bear took home three awards in total including Best Male and Female Actor in a Comedy Series for Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri respectively.
Pedro Pascal was surprised to win the award for Best Male Actor in a Drama Series for his role in The Last of Us. “This is wrong for a number of reasons. I'm a little drunk,” he admitted. “I thought I could get drunk and thank you HBO. Jeez Louise, I'm making a fool of myself but thank you so much for this! … I've been in the union since 1999 so it's an incredible f—cking honor.” He ended his speech by saying, “I'm going to have a panic attack and I'm going to leave."
Presenters for the evening included Greta Lee, Troy Kotsur, Naomi Watts, Brendan Frasier, Jessica Chastain, Geena Davis, and Jeff Goldblum. Many former costars reunited onstage to present awards as well, including those from Lord of the Rings, The Devil Wears Prada, Modern Family, and Breaking Bad. Billie Eilish also signed Melissa McCarthy’s forehead with a sharpie before they presented the award for Best Female Actor in a Comedy Series.
Finally, Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper presented Barbra Streisand with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Aniston highlighted the fact that Streisand was the first woman to write, produce, direct, and star in a film with 1983’s Yentl.
During her acceptance speech, the Funny Girl actor shared that she has been a member of SAG-AFTRA for over 60 years. “Everything was so beautiful up on that screen,” she said, recalling her dreams of becoming an actor when she was younger. “That make-believe world was much more pleasant than anything I was experiencing. I didn’t like reality. I wanted to be in the movies, even though I knew I didn’t look like the other women on the screen. My mother said, ‘you better learn to type,’ but I didn’t listen. Somehow, some way, thank you God, it all came true.”
See the full list of winners below:
Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture
Oppenheimer
Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Ensemble in a Drama Series Succession Male Actor in a Drama Series
Pedro Pascal, The Last of Us
Female Actor in a Drama Series
Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
Ensemble in a Comedy Series
The Bear
Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Steven Yeun, Beef
Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Ali Wong, Beef
Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
The Last of Us
