Yesterday, the 4th of April, at 9 pm EST or 6 pm PST, which translates to this morning at 2 am GMT, the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards took place. Customarily, except for the very first two ceremonies, held in Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, USA, this year’s SAG Awards were a bit unique, like so many other events due to the pandemic, by being held online altogether. The awards were televised by TNT and TBS in the States, whereas here, in the UK, you could tune in to Instagram, YouTube and Twitter to learn the updates. You can view the pre-show, the full show and all of the acceptance speeches on YouTube. The SAG Awards were special also by having had their winners notified of their wins prior to the awards ceremony and their speeches were pre-taped. The celebration was also shorter than usual and held in April instead of January, which is when it is customarily held. And again, these are just some of the many joys of the consequences of the worldwide pandemic.
The Awards stayed true to its nature with their I Am An Actor, hosts and everything else, except for being done entirely online. Viola Davis held In Memoriam to honour some of the talent that passed away since last year’s awards.
The SAG Awards were first held and aired live in 1995 from Universal Studios’ Stage 12, while the second were held and aired live from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and every subsequent ceremony was held at the Shrine Auditorium. The award features a statue of an actor holding two masks and is called The Actor. It is awarded to winners by Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists also called SAG-AFTRA. Two yearly randomly chosen committees, one for television and one for film, of members of the union select nominees and vote the winners. The ceremony first introduced having a host in 2017. This year, the nominees were presented by Daveed Diggs and Lilly Collins, while the winners were announced by various talent as per usual.
Despite being pre-taped and held online entirely, the nominees and winners were still a treat to watch and a delight to listen to; some of them dressed more casually and some super glamorously, while Jason Sudekis wore “My Body My Choice” sweater.
The Awards kick off with the amazing Ted Lasso cast making us laugh out loud by being in their usual characters talking about the nominees and listing some of their favourites in the show’s setting of their locker room. The sections in between announcements are most hilarious with actors giving us glimpses of their special skills and sharing their recollections of the past year – from Josh Gad’s being forced to read books to Dame Helen Mirren’s encounters with bears and to Daniel Levy’s admitting he had to move in with his parents during the past year and failing to cook.
Mark Ruffalo’s thank you speech best describes what acting is when he says that “Acting doesn’t happen in a vacuum, it happens between people”. In a true atmosphere of the television series he won the award for performance in, he warns us that “Mental illness is a real thing and it is important that we’re honest and open about it and have no fear and shame”. Late Chadwick Boseman’s wife Taylor Simone Ledward Boseman accepted his award is his name.
The following is a full list of this year’s SAG awards recipients:
Motion Picture:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:
Chadwick Boseman (Levee – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:
Viola Davis (Ma Rainey – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:
Daniel Kaluuya (Fred Hampton – “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:
Yuh-Jung Youn (Soonja – “Minari”)
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in The Trial of the Chicago 7:
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Bobby Seale)
Sacha Baron Cohen (Abbie Hoffman)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Richard Schultz)
Kelvin Harrison Jr. (Fred Hampton)
Michael Keaton (Ramsey Clark)
Frank Langella (Judge Julius Hoffman)
John Carroll Lynch (David Dellinger)
Eddie Redmayne (Tom Hayden)
Mark Rylance (William Kunstler)
Alex Sharp (Rennie Davis)
Jeremy Strong (Jerry Rubin)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture:
“Wonder Woman 1984”
Television Program:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series:
Mark Ruffalo (Dominick Birdsey/Thomas Birdsey – “I Know This Much Is True”)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series:
Anya Taylor-Joy (Beth Harmon – “The Queen’s Gambit”)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series:
Jason Bateman (Marty Byrde – “Ozark”)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series:
Gillian Anderson (Margaret Thatcher – “The Crown”)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series:
Jason Sudekis (Ted Lasso – “Ted Lasso”)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series:
Catherine O’Hara (Moira Rose – “Schitt’s Creek”)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series:
The Crown:
Gillian Anderson (Margaret Thatcher)
Marion Bailey (Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother)
Helena Bonham Carter (Princess Margaret)
Stephen Boxer (Denis Thatcher)
Olivia Colman (Queen Elizabeth II)
Emma Corrin (Princess Diana)
Erin Doherty (Princess Anne)
Charles Edwards (Martin Charteris)
Emerald Fennell (Camilla Shand)
Tobias Menzies (Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh)
Josh O’Connor (Prince Charles)
Sam Phillips (Equerry)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series:
Schitt’s Creek:
Chris Elliott (Roland Schitt)
Emily Hampshire (Stevie Budd)
Daniel Levy (David Rose)
Eugene Levy (Johnny Rose)
Sarah Levy (Twyla Sands)
Annie Murphy (Alexis Rose)
Catherine O’Hara (Moira Rose)
Noah Reid (Patrick Brewer)
Jennifer Robertson (Jocelyn Schitt)
Karen Robinson (Ronnie Lee)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series:
“The Mandalorian”
To each and every nominee and winner, the New Feminist congratulates you!
