The 30th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards took place in Los Angeles on Saturday evening, with not too many surprises in the mix leading up to Oscar night on March 10.
“Oppenheimer” and Cillian Murphy got another Oscar boost, picking up the ensemble award and leading actor in a motion picture for the title role after Murphy won the BAFTA in the same category last weekend. Lily Gladstone won leading actress for “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
So far this awards season, “Oppenheimer” has won everything it was expected to win – and at the SAG Awards, it added a big prize for which it hadn’t been the strong favorite, taking down “Barbie” and “American Fiction” to win an award that had supplied evidence of an Oscar upset in the making a few times in the past. (“Shakespeare in Love,” “Crash,” “Parasite” and “CODA” are four examples.) In this case, the ensemble win for “Oppenheimer” suggests that any thoughts of a Best Picture upset this year are probably nothing more than pipe dreams.
The win for Murphy reinforced his status as the frontrunner for the Best Picture Oscar, with the SAG winner going on to take the Oscar 17 times in the last 19 years. (The only exceptions came when the late Chadwick Boseman won the SAG Award but lost the Oscar to Anthony Hopkins in 2021, and when Denzel Washington won SAG but lost to Casey Affleck in 2017.) Paul Giamatti may remain the category’s sentimental favorite, but Murphy retains the upper hand he’s had since “Oppenheimer” was released in July 2023.
The actress win for Gladstone, on the other hand, shook that race, where Emma Stone was beginning to acquire the feeling of a solid frontrunner. The sheer glee and wild abandon of Stone’s performance in “Poor Things” remains a formidable lure for Oscar voters — but for Gladstone’s quieter but wrenching turn in “Killers of the Flower Moon” to prevail at SAG means that she could well do the same at the Oscars, where she’d be the first Native American woman to win an acting award.
In the supporting film categories, nobody went into the show expecting surprises, and nobody got them when Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”) continued their seemingly unstoppable rolls through awards season.
On the TV front, it was more of what we’ve been seeing for the last few months — which is to say, awards for “Beef,” “The Bear” and “Succession.” The last of those shows didn’t win any individual awards but did take the ensemble prize; perhaps we’re too far removed from the show’s May 2023 finale for SAG Awards voters to prioritize giving it too many more trophies, apart from the cast award that actor Alan Ruck characterized as “one last hurrah.”
Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri from “The Bear” continued their hot streaks at awards shows, while that show also won the comedy ensemble award to sweep all three SAG Awards comedy categories. There’s no ensemble category in the limited series field, so “Beef” had to settle for a smaller sweep, with wins for lead performers Ali Wong and Steven Yeun.
The drama categories provided the closest thing to surprises, though Pedro Pascal’s win for “The Last of Us” would have been more of a shock if the trio of Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin and Matthew Macfadyen hadn’t split the “Succession” vote three ways in that category. In the drama actress category, Elizabeth Debicki from “The Crown” seemed stunned to win in a field that also included “Succession” star Sarah Snook.
Barbra Streisand paid tribute to her childhood and getting lost in the movies during her Life Achievement honor, which was presented by actors Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper.
SAG Award winners in the film categories go on to win the Oscar about 75% of the time overall, and 85% of the time over the last decade. The award for ensemble cast has gone to the eventual Best Picture winner 14 times in 28 years, including three times in the last four years with “Parasite,” “CODA” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
For the last two years, the four SAG film winners have also won Oscars and the ensemble winner has taken Best Picture.
Here is the full list of nominees. Winners are indicated by *WINNER.
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
“American Fiction”
“Barbie”
“The Color Purple”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Oppenheimer” *WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Lead Role, Motion Picture
Bradley Cooper, “Maestro”
Colman Domingo, “Rustin”
Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”
Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer” *WINNER
Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Lead Role, Motion Picture
Annette Bening, “Nyad”
Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon” *WINNER
Carey Mulligan, “Maestro”
Margot Robbie, “Barbie”
Emma Stone, “Poor Things”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, Motion Picture
Sterling K. Brown, “American Fiction”
Willem Dafoe, “Poor Things”
Robert De Niro, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer” *WINNER
Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, Motion Picture
Emily Blunt, “Oppenheimer”
Danielle Brooks, “The Color Purple”
Penelope Cruz, “Ferrari”
Jodie Foster, “Nyad”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers” *WINNER
Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series
“Abbott Elementary”
“Barry”
“The Bear” *WINNER
“Only Murders in the Building”
“Ted Lasso”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Brett Goldstein, “Ted Lasso”
Bill Hader, “Barry”
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”
Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear” *WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Alex Borstein, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear” *WINNER
Hannah Waddingham, “Ted Lasso”
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
“The Crown”
“The Gilded Age”
“The Last of Us”
“The Morning Show”
“Succession” *WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Brian Cox, “Succession”
Kieran Culkin, “Succession”
Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show”
Matthew Macfadyen, “Succession”
Pedro Pascal, “The Last of Us” *WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston, “The Morning Show”
Elizabeth Debicki, “The Crown” *WINNER
Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”
Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”
Sarah Snook, “Succession”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Uzo Aduba, “Painkiller”
Kathryn Hahn, “Tiny Beautiful Things”
Brie Larson, “Lessons in Chemistry”
Bel Powley, “A Small Light”
Ali Wong, “Beef” *WINNER
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Matt Bomer, “Fellow Travelers”
Jon Hamm, “Fargo”
David Oyelowo, “Lawmen: Bass Reeves”
Tony Shalhoub, “Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie”
Steven Yeun, “Beef” *WINNER
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“Barbie”
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
“John Wick: Chapter 4”
“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One” *WINNER
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
“Ahsoka”
“Barry”
“Beef”
“The Last of Us” *WINNER
“The Mandalorian”