Last night the SAG Awards streamed live on Netflix, making it the first awards show to leap to streaming. The show largely went off without a hitch, and the lack of commercials gave the proceedings a lean runtime.
The big winners of the night were Oppenheimer and The Bear, which took home three awards a piece. Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. won trophies for their roles, as did Ayo Edibiri and Jeremy Allen White. Oppenheimer and The Bear both won for best ensemble (in a film and a comedy series, respectively) while Succession won best ensemble for a drama.
If there was any big surprise, it was the much-lauded cast of Succession getting shut out of the best actor and actress categories. Pedro Pascal was the surprise pick for best actor in a drama for The Last of Us, while Elizabeth Debicki won best actress in a drama for her portrayal of Princess Diana in The Crown. A surprised Pascal took the stage and admitted he was just a little bit drunk.
Other big winners of the night included Ali Wong and Steven Yeun for Beef and Da’Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers, who all but secured her Oscars win with this award. Lily Gladstone won Best Actress for Killers of the Flower Moon and delivered yet another gracious and eloquent acceptance speech as she has in every award show appearance.
Like the Emmys, the SAG Awards featured cast reunions from series like Breaking Bad and Modern Family. Iconic performer Barbra Streisand was given the well-deserved Lifetime Achievement award.
SAG President Fran Drescher welcomed the crowd and praised their teamwork and solidarity during the SAG-AFTRA strike. She said, “Your solidarity ignited workers around the world, triggering what forever will be remembered as the ‘hot labor summer.’ You took the hero’s journey and stood at the front lines, strike captains led the march on the picket lines, and we all showed up to the rallies because you understood what our massive contribution means to this marvelous industry.”
Drescher also issued a warning about the rise of A.I. in the arts, stating “During the fight for a better TV theatrical contract, global ideas emerged. AI will entrap us in a matrix where none of us know what’s real. If an inventor lacks empathy and spirituality, perhaps that’s not the invention we need. Dystopia stories can also become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We should tell stories that spark the human spirit, connect us to the natural world and awaken our capacity to love unconditionally.”
(featured image: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)
