Christopher Nolan’s hit biopic Oppenheimer has dominated this year’s Screen Actors Guild awards.
The cast of the biographical epic won for best ensemble, ahead of Barbie and Killers of the Flower Moon. Cillian Murphy picked up male actor in a leading role, which was also contested by Paul Giamatti and Jeffrey Wright. “This is extremely, extremely special to me because it comes from you guys,” he told the audience at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium.
Robert Downey Jr won for male actor in a supporting role for playing Lewis Strauss in the film. The actor had previously won a Sag award for Ally McBeal in 2001.
Lily Gladstone took home female actor in a leading role for Killers of the Flower Moon, beating Emma Stone and Margot Robbie. “This has been a hard year for all of us,” she said before referencing 2023’s actors strike. “We bring empathy into a world that so much needs it,” she added.
The Holdovers star Da’Vine Joy Randolph was named best female actor in a supporting role after winning a string of awards this season, including a Bafta and a Golden Globe. She called the film’s director Alexander Payne “truly every actor’s dream” and said to actors who are still waiting for a breakout: “Your life can change in a day and it is not a question of if but of when, keep going.”
In a surprise victory, The Last of Us star Pedro Pascal won for male actor in a drama series, beating out three more hotly tipped Succession stars including recent Emmy winners Kieran Culkin and Matthew Macfadyen. He joked in his speech that he was drunk as he didn’t think he would win. “I’m gonna have a panic attack and I’m gonna leave,” he said at the end.
Elizabeth Debicki was named female actor in a drama series for The Crown, beating out Succession’s Sarah Snook. But the final season of the hit HBO financial drama did go on to win the night’s big TV award for drama ensemble. Star Alan Ruck called the win “one last hurrah”.
The Bear picked up three awards, including for comedy ensemble, against Abbott Elementary and Only Murders in the Building. Jeremy Allen White was also named best male actor in a comedy series for his role. “Wow, they give you a lot of time at this one but that’s all I have!” he joked at the end of his speech. His co-star Ayo Edebiri won for female actor in a comedy series after recently winning both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the role.
Ali Wong won yet another award for her role in Netflix series Beef, picking up best female actor in a TV movie or limited series, while her co-star Steven Yeun also won for male actor.
This year’s life achievement award was given to Barbra Streisand, introduced by Jennifer Aniston, who said she was “inspired by her magic”, and Bradley Cooper, who referred to her as “a true auteur”. Accepting the award, Streisand said she was “very proud” to be a member of the union for the past 60 years. “I never went to college, I always thought acting was my education,” she said. She talked of the Jewish studio heads who changed their names to escape bigotry in Europe. “I dream of a world where such prejudice is a thing of the past,” she said to applause.
The past year saw Sag members strike in order to reach fairer contract terms. In an introduction, Idris Elba paid tribute to all of those who “stood up in solidarity” with members. Later in the night, Sag-aftra president Fran Drescher spoke about the strike to the audience. “You survived the longest strike in our union’s history with courage and conviction,” she said before thanking actors for their “collective dignity and perseverance”. She added: “AI will entrap us in a matrix where no one will know what’s real.”
The ceremony was made available on Netflix, a rare example of the streamer dabbling with live programming. It’s the second year that the platform has had the rights to the awards with last year’s ceremony being put on the Netflix YouTube page.
This year’s Oscars ceremony takes place on 10 March.
