The Screen Actors Guild Awards kicked off the award season. PHOTO CREDIT: Cheatsheet.com
The 28th Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held on Sunday, Feb. 27, kicked off the start of the 2022 major televised awards season with the theme “Together Again.”
While the Golden Globes was held on Jan. 9, there was no broadcast due to diversity controversy within the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The SAG Awards continued their recent trend by foregoing a host, but “Hamilton” actors Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs and Leslie Odom Jr. both kicked off and ended the night.
The theme “Together Again” was a nod to being able to have the ceremony in person after a year of virtual events. To carry out the theme, the SAG-AFTRA union reunited co-stars during the presenting of the awards, including the “Hamilton” stars, Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino (“Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion”) and Olivia Pope and Fitz himself, Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn (“Scandal”). It was nice to see the reunions, but I do think the reasoning behind the theme was a bit ironic.
While award ceremonies are definitely more enjoyable when they’re held in person and not virtual, the fact that they are celebrating projects released between March 1 and Dec. 31, 2021, in a maskless, indoor ceremony is proof that actors have been able to be “together again” for the majority of the pandemic.
My favorite part of the SAG Awards has always been that it’s about actors celebrating actors. The classic “I Am An Actor” introduction, which featured Nicholas Braun (“Succession”) and Elle Fanning (“The Great”) is always a mixture of funny and heartwarming. SAG Life Achievement Award recipient Helen Mirren was one of many who expressed her thanks for her fellow actors and the profession during her speech.
“Actors—I’m sorry, you’re a magnificent tribe, stretching across culture, history and time,” Mirren said at the end of her speech. “This is for the actors.”
Another theme throughout the speeches came with winners providing their support for Ukrainians and those affected by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Michael Keaton, who earned an award for his performance in the Hulu miniseries “Dopesick,” recognized “fellow actor,” former comic and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
“I can feel right now the rolling thunder of eye-rolling coming across, people saying to me things like, ‘shut up and dribble,’ ‘shut up and act,’” Keaton said. “The acting, I’ll quit. The shutting-up, not so much.”
Another winner who refused to “shut up” was Brian Cox, who spoke on behalf of the cast of “Succession” when they accepted their ensemble award. He shared his support not just for the people of Ukraine, but the Russians who do not agree with President Vladamir Putin and put themselves at risk when speaking out against the war.
“Only Murders in the Building” stars Martin Short and Selena Gomez provided some more familiar humor and levity during their presentation banter.
“Let’s get on with doing God’s work and give another actor an award,” Short said to much laughter from the attendees.
Those actors who did receive awards made up a diverse group of people, highlighting what I hope can be the start/continuation of true change in recognition of people of different races, ethnicities, backgrounds and abilities.
The biggest history-makers were the stars of “CODA” and “Squid Game.” The first award of the night, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Actor, went to Troy Kotsur (“CODA”), making him just the first deaf or non-hearing actor to receive not only an individual SAG Award nomination but an award as well. The ensemble cast of “CODA” also took home the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture award, making them the first predominantly Deaf cast to do so.
“This validates the fact that we, deaf actors, can work just like anybody else,” actress Marlee Matlin said during the ensemble’s acceptance speech. “We look forward to more opportunities for deaf actors, deaf culture, thank you.”
Netflix’s most-watched show, “Squid Game,” took home three awards, including one for their stunt ensemble and both Outstanding Performance by a Female and Male Actor for Jung Ho-yeon and Lee Jung-jae respectively. Jung-jae was the first male actor from Asia and Korea to receive a nomination for and the first to win an individual SAG Award; Ho-yeon was the second actress to do the same.
Perhaps the biggest underdog in his category, Will Smith, was awarded Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for “King Richard.” He was visibly emotional as he thanked his castmates and the Williams family, whose story he was able to tell in the critically acclaimed biopic. Jessica Chastain’s win for the female counterpart of the award for her performance in “The Eyes of Tammy Faye ” confirmed that this will be the season of the biopic–at least for the actors.
Awards season will continue with the Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 6 followed by the BAFTAs (British Academy Film Awards) and the Critics Choice Awards both on March 13. The season will culminate in the biggest night of the year for film, the Academy Awards, on March 27.