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“Oppenheimer” continued to sweep Hollywood’s awards season on Saturday, winning the top prize, for outstanding ensemble cast, along with awards for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., at the 30th Screen Actors Guild Awards.
As the academy awards As we get closer, Christopher Nolan’s hit biopic, which has already won the Golden Globes and BAFTAs, looks more and more like the runaway favorite. The SAG Awards, one of the most telling predictors of the Oscars, will only increase the momentum of “Oppenheimer,” the leading nominee for the academy awards with 13 nods.
The SAG Awards were broadcast live on Netflix, a first for a major Hollywood awards show. This meant some important changes in the ancient traditions of these types of ceremonies. There were no announcements. Bad words were allowed. (“Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in front of Oprah,” Idris Elba said.) And the winners were occasionally interviewed backstage by red carpet co-host Tan France, sometimes awkwardly, sometimes charmingly.
The SAG Awards don’t always mean success at the Oscars. Two of the last five guild winners (“The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Black Panther”) lost at the Academy Awards. But in the past two years, the top five SAG awards (best ensemble and four acting winners) have gone to eventual Oscar winners, including the casts of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “CODA.”
That could mean that the SAGs offered a preview of the Oscars in two of the closest competitions: best actor and best actress.
The most exciting victory of the night went to lily gladstone Best Actress for a Leading Role in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” No category has been more hotly contested, with analysts evenly divided between Gladstone and Emma Stone for “Poor Things.”
But Gladstone won on Saturday and the crowd erupted. Stone also stood up and applauded vigorously. There’s more at stake for Gladstone than perhaps any other Oscar contender this year. His victory would be the first for the Native Americans.
“We bring empathy to a world that so desperately needs it,” Gladstone said. “It is very easy to distance ourselves. It is very easy to close down, to stop feeling. And we all continue to feel bravely. And that humanizes people. That brings people out of the shadows. It provides visibility.”
Murphy and Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”) have also been seen in a melee. But Murphy has now won at the SAGs, the BAFTAs and the Globes, suggesting he has a clear advantage heading into the academy awards.
Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph each won for their supporting performances, further cementing their status as Oscar favorites.
“Why me? Why now? Why do things seem to be going my way?” Downey Jr. said while accepting his first SAG Award for a film performance. “Unlike my fellow nominees, I will never get tired of the sound of my own voice.”
Randolph’s performance in “The Remains” by Alexander Payne It has been a defining role for the 37-year-old actor. Now she looks poised to win the Academy Award.
“To all the actors still waiting for their chance, let me tell you: your life can change in a day,” Randolph said. “It’s not a question of if, but when. Keep going.”
After more than two decades airing on TNT and TBS to dwindling audiences, Netflix acquired the broadcast rights to the SAG Awards in early 2023. Netflix, a dominant force for years in awards season, also became presenter
“Personally, I can’t wait to get home and have Netflix recommend this show to me based on all the other things I watch,” joked Idris Elba, the night’s de facto emcee.
The TV awards went largely to the same shows that have swept the Emmys and Golden Globes: “The Bear” (best comedy series ensemble, Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri ); “Beef” (Ali Wong, Steven Yeun); and the cast of “Succession.”
One exception was Pedro Pascal, who won best male actor in a drama series for “The Last of Us” against a trio of “Succession” stars.
“This is wrong for several reasons,” said Pascal, visibly stunned. “I’m a little drunk. I thought I might get drunk.”
This year’s SAG Awards follow a grueling months-long strike in which the SAG-AFTRA union fought a bitter battle over a series of issues. Much of the work stoppage was due to changes in the film and television industry brought on by streaming and a sea change led by Netflix.
“Their solidarity ignited workers around the world, sparking what will always be remembered as ‘the hot summer of work,’” said SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher. “This was a pivotal moment in the history of our union.”
The new streaming platform will surely put even more attention on one of the most followed Academy Awards predictors. Oscar voting concludes Tuesday.
Barbra Streisand kept the audience engrossed as she accepted a lifetime achievement award, presented by Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper.
“I remember dreaming of being an actress as a teenager, sitting on my bed in Brooklyn with a glass of iced coffee and a movie magazine,” said Streisand, who recalled being transfixed by “my first crush,” Marlon Brando.
Streisand also took a moment to celebrate Jewish Hollywood pioneers.
“Now I dream of a world in which these prejudices are a thing of the past,” he said.
Saturday’s show was one of Netflix’s biggest forays into live event streaming. Netflix previously featured a Chris Rock live comedy special, a celebrity golf tournament, and a live “Love Is Blind” reunion episode that was marred by technical difficulties. But Netflix is preparing for more. On March 3, it will broadcast a live tennis event.