Oppenheimer: Cillian Murphy’s film dominates the SAG Awards before the Oscars

Oppenheimer continued his awards season dominance by picking up several top honors at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards on Saturday.

Christopher Nolan’s film won best ensemble, while Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr won individual acting awards.

Accepting the top award on behalf of the cast, Sir Kenneth Branagh said they were all “grateful, honored and proud”.

The evening was peppered with commentary on the actors’ strike, which paralyzed Hollywood last year.

Sir Kenneth paid tribute to the Actors Guild of America, saying: “Thank you for fighting for us, thank you for every member of Sag-Aftra whose support and sacrifice allows us to be here better than before.”

“We came off the red carpet, we didn’t see the movie that night, we went happily toward solidarity with yourselves, so this is a moment of closing the circle for us,” he told the audience of actors.

“We are grateful, honored and proud to not only be in Mr. Nolan’s masterpiece, but also to be in his company.”

The film, about theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, described as the father of the atomic bomb, is almost certain to win best picture at the Oscars next month after its success at the SAGs and other precursor ceremonies.

The best motion picture ensemble award is seen as the top honor at the SAG Awards in the absence of a best picture category. The winners of the annual ceremony, held in Los Angeles, are voted on by other actors.

Irish actor Cillian Murphy said his win was “extremely special for me, because it comes from you.”

He recalled: “Twenty-eight years ago, when I was trying to become an actor, I was a failed musician and felt extremely like an outsider, but looking at all of you here today, I know I’m part of something really wonderful, so thank you very much.”

The best actor award was in a two-horse race ahead of the Oscars on March 10, but Murphy’s win gives him a significant boost over his closest rival, The Holdovers’ Paul Giamatti.

Elsewhere, Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone was named best leading actress, giving her own Oscar campaign a significant boost.

“This has been a difficult year for all of us, those of us in this room and those of us not, I am so proud to have come here in solidarity with all of our other unions,” she said in her acceptance. speech.

“It’s truly a gift to be able to make a living doing this. That’s the victory: being here, being on set, telling stories. We bring empathy to a world that needs it so much.”

And he added: “It is very easy to distance ourselves, close ourselves off, stop feeling and (the actors) bravely continue feeling, it brings people out of the shadows, it gives them visibility.”

Gladstone’s win leaves the best actress Oscar category too close, following Poor Things star Emma Stone’s win at last week’s Baftas.

The Holdovers star Da’Vine Joy Randolph was named best supporting actress, an award she has consistently won throughout awards season and is almost certain to take home at the Oscars.

“I wake up every day overwhelmed with the gratitude of being a working actress,” she said. “In what other profession are people able to live so many lives and touch so many hearts of those they have never met?”

He added: “For all the actors still waiting in the wings for their chance, let me tell you that your life can change in a day, it’s not a question of if, but when, keep going.”

Oppenheimer’s Robert Downey Jr, who has also been dominating his category, was named best supporting actor.

He described the award as “incredibly meaningful” and acknowledged his Oscar front-runner status by asking, “Why me, why now, why do things seem to be going my way?”

Winners in the television categories included Ali Wong and Steven Yeun for the Netflix series Beef, and Pedro Pascal for the post-apocalyptic drama The Last of Us.

Ayo Edebiri and Jeremy Allen White were also recognized for cooking comedy The Bear, while Elizabeth Debicki won best dramatic actress for playing Princess Diana in The Crown.

The Bear was named best comedy ensemble, while Succession won best drama ensemble for its critically acclaimed fourth and final season.

“Not only did we all get to work on one of the greatest shows on television, perhaps of all time, but we also made lifelong friends,” said actor Alan Ruck while accepting the award on behalf of the cast.

Tributes were paid to Matthew Perry, Harry Belafonte, Sir Michael Gambon, Tina Turner, Angus Cloud, Glenda Jackson, Alan Arkin, Julian Sands, Lance Reddick, Lee Sun-kyun, Tom Wilkinson, Andre Braugher and Chita Rivera in the show’s In Memoriam . segment.

At first, Streep appeared to accidentally bump into the microphone stand; before explaining to the audience that she was not carrying her glasses or the envelope containing the winner.

The two actresses who played his on-screen assistants in the 2006 film then appeared with the envelope and glasses, before the trio delivered a cheerful sketch featuring several of the film’s most famous lines.

Introducing another category, Melissa McCarthy asked Billie Eilish to sign her forehead while telling the singer she was a big fan, and the casts of Modern Family and Breaking Bad gathered to present the awards for best comedy ensemble and drama, respectively.

The SAG Awards were broadcast worldwide on Netflix for the first time, something host Idris Elba referred to when opening the ceremony.

“Personally, I can’t wait to get home and have Netflix recommend this show to me,” the Wire star joked.

He also acknowledged what a “difficult time” it had been for the actors during the recent strike, adding: “I want to take a moment to honor and appreciate all of you, both here and at home, who stood up in solidarity and support.”

Elba said broadcasting the ceremony rather than broadcasting it on a television network meant actors could use profanity in their acceptance speeches, but urged them not to go to the “full succession level.”

“This is a good rule of thumb: Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in front of Oprah,” he told an audience that included Oprah Winfrey herself.

The Morning Show star Jennifer Aniston and Maestro’s Bradley Cooper presented this year’s lifetime achievement award to veteran singer and actress Barbara Streisand.

“All of us in this room and far beyond have been inspired by Barbara’s magic,” Aniston said. “Barbara not only paved the way for us women, she blazed it.”

Accepting her award, Streisand joked that it was “a wonderful award, because you know in advance that you’re going to receive it.”

Recalling her childhood, she said: “I didn’t like reality, I wanted to be in movies. Although I knew I didn’t look like the other women on screen. My mother told me ‘you better learn to write’… But I didn’t listen. And somehow, some way, it all came true.”

“It’s a privilege to be part of this profession. For a couple of hours, people can sit in the theater and escape from their own problems. What an idea!”

He paid tribute to his fellow actors and directors and concluded: “I have loved inhabiting that magical world of cinema with you.”