Stars gathered at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 1, for the 32nd annual Actor Awards, previously known as the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards. Actors walked the red carpet in their best interpretations of this year’s theme, “Reimagining Hollywood Glamour from the 20s and 30s.”
Yerin Ha, star of Bridgerton season four, unofficially kicked off the night in a black and white Balenciaga ensemble by announcing the winners for best stunt ensemble in both TV and motion picture during the red carpet coverage. The Last of Us took home best stunt ensemble in TV, and Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning won for motion picture.
Other red carpet highlights included Teyana Taylor’s stunning silver and white strapless dress. Her look was complemented by an impromptu performance from her daughter, Rue Rose. Rue Rose impressed audiences by singing her rendition of “Let it Go” into the Netflix microphone. Even Jessie Buckley stopped to listen to the adorable performance.
Showtime
Returning host Kristen Bell opened the ceremony with a song for the second year in a row. Her musical number acknowledged the Actor Awards’ rebrand by suggesting new stage names for the night’s nominees. Some of the most absurd included “Jacordy O’Lordy” for Jacob Elordi, “TeyTay” for Teyana Taylor, and “Jesse Plimes” for Jesse Plemons.
Keri Russell took home the first award of the evening, best actress in a drama series, with her performance in The Diplomat. Buckley continued her winning streak with her performance in Hamnet and took home the award for best actress in a motion picture. Michelle Williams won best actress in a TV movie or miniseries for Dying for Sex, surprisingly besting Erin Doherty’s performance in Adolescence.
Amy Madigan, Weapons, highlighted the role of SAG and her own personal union roots in her acceptance speech for best supporting actress.
“I’m a union person,” said Madigan. “I come from Chicago. Everybody in my family, all my friends, relatives, were all union people, and I don’t care what somebody says. They’re not going to bust us ever.”
Noah Wyle shared the pro-union sentiment in his acceptance for best actor in a drama series for his role in The Pitt.
“I am so grateful to this union and for all the protections and privileges that it affords me,” said Wyle. “I don’t take it for granted, and I don’t forget the hard-won fights and battles by giants who fought before us on whose shoulders I and we all stand.”
Other wins for the men included Seth Rogen, The Studio, for best actor in a comedy series; Sean Penn, One Battle After Another, for best supporting actor; Owen Cooper, Adolescence, for best actor in a TV movie or miniseries; and Michael B. Jordan, Sinners, for best actor in a motion picture.
This was the first win for Jordan’s performance in Sinners, a recognition many fans felt was long overdue. The audience erupted in applause as presenter Viola Davis called his name and celebrated on stage.
The Sinners cast continued its winning streak later on in the evening by winning best cast in a motion picture. Delroy Lindo called the film “anointed” in his gratitude-filled acceptance speech.
Other ensemble wins included The Pitt for drama series and The Studio for comedy series, despite the recent loss of one of its biggest stars.
Honoring O’Hara
Catherine O’Hara’s posthumous win for best actress in a comedy series for her role in The Studio was the emotional height of the evening. Co-star Rogen accepted the award on her behalf.
Rogen remembered “her ability to be generous and kind and gracious while never ever minimizing her own talents and her own ability to contribute to the work that we were doing.” He described her fierce intelligence and commitment to bringing her own ideas to The Studio. “She really showed that you can be a genius and be kind, and one of those things does not have to come at the expense of the other in any way, shape, or form.”
“If you have people in your lives that don’t know her work… just show them O’Hara dancing to Harry Belafonte in Beetlejuice. Show them O’Hara hurting her knee in Best in Show and doing that amazing thing where she hobbles around,” said Rogen. “And tell the people as they are laughing that that’s Catherine O’Hara, and we were lucky we got to live in a world where she so generously shared her talents with us.”
Keeping It Light
In between tear-jerker moments, Host Bell did her best to keep audiences laughing. Her personal contribution to the show was the first-ever Actor Awards Ping Pong tournament. Bell pitted actors against each other for the prize of a crudely assembled clay bust vaguely resembling Timothee Chalamet.
Hamnet’s Jacobi Jupe won the tournament and accepted his prize reluctantly: “It scares me.”
A Lifetime of Achievement
Woody Harrelson presented Harrison Ford with the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award, poking fun at his peers in the crowd along the way. “In truth, 80 percent of you will get lessons in humility this evening,” joked Harrelson.
Ford accepted the award with humility and humor. “I’m in a room of actors, many of whom are here because they’ve been nominated to receive a prize for their amazing work,” said Ford. “I’m here to receive a prize for being alive.”
Ford recounted his early days struggling to make it as an actor and expressed gratitude for those who helped him along the way. Today, he hopes to return the favor to other young actors in the industry.
“We share the privilege of working in the world of ideas, of empathy, of imagination,” said Ford. “It comes with responsibility to support each other, to lift others up when we can.”
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