Rami Malek accepts the award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role for “Bohemian Rhapsody” at the 25th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Among the most illustrious film and TV show award ceremonies this season, including the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards are arguably next in the line of prestigious awards for the modern actor or actress. The 25th annual edition of the televised ceremony, presented Sunday night in Los Angeles, managed to rise above the expected drama that typically accompanies award shows of this caliber. Hosted by Megan Mullally from “Will and Grace,” the SAG Awards were able to spend the two hours of airtime solely celebrating the performances of actors and actresses of the past year.
Presenting 13 different awards to actors, actresses and cast ensembles, the SAG awards “focus on individual performances as well as on the work of the entire ensemble of a drama series and comedy series, and the cast of a motion picture,” according to the SAG website. Nominees included works and performers already familiar to awards season, having been nominated or winning in categories at previous shows this year. These included Rami Malek from “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Marhershala Ali from “Green Book,” the four female leads from “The Favourite,” “This is Us,” “The Kominsky Method” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
In keeping with the current social atmosphere, moviegoers and TV watchers proved that diverse representation is what they want to see, and SAG appropriately nominated and awarded a bevy of talented performers and works that touted such representation. After powerful speeches from proud Korean-American Sandra Oh and Filipino-American Darren Criss at the Golden Globes—who both went on to win later in the SAG show—it is encouraging to see the SAG follow suit in their acknowledgment of talented minority performances. From the romantic-comedy hit of “Crazy Rich Asians” to the powerful “Black Panther” to the visionary “BlacKkKlansman,” audiences can only hope these continue to set the stage for more diverse works in the future.
Although there was not the usual fuss over the presentation and events of the show, there was definitely a tittering of the snubs and surprises concerning the results of the awards. “A Star is Born,” directed by Bradley Cooper, received the most overall nominations going into the SAG awards, but came out with no actual wins. Similarly snubbed were “BlacKkKlansman” and “The Favourite,” which had both received a healthy number of nominations for the SAG awards, as well as for the Golden Globes and Academy Awards.
Some pleasant surprises including “Black Panther” win for “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture,” which was the first superhero movie to win the award. Similarly, Emily Blunt’s performance in “A Quiet Place” for “Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Supporting Role” equally stunned viewers, considering her lack of nominations by the Academy, yet was equally as deserving. Another deserving woman, Sandra Oh, won the equivalent role for a drama series for her performance in “Killing Eve,” while Darren Criss notched another win for his performance in “Assassination of Gianni Versace.” “This is Us” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” definitely stole the show for TV series, the former winning “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series” for the third year in the row, and the latter winning three of its four nominations.
The rest of the results can be found online, with a welcome focus on the actors and actresses instead of the inevitable controversy. The next awards show to look forward to, the Academy Awards, take place on Feb. 24. Until then, try to get a headstart on watching all of the amazing performances put on by the nominees and winners of this visual media awards season.
