The deaf family drama Coda took top honours at an unpredictable 28th Screen Actors Guild Awards that also included wins for the leads of Squid Game, the cast of Ted Lasso and actor Will Smith.
The ceremony, held on Sunday at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, and broadcast on TNT and TBS, was notably border-breaking, with historic wins for deaf actors, South Korean stars and some of Hollywood’s biggest names. It culminated with Coda, Sian Heder’s heart-warming Apple TV+ coming-of-age film and Sundance Film Festival sensation, winning best ensemble.
“This validates the fact that we, deaf actors, can work just like anybody else. We look forward to more opportunities for deaf actors,” said Marlee Matlin on stage before teaching the crowd sign language for “I love you”.
Matlin is the only deaf actor to win an Oscar, but her Coda co-star, Troy Kotsur, may be in line to join her. Kotsur won best supporting actor on Sunday, becoming the first deaf actor to win an individual Sag award. When his name was read, Kotsur, 53, plunged his head into his hands. On stage, he thanked his wife for “reminding me to check my fly before walking the red carpet”.
Netflix’s Squid Game, the first non-English-language series nominated by the Screen Actors Guild, came on strong with three awards, including Lee Jung-jae for best male actor in a drama series and Jung Ho-yeon for best female actor in a drama series. Those wins came over the likes of Succession stars Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong, and Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston of The Morning Show.
“I have sat many a times watching you on the big screen dreaming of one day becoming an actor,” Jung told the crowd, fighting back tears.
Still, HBO’s Succession ultimately reigned in the best drama series category. Cox discussed the situation in Ukraine on stage. “The people in Russia who don’t like what’s going on — and particularly the artists — I think we should join and celebrate them and hope that they can make a shift, as I believe they can,” said Cox, while the audience stood and applauded.
The Sag Awards are considered one of the most reliable predictors of the Academy Awards. Actors make up the largest percentage of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and their picks often align. In 2020, when the cast of Parasite and Brad Pitt won, they matched exactly.
Though the actors guild and the academy diverged last year when Aaron Sorkin’s 1960s courtroom drama Trial of the Chicago 7 topped the Sag Awards and Nomadland triumphed at the Oscars, the win for Coda suggests it’s a major threat to win best picture over Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast (which didn't win any awards on Sunday) and Jane Campion’s leading Oscar nominee The Power of the Dog (which failed to get an ensemble nod even though three of its actors were individually nominated).
Sag’s track record may also mean Will Smith, star of the Williams family tennis drama King Richard, is heading for his first Oscar. Smith took best actor, scoring his first Sag Award.
“That may have been one of the greatest moments of my career just now because my name was called for King Richard sitting next to Venus Williams,” beamed Smith.
Best actress has been a more difficult category to track. Many have seen Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) as the favourite to win her second Oscar. In an especially competitive category, those snubbed have often drawn the most focus. Kristen Stewart of Spencer was passed over, while Lady Gaga (House of Gucci) missed with the film academy.
Yet it was Jessica Chastain, who plays the infamous televangelist in The Eyes of Tammy Faye, who won on Sunday, notching her first individual Sag Award.
Full list of Sag Awards winners below:
FILM
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Belfast
Coda - winner
Don’t Look Up
House of Gucci
King Richard
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick... Boom!
Winner: Will Smith, King Richard
Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Winner: Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter
Lady Gaga, House of Gucci
Jennifer Hudson, Respect
Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Ben Affleck, The Tender Bar
Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza
Winner: Troy Kotsur, Coda
Jared Leto, House of Gucci
Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Caitriona Balfe, Belfast
Cate Blanchett, Nightmare Alley
Winner: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story
Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog
Ruth Negga, Passing
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Black Widow
Dune
The Matrix Resurrections
Winner: No Time to Die
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
TELEVISION
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
The Morning Show
Winner: Succession
Squid Game
Yellowjackets
The Handmaid’s Tale
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
The Great
Hacks
The Kominsky Method
Only Murders in the Building
Winner: Ted Lasso
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Winner: Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game
Jeremy Strong, Succession
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Brett Goldstein, Ted Lasso
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Winner: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Murray Bartlett, The White Lotus
Oscar Isaac, Scenes From a Marriage
Winner: Michael Keaton, Dopesick
Ewan McGregor, Halston
Evan Peters, Mare of Easttown
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Winner: Jung Ho-yeon, Squid Game
Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale
Sarah Snook, Succession
Reese Witherspoon, The Morning Show
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Elle Fanning, The Great
Sandra Oh, The Chair
Winner: Jean Smart, Hacks
Juno Temple, Ted Lasso
Hannah Waddingham, Ted Lasso
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus
Cynthia Erivo, Genius: Aretha
Jean Smart, Mare of Easttown
Winner: Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown
Margaret Qualley, Maid
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama
Cobra Kai
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier
Loki
Mare of Easttown
Winner: Squid Game
- Additional reporting by AP