Sunday night’s Actor Awards delivered a genuine shocker, a standing ovation, a no-show winner, and a rebrand nobody asked for but everybody accepted.
Let’s start with the name, because yes — it’s different now. The Screen Actors Guild Awards, a ceremony that’s been part of Hollywood’s awards calendar since 1995, officially dropped the SAG Awards name on Sunday night. They’re now called the Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA. SAG-AFTRA members voted for the change back in November, and host Kristen Bell — back for her second year — even worked it into a musical number during her opening monologue, because of course she did.
Call it what you want. What matters is what happened inside the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, where the 32nd annual ceremony streamed live on Netflix and genuinely shook up what was shaping up to be a pretty predictable awards season.
Spoiler: Sinners is now very much in the Best Picture conversation. Like, seriously in it. Isn’t that movie great?
Michael B. Jordan Just Rewrote the Best Actor Race
Here’s the thing about awards season frontrunners — they’re only frontrunners until they’re not.
Timothée Chalamet walked into Sunday night as the presumed Best Actor favourite. He’d been riding high on Marty Supreme all season, racking up buzz and looking every bit the guy who was going to waltz into the Oscars on March 15 and pick up his first Academy Award. That narrative is now complicated.
Michael B. Jordan won Best Lead Actor for his dual performance as the Smokestack twins, Smoke and Stack, in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners — and it wasn’t close in terms of the reaction in the room. Jordan then walked back onstage moments later with the entire Sinners cast to accept the night’s biggest film prize, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
Two trophies. One night. The Oscar race just got interesting again.
For Jordan, this is a long time coming. He’s been one of the most consistently compelling actors working today — Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther — and a night like Sunday felt, for a lot of people watching, like a correction. Ryan Coogler, meanwhile, made history: he’s now the first director to have helmed two ensemble winners at the Actor Awards. His first was Black Panther in 2018. Say what you want about the rebrand, the voters clearly have taste.
One Battle After Another — Paul Thomas Anderson’s film that has been winning everything this season, including the Directors Guild and the Producers Guild — managed just one win on the night. Supporting Actor for Sean Penn, who, in classic Sean Penn fashion, didn’t bother showing up. He also skipped his BAFTA win last week. The man is out here collecting peer recognition with absolutely zero interest in being peer-adjacent.
Marty Supreme won nothing. Frankenstein won nothing. Both had multiple nominations. That’s a rough Sunday.
Jessie Buckley Is Going to Win an Oscar. Just Accept It.
If there’s been one performer who has felt like a lock all season long, it’s Jessie Buckley, and Sunday night did nothing to change that. She won Best Lead Actress for Hamnet, playing Agnes — a mother processing grief in a way that, by all accounts, is devastating and brilliant in equal measure.
Buckley has now won or been recognized at virtually every major stop this season. At this point, predicting anyone else for the Oscar feels like a creative writing exercise. Emma Stone (Bugonia), Rose Byrne, Kate Hudson, and Chase Infiniti were all nominated. None of them are Jessie Buckley right now, and that’s just where things stand.
On the supporting side, Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for Weapons, playing the creepy Aunt Gladys in what sounds like a genuinely unhinged performance. She got a standing ovation. It was her first Actor Award. Those moments are always worth pausing for.
Television Had Its Own Moments — Including a Catherine O’Hara Crowd Favourite
If Adolescence walked into awards season thinking it was going to sweep everything — and honestly, for a while, it looked like it might — Sunday night offered a gentle reality check.
The Studio was the TV story of the night, winning three awards including Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Seth Rogen took home Best Actor in a Comedy Series (his Emmy win earlier this year now has company), and Catherine O’Hara — national treasure, legend, icon, etc. — won Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Seth Rogen accepted on her behalf in the room and delivered what was reportedly a genuinely heartfelt speech. The crowd loved it.
The Pitt had a strong night with Best Ensemble in a Drama Series and Noah Wyle winning Best Actor in a Drama Series. If you haven’t watched The Pitt yet, these wins should be the nudge you need.
Keri Russell took Best Actress in a Drama Series for The Diplomat — a show that has been quietly excellent and deserves more conversation than it gets.
In the limited series categories, Michelle Williams won Best Actress for Dying for Sex, beating out Adolescence‘s Erin Doherty, who has been the name to beat in this category for months. That’s a genuine surprise. And Owen Cooper won Best Actor in a Limited Series, which means he beat Stephen Graham — his own on-screen father in Adolescence — for the same award. Television is strange and wonderful.
Harrison Ford Got His Flowers
Before all the competitive drama, the night set aside time for something genuinely moving. Harrison Ford received the SAG-AFTRA (SAG Awards) Life Achievement Award, presented by his longtime friend Woody Harrelson.
Ford — 60-plus years in the business, a resume that doesn’t need introduction — gave a speech that was humble, thoughtful, and completely at odds with the mythology that surrounds him. The crowd was rapt. It was, by multiple accounts, the emotional highlight of the evening.
The show also opened with its traditional “I am an actor” segment, this year featuring Teyana Taylor, Michael J. Fox, and others. And just before the ceremony kicked off, SAG-AFTRA executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland acknowledged the ongoing situation between the U.S., Israel, and Iran — a reminder that even award shows don’t exist in a vacuum.
What Does This All Mean for the Oscars?
Two weeks out from March 15, here’s where things stand:
Sinners just got the biggest possible boost short of a Best Picture Oscar itself. The cast ensemble win is historically a mixed predictor — the Actor Awards have only matched the Academy’s Best Picture winner 15 out of 30 times — but the energy around Sinners right now is undeniable. One Battle After Another still has the DGA and PGA wins in its corner. This is going to be close.
In the acting categories, Jordan’s win puts real pressure on Chalamet, and Buckley’s path to an Oscar looks as clear as it’s been all season.
Sean Penn is now well-positioned for his third Oscar despite what can only be described as an apathetic campaign. Which, honestly, feels very on-brand.
And somewhere out there, Timothée Chalamet is rethinking his Sunday.
Full List of Winners
FILM
- Cast in a Motion Picture: Sinners
- Male Actor in a Leading Role: Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
- Female Actor in a Leading Role: Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
- Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
- Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Amy Madigan – Weapons
- Film Stunt Ensemble: Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning
TELEVISION
- Ensemble in a Drama Series: The Pitt
- Male Actor in a Drama Series: Noah Wyle – The Pitt
- Female Actor in a Drama Series: Keri Russell – The Diplomat
- Ensemble in a Comedy Series: The Studio
- Male Actor in a Comedy Series: Seth Rogen – The Studio
- Female Actor in a Comedy Series: Catherine O’Hara – The Studio
- Male Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Owen Cooper – Adolescence
- Female Actor in a Limited Series or Movie: Michelle Williams – Dying for Sex
- TV Stunt Ensemble: The Last of Us
SPECIAL AWARD
- SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award: Harrison Ford
The 98th Academy Awards air March 15. Block off your Sunday.
About The Author
