The 23rd Annual SAG Awards
The 23rd annual SAG Awards celebrates the outstanding work of actors and actresses and was broadcast live from the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles.
The SAG Awards is more or a dinner party than an awards show. It kicked off with the actors speaking from their dinner tables saying a quick line or a joke. Kerry Washington went first and ended with, “I’m Kerry Washington and I am an actor.” Followed by Jeff Bridges, “I’m an actor.” “My name is Sterling K. Brown and I’m an actor.” “I’m Ellie Kemper and I’m an actor.” And end with, “I am Ashton Kutcher. I am an actor.”
Ashton opened the broadcast with a serious message about the current immigration ban and said that all people, “Belong in my America.” “We love you and we welcome you.” He then followed with, “We also welcome you to the 23rd Screen Actors Guide Awards. “We are honoring our peers.” “In this room, we have an amazing collection of the best of the best.”
The first award was for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actress in a Comedy Series and the SAG Award went to Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep. Her second for the role. She also won five SAG Awards for her work on Seinfeld.
Julia threw a joke toward Trump in the beginning by saying, “This award is legitimate and I won.” She was also given a lot of time to make her point about the immigration ban.
The next SAG Award was for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series. The actor went to William H. Macy for Shameless.
The ladies of Hidden Figures introduced a clip from their film. Followed by the cast of Stranger Things, Millie Bobby Brown, Gaten Matarazzo, Caleb McLaughlin, and Finn Wolfhard who announced the nominees for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. The SAG Award went to Orange Is the New Black. Their third consecutive win. They were extremely excited to take the stage and the trophy. Taylor Schilling said, “We stand up here representing a diverse group of people.” “What unites us is greater than the forces that divide us.”
The next award was Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture and the actor went to Viola Davis for Fences. She thanked everyone including her husband and daughter.
Kate Hudson announced the nominees for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture. The SAG Award went to Mahershala Ali for Moonlight. He was soft spoken and focused on the wrongs of persecution. He delivered an emotionally moving acceptance speech. He also thanked all of his casts members and ended with, “Peace and blessings be upon you.”
Up next was Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in Television Movie or Miniseries. The SAG Award went to Sarah Paulson for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.
Courtney B. Vance stood in the audience and he motioned to her when she mentioned him during her acceptance speech. She also thanked Marcia Clark who was in the audience and asked the people donated to the ACLU.
Viola Davis and Denzel Washington introduced a clip of their movie Fences. Followed by the next award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series. The SAG Award went to Bryan Cranston for All the Way. He thanked all the production companies involved and his family. He also said Lyndon Johnson would wish Trump success and would say, “Just don’t piss in the soup that all of us gotta eat.”
Casey Affleck and Lucas Hedges introduced a clip of Manchester By the Sea before Dolly Parton took the stage.
Dolly received rousing applause. She made a joke about boobs. It was cute. She said there’s talk about doing a follow up to 9 to 5 and she said, “We better get after it or we’ll have to call it 95.”
She was there to salute Lily Tomlin who received the SAG Lifetime Achievement Award. After the great video highlighting her career, Dolly said, “Don’t we love her. Come on up and get your award.”
Lily Tomlin’s standing ovation was grand. She made several jokes including, “This award came just in the nick of time.” She also said younger people ask her for advice, and a few of her nuggets were, “Don’t leave the house when you’re drunk.” And another was to know when you’ve had too much to drink including, to realize, “When you’re friends stop talking to you and start talking about you.”
Lily ended her speech with, “I’m just really grateful. I’m so glad this speech is almost over.” “As long as I don’t have to audition I just might be back.”
The next category was Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. The SAG Award went to John Lithgow for The Crown. He received a standing ovation as well.
He said he never would have cast himself as Winston Churchill. He stumbled a bit but remembered the names of cast and crew. He thanked his wife and all the actors in this category. He also thanked Meryl Strep.
Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris introduced a clip from their movie, Moonlight. They were followed by the next category, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. The SAG Award went to Claire Foy for The Crown.
The president of SAG-AFTRA, Gabrielle Carteris was next. She introduced the SAG Awards In Memoriam segment. It was a beautifully done video that showed so many actors and actresses that we didn’t even know were lost.
The award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series was next. The SAG Award went to the cast of Stranger Things and the room erupted. The cast was shocked and excited. The acceptance speech was politically driven and Wynona Wider made several faces trying to understand the message.
Jonah Hill was the next presenter and he made a joke about not following the message of the acceptance speech before he introduced the nominees for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture. The SAG Award went to Emma Stone for La La Land. When they told her to hurry up during her acceptance speech she said, “I forgot everything that I ever thought in my life.” She recovered and finished her speech by thanking the ladies in her category. And said joking that she was going to wrap up by saying, “I feel insecure a lot of the time.” She ended frustrated with her delivery and said, “Thank you, good God.”
Brie Larson was the next presenter. She introduced the nominees for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture. The SAG Award went to Denzel Washington for Fences. The room went crazy and Denzel was certainly shocked. He did not believe he would win this award and said, “I didn’t have faith.” “God bless you all, all the other actors.” He got emotional and said, “I’m getting choked up.” He ended his acceptance speech by saying, “Oh and one last thing, two, Viola Davis” and walked off the stage.
Hidden Figures took the big award. What a night it was!
Taraji P. Henson delivered the acceptance speech. The ladies cried behind her as she celebrated the women this film was about. “These brave women put these men into space.” She honored John Glenn by saying, “God rest his soul, John Glenn.” And she again honored the women saying, “They are hidden figures no more.”
The 23rd annual SAG Awards was incredible!
Tanya Hart
