The 32nd Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA, handed out March 1 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and live-streamed on Netflix, re-framed some of the conventional awards-season thinking with two weeks to go before the Academy Awards.
Formerly known as the SAG Awards before this year, and the Actor Awards are presented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the entertainment industry’s largest voting bloc.
The top prize of Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture went to Warner’s Sinners, which also saw Michael B. Jordan take home Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role.
Jordan’s win came as something of a surprise as he hadn’t won any of the major precursor awards before this. Timothée Chalamet had emerged as the heavy Oscar favorite for his role in A24’s Marty Supreme after wins at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. His loss at the Feb. 22 British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs) wasn’t seen as a blow to his Oscar chances because the winner there wasn’t up for the Academy Award, but missing out on the Actor Awards adds some suspense to the race. On the Kalshi online prediction market, Chalamet’s Oscar odds dropped from 78% before the BAFTAs to 43% within minutes of the Actors ceremony concluding, while Jordan’s odds jumped from around 3% in late January to 39%. (Chalamet did win the SAG Award last year for playing Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown without going on to win the Oscar, which may have influenced this year’s voters).
The win for the Sinners cast does give the film some Best Picture momentum heading into the Oscars, though Warner’s One Battle After Another is still seen as the heavy favorite, hovering around 81% on Kalshi (down from 85% at the end of February). Sinners sits at around 17%, up from about 10% the day before the Actor ceremony.
However, the ensemble win does shore up the likelihood that Sinners casting director Francine Maisler takes home the first Oscar for Best Casting. Kalshi taps Sinners as a 73% favorite in that category, with One Battle at 28%. It also makes Ryan Coogler the first director to helm two ensemble-winning films, with 2018’s Black Panther being the other.
Following a slew of wins earlier in the awards season, One Battle most recently picked up best picture-equivalent honors at the BAFTAs and the Feb. 28 Producers Guild of America Awards, while Paul Thomas Anderson won the top prize at the Director’s Guild of America Feb. 7.
Among the other film categories at the Actor Awards, Jessie Buckley won Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for Universal’s Hamnet, continuing her awards winning streak and pushing her Kalshi odds of an Oscar win to 95%.
One Battle’s Sean Penn won the Actor for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, which when paired with his BAFTA win in the equivalent category last week makes him a solid favorite for the Best Supporting Oscar award (76% on Kalshi). And Amy Madigan of Warner’s Weapons won the Actor for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role; she won the equivalent trophy at the Critics Choice Awards but not the Golden Globes or BAFTAs. Best Supporting Actress is considered the closest race among the four performance Oscars, with Madigan now jumping ahead at 39% on Kalshi, compared with 30% for One Battle’s Teyana Taylor (the Golden Globes winner), and 23% for Sinners’ Wunmi Mosaku (the BAFTA winner).
Final Oscar voting began Feb. 26 and runs through March 5, with the 98th Academy Awards ceremony taking place March 15.
The Actor for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture went to Paramount’s Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning. An Oscar for Best Stunt Design will be introduced at the 100th Academy Awards in 2028 (covering 2027 films).
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On the TV side, Apple TV’s “The Studio” picked up more hardware, winning Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series for Seth Rogen, and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for Catherine O’Hara, a posthumous honor following her death Jan. 30.
HBO Max’s “The Pitt” won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, while Noah Wyle won Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series.
Capping off a good night for Warner Bros. Discovery IP, which won in seven of the 15 categories between film and TV, HBO’s “The Last of Us” won Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series.
Netflix properties grabbed two Actors, with Owen Cooper of Adolescence winning Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series, and Keri Russell winning Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for the third season of “The Diplomat.”
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series went to Michelle Williams for FX’s Dying for Sex on Hulu.
Rounding out the festivities, Harrison Ford was given the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.