The awards season this year has been quite unpredictable and on Sunday, “Black Panther”, the hit movie from Marvel, gained some momentum. The cast of the superhero film was the big winner during the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) taking home the “Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture” award. The cultural significance of the movie has been a topic of conversation for the last few months and it seemed this carried on during the award ceremony.
Amazon was also in line for a few awards during the event. The cast of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”, a show available for Amazon Prime streaming, took home a total of three awards including the top performance by an ensemble in a comedy series. There were also individual awards for stars Tony Shalhoub and Rachel Brosnahan who are part of the series. The top drama performance went to “This is Us.” The NBC show is now on its third season and has attracted a massive fan base. It was no surprise to see it there among the very best.
The psychological horror thriller “A Quiet Place” was yet another highlight of the evening. Emily Blunt, one of the stars in the movie, took home the best performance by a female actor in a supporting role award. This was the first time that Blunt wins at SAG and it was quite an emotional moment for her husband John Krasinski as well who directed the movie.
Mahershala Ali was perhaps the less surprising headline though. The actor who is primed for an Oscar later next month was the recipient of the best male actor in a supporting role award for his performance in the movie “Green Book.” The SAG for the best performance by a female actor in a leading role went to Glenn Close for her role in “The Wife.” This was also pretty much expected and the movie is also looking at the prospects of an Oscar after a few nominations this month. As for the male actor in a leading role, Rami Malek took it home for the movie “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
The lifetime achievement award, on the other hand, was an emotional one. It was presented by longtime actor Tom Hanks to an equally decorated titan of the industry Alan Alda. Alda was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease last year and received a warming standing ovation as he went to collect his SAG.
The show Ozark was honored by an individual award as lead actor Jason Bateman took home the SAG for best performance by a male actor in a drama series. During his acceptance speech, Bateman had some words of encouragement for struggling young actors urging them to hang in there, and that the breakthrough was closer than they thought.The award for the best performance by a female actor in a leading role in a drama series was taken by Sandra Oh for her performance in “Killing Eve.”
The SAG awards are a good precursor to the Oscars which are slated to take place later in February this year. But with so many good nominations already in, it may not be easy to call it.
