Three Billboards wins big at SAG awards
Best performance by a cast, female lead actor, supporting male actor slots went to the film
Los Angeles: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri shone bright at the 24th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards as # MeToo and Time’s Up movements again took the centrestage.
Three Billboards was again a winner in the film categories, earning a Best Actress award for Frances McDormand, a supporting actor trophy for Sam Rockwell, and the award for outstanding performance by a cast in a Motion Picture — the SAG Awards equivalent of Best Picture.
“I come out of the woods every few years and you invite me to the party,” McDormand said, in her acceptance speech, reminding the guild to also recognise deserving young actors.
“If you’re a struggling actor out there then hang on in there,” Rockwell said as he praised the “long overdue” movement to remove sexual predators from the movie business.
Women in the industry have launched the Time’s Up movement, before the award season started with Golden Globes, to address gender disparity and abuse, and almost all of Hollywood — both women and men — from the showbiz and beyond are supporting it.
Gary Oldman, who recently won his maiden Golden Globe in the Best Actor in a Drama category, for playing Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, continued his winning spree at SAG.
In an emotional speech, Oldman said he was “overjoyed” to accept the honour.
Women again dominated the TV arena with Big
Little Lies taking home the limited series awards and Best Actor and Best Actress for Alexander Skarsgard and Nicole Kidman, respectively.
In her acceptance speech, Kidman spoke about Hollywood finally giving roles to women over the age of 40.
“I just beg that the industry stays behind us because our stories are finally being told and it’s only the beginning,” she said. The popular TV show
This Is Us bagged the honour for Best Ensemble in a TV drama. Brown talked about his role in the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements as he accepted the honour. “There is a responsibility that we have to make sure that our work environment is comfortable for all, because it’s not always about malicious and nastiness. Sometimes it’s about downright thoughtlessness, and we can all stand to be a bit more thoughtful,” he said.
Veep won the award for Best Comedy, and its star, Julia Louis- Dreyfus won the honour for Best Comedy actress, making it her ninth SAG win.
The ceremony also boasted an all- female list of hosts, including Laura Linney, Gina Rodriguez, Sarah Silverman, Marisa Tomei, Lupita Nyong’o and Mandy Moore.
The awards which are usually without an emcee, this year had Kristen Bell as the presenter. “We are living in a watershed moment and as we march forward with active momentum and open ears, let’s make sure we are leading the charge with empathy and diligence, because fear and anger never win the race,” she said in her opening mono - logue.