Revenge tale rules SAG Awards night
Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell won acting trophies for their parts in the revenge tale “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” Other winners included Gary Oldman, named best actor for playing Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.”
The Western-inspired revenge tale “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” swept the female-focused Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday and led with wins for best ensemble, best actress for Frances McDormand and best supporting actor for Sam Rockwell.
It was almost an exact repeat of the major Golden Globe Awards wins with Gary Oldman also winning best actor for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour” and Allison Janney taking supporting actress for playing Tonya Harding’s mother in “I, Tonya.” As with many of the awards shows this season, it was the treatment of women in Hollywood that stayed at the forefront of the show, which featured a roster of nearly all-female presenters and Kristen Bell as its inaugural host.
“We are living in a watershed moment,” Bell said in her opening monologue, which stayed light and mostly clear of politics. “Let’s make sure that we’re leading the charge with empathy and diligence.” With many prominent men in Hollywood facing accusations of sexual misconduct, virtually every aspect of awards season has been impacted by the scandal— from questions on the red carpet to anxiety over who might win.
Both James Franco and Aziz Ansari, two weeks ago, won Golden Globe Awards while wearing Time’s Up pins before being accused of sexual misconduct, and in Ansari’s case, aggressive sexual behavior by an anonymous accuser. Both were nominated Sunday and lost, Franco to Oldman and Ansari to William H. Macy for “Shameless.”
Rockwell, who beat out his co-star Woody Harrelson for the award, took his moment on stage to give a shout-out to McDormand.
“Frances, you’re a powerhouse,” Rockwell said. “I stand shoulder to shoulder with you and all the incredible women in this room who are trying to make things better. It’s long overdue.”
Most of the comments in the evening were forward-looking. SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) president Gabrielle Carteris said, “This is not a moment in time. This is a movement.”
Big television winners included NBC’s “This Is Us,” which took the ensemble award for drama and won Sterling K. Brown the outstanding actor award, and HBO’s “Veep,” which got outstanding comedy ensemble and a best actress win for Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
HBO’s “Big Little Lies” picked up best actor in a miniseries wins for both Alexander Skars- gard and Nicole Kidman.
“I’m so grateful today that our careers can go beyond 40 years old,” Kidman said in her acceptance speech. “We are potent and powerful and viable. I just beg that the industry stays behind us because our stories are finally being told.”
“The Crown’s” Claire Foy won best female actor in a drama series for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II.
Lifetime achievement award recipient Morgan Freeman kept his remarks brief after a moving highlight reel of his expansive career and an introduction by Rita Moreno. The Oscar-winner for “Million Dollar Baby” and four-time nominee has over 80 films to his name.
“I’m gonna tell you what’s wrong with this statue,” he said as he wrapped up. “From the back it works, from the front it’s gender specific. Maybe I started something.”
The SAG Awards are a reliable predictor of the winner for the best actor and actress in the Academy Awards, the nominees of which will be announced today—5:22 a.m. in the US, and around night time in the Philippines.
While “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” now has the Golden Globe and SAG win to its name, it lost out to Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy romance “The Shape of Water” at the Producers Guild Awards Saturday night, which is often the most accurate gauge of what will ultimately win best picture at the Academy Awards on March 4.
This is beyond honor. This is a place in history. MORGAN FREEMAN Actor