‘Oppenheimer’ takes top SAG prize
Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” continued to steamroll through awards season Saturday, winning the top prize, outstanding cast, along with awards for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
The SAG Awards were streamed live on Netflix, a first for a major Hollywood award show. That made for some significant tweaks to the age-old traditions of such ceremonies. There were no ads. Profanity was permitted. And winners were occasionally interviewed backstage by red carpet co-host Tan France.
The night’s most thrilling win went to Lily Gladstone for female actor in a leading role in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” No category has been more hotly contested, with analysts evenly split between Gladstone and Emma Stone for “Poor Things.”
But Gladstone won Saturday, and the crowd erupted. Stone, too, stood and vigorously applauded.
“We bring empathy into a world that so much needs it,” Gladstone said. “It’s so easy to distance ourselves. It’s so easy to close off, to stop feeling. And we all bravely keep feeling. And that humanizes people. That brings people out of the shadows. It brings visibility.”
Murphy and Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”) also have been seen as in a neck-and-neck contest. But Murphy has now won at the SAGs, the BAFTAs and the Golden Globes.
Downey Jr. and Da’Vine Joy Randolph each won for their supporting performances.
“Why me? Why now? Why do things seem to be going my way?” said Downey Jr., accepting his
first SAG Award for a film performance.
Randolph’s performance in Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” has been a breakthrough role for the actor.
“To every actor out there still waiting in the wings for their chance, let me tell you: Your life can change in a day,” Randolph said. “It’s not a question of if but when. Keep going.”
The TV awards went largely to the same shows that have cleaned up at the Emmys and Golden Globes: “The Bear” (best comedy series ensemble, Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri ); “Beef ” (Ali Wong, Steven Yeun); and the cast of “Succession.”
One exception was Pedro Pascal, who won best male actor in a drama series for “The Last of Us” over three “Succession” stars.
“This is wrong for a number of reasons,” said a visibly stunned Pascal.
“I’m a little bit drunk. I thought I could get drunk.”
Barbra Streisand held the audience in rapt attention while accepting a lifetime achievement award, presented by Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper.
“I remember dreaming of being an actress as a teenager sitting in my bed in Brooklyn with a pint of coffee ice cream and a movie magazine,” said Streisand, who recalled being transfixed by “my first crush,” Marlon Brando.
Feb. 27 birthdays: Actor Joanne Woodward is 94. Actor Barbara Babcock is
87. Guitarist Neal Schon is 70. Singer Johnny Van Zant is 64. Actor Adam Baldwin is 62. Actor Donal Logue is 58. Singer Chilli is
53. Singer Josh Groban is
43. Actor Kate Mara is 41. TV personality JWoww is
38. Actor Lindsey Morgan is 34.