SAG Awards 2023 WINNERS: Thespians honored on film and television’s big night

Jessica Chastain earned the very first win at the 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night. 

The 45-year-old Oscar-winner took home Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for her role in George & Tammy.

She beat an impressive field which included: Emily Blunt – The English, Julia Garner – Inventing Anna, Niecy Nash-Betts Dahmer – Monster, and Amanda Seyfried – The Dropout. 

The biographical film she starred in was an intimate look at the extraordinary rise, fall and redemption of televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker as she played the titular role.

The event began with a hilarious backstage sketch featuring Steve Martin and Martin Short backstage.

They get in a bit of a verbal tiff as they are both nominated in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series against one another as Selena Gomez later popped in to serve as peacemaker. 

Later on Niecy Nash, Bob Odenkirk, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Abbott’s Elementary stars Janelle James and Quinta Brunson did the iconic ‘I am an actor’ monologues which are featured at the beginning of every show. 

Janelle and Quinta later hit the stage to make a few jokes and kick off a highlight reel featuring the biggest moments in film and television.

The 29th Screen Actors Guild Awards are taking place at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City, California and will be broadcast live on Netflix‘s YouTube channel.

The Banshees Of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once were among the most nominated feature films.

Among the television nominees, Better Call Saul and Ozark scored several nods.

The Banshees Of Inisherin, Martin McDonagh’s film about two Irish men’s fractured friendship among that country’s civil war, earned a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, along with individual nods for Colin Farrell in the lead male actor category and Brendan Gleeson and Barry Keoghan in the supporting male category.

Kerry Condon was also nominated in the supporting female actor category.

The Michelle Yeoh–starring Everything Everywhere All At Once, which has grossed more than $100 million against just a $14 million budget, was also a hit with SAG voters.

Yeoh, who scored a major career comeback with Everything Everywhere All At Once, was nominated for lead female actor.

Ke Huy Quan, best known as a child actor in Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom and The Goonies, cemented his return to Hollywood with a nomination for supporting male actor.

Stephanie Hsu, who plays the actors’ daughter in the film, was nominated in the supporting female actor category, as was Jamie Lee Curtis, who plays a villainous IRS agent.

Another comeback film, the Darren Aronofsky–directed drama The Whale, scored a lead nomination for its star Brendan Fraser, while his costar Hong Chau was nominated in the supporting female actor category.

Ana de Armas, who was nominated at the previous night’s Golden Globe Awards ceremony for her fictional Marilyn Monroe film Blonde, scored another nomination for the controversial drama. 

Other nominees for feature films included Angela Bassett for supporting female actress for her Marvel superhero film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Eddie Redmayne was a surprise supporting male actor nominee for his creepy performance in The Good Nurse, and Adam Sandler scored a lead male actor nomination for Hustle, despite the film barely having an awards season profile.

There was more variety in the male and female lead actor categories, with several nominees being the only representatives of their films.

Cate Blanchett’s acclaimed performance in Tár was recognized, as was Viola Davis for The Woman King and Danielle Deadwyler for the Civil Rights Movement drama Till.

Austin Butler scored a lead male actor nomination for playing the title role in the music biopic Elvis, while Bill Nighy scored a nomination for the drama Living.

The Fabelmans, which won Best Picture, Drama, award at the Golden Globes, was nominated for the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture category, while Paul Dano was nominated in the supporting actor category for playing a fictionalized version of director Steven Spielberg’s father.

Despite not receiving any individual nominations, the early Hollywood dramedy Babylon and Women Talking both received nominations for their full casts. 

Among the television nominees, Ozark scored several nods. Jason Bateman and Laura Linney were both nominated in the lead categories, as was their costar Julia Garner.

Garner also received a second nod in the limited series category for her work in Inventing Anna.

Better Call Saul received several nominations for lead actors Bob Odenkirk and Jonathan Banks in the same category, along with the ensemble award.

Adam Scott was nominated for his performance in Apple’s Severance, and the show also received an ensemble nomination.

Elizabeth Debicki’s nomination for playing Princess Diana on The Crown wasn’t exactly a surprise, but Jeff Bridge’s nomination for The Old Man flew under the radar. 

The awards favorite The White Lotus earned two nominations, one for actress Jennifer Coolidge and one for the whole ensemble cast.

Only Murders In The Building did well among the comedy series nominees with nods for stars Steve Martin and Martin Short in the male actor category, along with a full cast nod.

Quinta Brunson, who won a Golden Globe for Abbott Elementary, was nominated for the series along with the rest of the cast in the ensemble category. 

Barry scored ensemble and individual nominations for stars Bill Hader and Anthony Carrigan. 

Other ensemble nominees included The Bear (which also got a nomination for star Jeremy Allen White) and Hacks (which got an additional nod for its star Jean Smart).

Christina Applegate and Rachel Brosnahan rounded out the female nominees for Dead To Me and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, respectively.

Television movies and limited series actors were also honored, though only with individual nominations.

Taron Egerton and Golden Globe winner Paul Walter Hauser scored nods for Blackbird, while Evan Peters and Niecy Nash were both nominated for the chilling thriller Dahmer.

Sam Elliott’s work on the Yellowstone prequel 1883 was also recognized, as were Emily Blunt for The English and Amanda Seyfried for The Dropout.

Rounding out the A-lister nominations in the categories were Oscar winner Jessica Chastain for George And Tammy and Steve Carrell for the thriller The Patient. 

 The event will also be honoring acting legend Sally Field with the SAG Life Achievement Award for her work spanning over five decades earning over 70 acting credits.

The 76-year-old actress who exclaimed, ‘You like me! Right now! You like me!’ when she won her second Oscar for Best Actress in 1984’s Places in the Heart, is no stranger to Hollywood honors. Field has won Best Actress twice as she also scored for 1984’s Places In The Heart.

The talented actress has also won the SAG Award in the Outstanding Actress in a Drama series category for Brothers & Sisters. She has been nominated a total of 8 times.

Field has also received three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Cannes Film Festival Award, and nominations for a Tony Award and two British Academy Film Awards. 

There will also be plenty of A-list presenters including Zendaya and Ariana DeBose who is hot off of her viral BAFTAs rap.

Also presenting will be Aubrey Plaza, Jenna Ortega, Amy Poehler, Eugene Levy, Jason Bateman, Jeff Bridges, Adam Scott, and Matt Bomer in addition to SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher.