Parasite surprise winner as most SAG awards fall where you’d expect

Parasite – a dark social comedy from South Korea – won the Palme d’Or.

The South Korean social satire Parasite has surprised Hollywood by taking home the biggest prize of the night from the biggest acting union, SAG-AFTRA. While none of its stars were even nominated in the individual categories, the Palme d’Or winner took the award for the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture – the SAG Awards’ equivalent to the Oscars’ Best Picture prize.

But in the individual categories, SAG has cemented four stars as favourites in the Oscars, as Golden Globe winners – who’ve received nominations from BAFTA and the Oscars – went on to win Screen Actors Guild Actor Awards.

Joker star Joaquin Phoenix continued his dominance in the Best Actor category, while Renée Zellweger was honoured once again for her portrayal of the late singer Judy Garland in the eponymous Judy.

Joker star Joaquin Phoenix arriving at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles for the SAG Awards. Photo: ©2020 Steve McCambridge

The supporting categories also went the way they have been until now, with Laura Dern repeating her Golden Globes success for Marriage Story, while the best supporting actor prize was won, again, by Brad Pitt, for Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood.

Pitt had a rare public re-union backstage with his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, who was also a winner – taking home an Actor trophy for Best Actress in a TV drama for Apple’s The Morning Show.

Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge won the corresponding comedy prize.

The Best Actor in a TV drama was Peter Dinklage, from Game of Thrones, while the comedy award went to Tony Shalhoub for The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, which was also named as the Best Comedy ensemble cast. The Crown won the corresponding drama prize.

Other winners on the night included Sam Rockwell and Michelle Williams for the title roles in the TV miniseries Fosse/Verdon about the choreographer Bob Fosse and his actress wife Gwen Verdon.