CODA takes top prize at the SAG Awards

The winner of the top prize at this year’s Screen Actors Guild awards was a film led by deaf actors – called CODA – an acronym for “children of deaf adults.”

Coda won SAG’s equivalent of Best Picture, with Troy Kotsur being named the best supporting actor.

It was named the best ensemble cast and also picked up the prize for the Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur.

The Best Actor prize went to Will Smith for King Richard, Jessica Chastain won the Best Actress award for The Eyes of Tammy Faye and West Side Story’s Ariana DeBose was named the Best Supporting Actress.

It was only in the stunt ensemble category – won by No Time To Die – that a big box-office hit featured among the prize-winners.

In the absence of a televised Golden Globes ceremony, the SAG awards are second only to the Oscars in their prominence in the Awards Season calendar, and they have traditionally been a good signal for who might collect the acting Oscars, since the actors make up such a large proportion of the Academy’s voting membership.

But since efforts have been made to expand the membership over the past few years, to improve the diversity of the organisation, the correlation between SAG’s awards and the Oscars has been weaker.

Will Smith’s SAG Award will strengthen his push for his first Oscar.

All four of this year’s individual winners are also nominated for Oscars, but the Best Actor category is the only one where all five SAG nominees are also in the running for the Oscars; in the supporting categories, only two of the five stars have made it onto both shortlists.

Like the Golden Globes, SAG honours TV performers on the same day as it recognises big-screen talent, which seems all the more appropriate, in the post-Covid era, when so many feature films make it so quickly onto streaming services.

The streamers dominated the TV awards, with Succession, Squid Game and Ted Lasso being among the main winners.

The Guild also honoured Dame Helen Mirren with a lifetime achievement award.

Here is the full list of winners from the star-studded ceremony in Santa Monica.

FILM AWARDS

Cast in a Motion Picture – CODA

Male Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture –  Will Smith, King Richard

Female Actor in a Leading Role in a Motion Picture – Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Troy Kotsur, CODA

Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture – Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

TV AWARDS

Ensemble in a Drama Series – Succession

Male Actor in a Drama Series – Lee Jung-jae, Squid Game

Female Actor in a Drama Series – Jung Ho-yeon, Squid Game

Ensemble in a Comedy Series – Ted Lasso

Male Actor in a Comedy Series – Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso

Female Actor in a Comedy Series – Jean Smart, Hacks

Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series – Michael Keaton, Dopesick

Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series – Kate Winslet, Mare of Easttown

STUNT AWARDS

Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture – No Time to Die

Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series – Squid Game