Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, seen as an Oscar favourite, failed to pick up a single Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award at a ceremony characterised by upsets and commentary on the crisis in Ukraine.
The prize for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture went the way of Sian Heder's comic drama Coda. Following the only hearing member of a deaf fishing family from New England – the title stands for "child of dead adults" – the film sold to Apple TV for a record sum at last year's Sundance film festival, but has been viewed as an underdog through much of the current awards season.
Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, the Irish actor who broke through in John Carney’s Sing Street, was among those cited for Coda. “I wasn’t there but my whole heart was with you guys,” Walsh-Peelo, who plays the protagonist’s boyfriend, said on his Twitter account. “This movie is so special. Thank you to all of you, to cast, to crew and our director.”
The actor’s branch is by far the largest voting bloc in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that decides the Oscars. Analysts will, thus, be reading the SAG runes for signs as to what will happen at those more high-profile awards late next month.
There was a big surprise in best actress with Jessica Chastain slipping past favourites Nicole Kidman and Olivia Colman to win for her turn as televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in The Eyes of Tammy Faye. That could be seen as an outlier, but Troy Kostur's triumph in best supporting actor for Coda sets that race alight. The deaf actor's star has been rising and he now offers strong competition to Kodi Smit McPhee, admired in The Power of the Dog, at the Academy Awards.
There were no such shocks in the other two film acting awards. Will Smith secures his front-runner status with a win in best actor for King Richard. Ariana DeBose, awarded for an incandescent Anita in West Side Story, now looks close to unbeatable for the best supporting actress Oscar.
Caitriona Balfe, nominated against DeBose at SAG for Belfast, was snubbed in the Oscar nominations.
Coda's triumph in the ensemble award does not scupper the hopes of Belfast or of Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog (also a complete shut-out here) in the best picture race at the Academy. The two prizes only occasionally double up. But it was Parasite's triumph here two years ago that confirmed the eventual best picture winner was coming up on the rail. The Coda win also demonstrates that Apple TV is now a force. That streamer's Ted Lasso won comedy series ensemble and, for Jason Sudeikis, best comedy actor. HBO's Succession was the other big winner in the TV section.
"While tonight is a celebration, we are all at the same time holding a place in our hearts for the people of Ukraine and sending our thoughts, prayers and hopes for impending peace," Leslie Odom Jr said at the beginning of the broadcast from Santa Monica.
Screen Actors Guild awards 2022: The complete list of winners
Outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture
CODA
Male actor in a leading role
Will Smith (King Richard)
Female actor in a leading role
Jessica Chastain (The Eyes Of Tammy Faye)
Male actor in a supporting role
Troy Kotsur (CODA)
Female actor in a supporting role
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)
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)
Male actor in a drama series
Lee Jung-Jae (Squid Game)
Female actor in a drama series
Jung Ho-Yeon (Squid Game)
Male actor in a comedy series
Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso)
Female actor in a comedy series
Jean Smart (Hacks)
Ensemble in a drama series
Succession
Ensemble in a comedy series
Ted Lasso
Action performance by a stunt ensemble in a motion picture
No Time To Die
Action performance by a stunt ensemble in a comedy or drama series
Squid Game
The SAG Life Achievement Award
Helen Mirren
