“Oppenheimer” won top honors at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, as Hollywood stars rejoiced at their union’s first award ceremony since its longest-ever strike last year.
The coveted award for best cast performance at the SAG Awards has historically been a good predictor of Oscar nominations, making “Oppenheimer” a strong contender for best picture.
Christopher Nolan’s epic drama about the father of the atomic bomb also won Best Actor for Cillian Murphy, who plays the titular scientist, and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr, who plays his deadly rival.
“Thank you for the invitation to play a genuine part in making this scarily important film,” said Kenneth Branagh, speaking on behalf of the cast.
The tone at the gala was jubilant all around, with members of SAG-AFTRA — the organization that represents over 120,000 actors, including A-list celebrities — gathering in large numbers for the first time since the strike ended in November.
Branagh described how the film’s ensemble stormed out of their London premiere in July, just as the work stoppage was due to begin.
“We went from the red carpet and we didn’t see the film that night. We happily went in the direction of solidarity with your good selves.
“So this, this is a full circle moment for us,” he said, to loud applause.
The guild ultimately extracted hard-fought gains including better pay and protections against artificial intelligence (AI) from studios including Disney and Netflix.
“You survived the longest strike in our union’s history with courage and conviction,” said SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher.
Warning that AI could “entrap us in a matrix where none of us know what’s real,” Drescher said “seminal” gains made in talks would “set the trajectory for many generations to come.”
Oscars best picture race over?
“Oppenheimer” has been relentlessly scooping up awards all season.
The film has already received top honors from the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards, Directors Guild of America Awards, and Britain’s BAFTAs.
It currently includes the top SAG-AFTRA award for best cast, which has resulted in recent best picture Oscar wins for films like Parasite, CODA, and Everything Everywhere All at Once.
Many of the same actors that vote for the SAG Awards also make up the largest voting group for the Academy Awards, which take place this year on March 10.
“Oppenheimer” defeated “Barbie,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “American Fiction,” and “The Color Purple” for the top spot.
In the best actress category, Lily Gladstone (“Killers”) defeated her primary competitor Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) in a carefully anticipated result that opens up the Oscar race.
The Indigenous actress, who plays an Osage lady abused by evil white neighbours in Martin Scorsese’s 1920s epic, delivered her acceptance speech in her native Blackfeet tongue.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”) has frequently won supporting actress awards this season, and Saturday’s gala was no exception.
Barbra Streisand was also honored with a lifetime achievement award, receiving a thunderous standing ovation in a rare public appearance by the 81-year-old.
Netflix and chill
The night also celebrated television. “The Bear” won comedy awards for its whole cast, as well as actors Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri.
“Succession” received the drama series cast award, while Elizabeth Debicki won best actress for her portrayal of the late Princess Diana in “The Crown”.
Pedro Pascal won best actor for “The Last of Us,” confessing he was inebriated as one of many artists to take advantage of the Netflix telecast’s looser tone — and various regulations on what is acceptable — by dropping an F-bomb.
The 30th SAG Awards became the first Tinseltown award presentation to be available globally on Netflix.
In recent years, the streamer has taken a cautious approach to live events, hosting a Chris Rock comedy special and a celebrity golf tournament.
Moving to Netflix from lesser US cable networks TBS and TNT provided the SAG Awards with access to the streaming giant’s 260 million subscribers—and no commercial breaks.
“I can’t wait to get home and have Netflix recommend this show to me based on all the other stuff that I’ve watched myself in,” said Idris Elba, who hosted the event.