‘Oppenheimer’, ‘The Bear’ win big at Screen Actors Guild Awards

Oppenheimer and The Bear were the big winners at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards on Saturday, taking home three prizes each.

Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb drama scooped the night’s biggest prize, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture – which is widely viewed as a predictor for the Best Picture honour at the upcoming Academy Awards – as well as Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Cillian Murphy and Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for his co-star Robert Downey Jr.

The ceremony is organised by acting union SAG-AFTRA and, speaking on behalf of the cast, Sir Kenneth Branagh reflected on the “full circle” moment of the premiere of the movie taking place at the start of last year’s strike before coming together again for the awards show.

He said as they accepted the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture accolade: “Of course thank you, thank you SAG-AFTRA for this, thank you for fighting for us, thank you to every member who’s support and sacrifice allows us to be standing here better than we were before.

“When we were last together, it was the premiere of this film in July when the strike was about to begin and led by our fearless leader, Cillian Murphy, 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 is a full circle moment for us and to receive this recognition in a year of spectacular achievement from all the people in this room, our acting friends, our acting heroes, it means the world to us.

The Bear won the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series honour, while there were wins for Outstanding Performance in a Comedy Series for stars Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri.

Elsewhere at the ceremony, which took place at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role was won by Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon and the Female Supporting Role honour went to The Holdovers star Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

In the TV categories, the final season of Succession earned the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

Beef stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong won the Outstanding Performance by a Male and Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series prizes.

During the pre-show segment, the stunt teams for The Mandalorian and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One were honoured with the Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series and in a Motion Picture, respectively.