If you were watching the Screen Actors Guild/SAG Awards Saturday night, you saw something Oscars viewers won’t be seeing; Actors of color giving acceptance speeches. It was a serious contrast to #OscarsSoWhite.
One of the actors of color who won last, Idris Elba, picked up two awards. One for TV (“Luther”) for the BBC and one for Film (“Beasts of No Nation”) for Netflix.
It’s interesting to note that Elba being passed over for an Oscar nomination helped ignite this year’s backlash against the Oscars organization, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which for the second year in a row did not nominate any people of color for its 20 acting nominations.
When Elba won his award for the TV crime drama “Luther,” he deftly summed up the tone of the evening onstage with this play on words: “Welcome to diverse TV.”
In addition to Elba, other black winners included Queen Latifah who played blues singer Bessie Smith in HBO’s “Bessie,” Viola Davis for her lead turn on ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder” and “Orange Is the New Black” actress Uzo Aduba.
“And they won because their performances were effective,” Davis told the LA Times backstage. “They won because the actors have craft, they have a level of excellence that reaches people — and we’re actors too. We’re artists, too, we deserve to be a part of it and I think you saw that tonight.”
“You know what it feels like?” Aduba added. “It’s amazing to see actors have the opportunity to celebrate other actors’ work and to feel empowered by the voting process so they can see whatever actor they want reflected up there. And I’m honored to have been chosen by my peers.”
The complete list of winners – indicated by asterisk and bold – is below.
Outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture
“Beasts of No Nation”
“The Big Short”
“Spotlight”*
“Straight Outta Compton”
“Trumbo”
—
Outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role
Bryan Cranston, “Trumbo”
Johnny Depp, “Black Mass”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Revenant”*
Michael Fassbender, “Steve Jobs”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Danish Girl”
—
Outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role
Cate Blanchett, “Carol”
Brie Larson, “Room”*
Helen Mirren, “Woman in Gold”
Saoirse Ronan, “Brooklyn”
Sarah Silverman, “I Smile Back”
—
Outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role
Christian Bale, “The Big Short”
Idris Elba, “Beasts of No Nation”*
Mark Rylance, “Bridge of Spies”
Michael Shannon, “99 Homes”
Jacob Tremblay, “Room”
—
Outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role
Rooney Mara, “Carol”
Rachel McAdams, “Spotlight”
Helen Mirren, “Trumbo”
Alicia Vikander, “The Danish Girl”*
Kate Winslet, “Steve Jobs”
—
Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series
“Downton Abbey”*
“Game of Thrones”
“Homeland”
“House of Cards”
“Mad Men”
—
Outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series
“The Big Bang Theory”
“Key & Peele”
“Modern Family”
“Orange Is the New Black”*
“Transparent”
“Veep”
—
Outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series
Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones”
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
Rami Malek, “Mr. Robot”
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”
Kevin Spacey, “House of Cards”*
—
Outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series
Claire Danes, “Homeland”
Viola Davis, “How to Get Away With Murder”*
Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”
Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”
Robin Wright, “House of Cards”
—
Outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series
Ty Burrell, “Modern Family”
Louis C.K., “Louie”
William H. Macy, “Shameless”
Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”
Jeffrey Tambor, “Transparent” *
—
Outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series
Uzo Aduba, “Orange Is the New Black” *
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Ellie Kemper, “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep
Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation”
—
Outstanding performance by a male actor in a television movie or miniseries
Idris Elba, “Luther”*
Ben Kingsley, “Tut”
Ray Liotta, “Texas Rising”
Bill Murray,” A Very Murray Christmas”
Mark Rylance, “Wolf Hall”
—
Outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or miniseries
Nicole Kidman, “Grace of Monaco”
Queen Latifah, “Bessie”*
Christina Ricci, “The Lizzie Borden Chronicles”
Susan Sarandon, “The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe”
Kristen Wiig, “The Spoils Before Dying”
—
Outstanding action performance by a stunt ensemble in a motion picture
“Everest”
“Furious 7”
“Jurassic World”
“Mad Max: Fury Road”*
“Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation”
—
Outstanding action performance by a stunt ensemble in a comedy or drama series
“The Blacklist”
“Game of Thrones”*
“Homeland”
“Marvel’s Daredevil”
“The Walking Dead”
—
Life Achievement Award
Carol Burnett*
Read more at http://www.eurweb.com/2016/01/566622/#8U4MZgIYpdkh8XGW.99
h/t: LA Times
(Photo: Associated Press)
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