The 2020 SAG Awards had few surprises among the film nominations until the final award was announced, but the television nominations allowed for some unexpected and moving speeches. Phoebe Waller-Bridge remarked on how the “Fleabag” family’s adventure on the awards tour was coming to a close. Sam Rockwell was genuinely shocked to win for his role in “Fosse/Verdon” after his co-star, Michelle Williams, credited him for her own SAG win. Only three stars of “The Crown” were on hand to accept their award, but Helena Bonham Carter steered the ship before the trio headed to the airport to shoot tomorrow.
READ MORE: “Parasite” makes history at the 2020 SAG Awards
Granted, there was a lack of diversity in the winners outside of the cast of “Parasite,” but all in all it was more entertaining than most SAG Award shows tend to be. That being said, there were always highlights and lowlights. So keeping that in mind…
BEST: Eugene and Dan Levy
Usually, the SAG Awards’ annual “I’m [insert name] and I’m an actor” intro is cringeworthy. This year, there was a twist. After Christina Applegate and Cynthia Erivo spoke, the camera turned to “Schitt’s Creek” star Eugene Levy whose son, Dan Levy, sat right behind him. The elder Levy started down a very long story about Mr. Whipple working in his town grocery store before attempting to segue to a memory about watching Sid Caesar on TV as a kid. Dan interrupted him in an attempt to get him back on track, but not before Eugene insulted Tom Hanks, who gleefully played along with the bit. The duo then took the stage reminding the audience they were “not your hosts” as they would not appear again (they actually did to announce the final category) and were not getting paid. Dan might have gotten a coupon for a flu shot tho. All in all, whoever is producing this year’s Emmy telecasts should seriously consider booking them for that gig.
BEST: Alex Bornstein voted for “Fleabag”
After winning the top Comedy Series honor at the Emmys and the Golden Globes, most assumed “Fleabag” would take the Comedy Series Ensemble. While star Phoebe Waller-Bridge won Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, it was last year’s winner, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” who actually took the coveted SAG Award. Alex Bornstein went to the microphone and admitted, “I voted for ‘Fleabag’! This is really weird.” Flustered she added, “This makes no sense. I don’t know what to say. I’m going to take this home and make sweet love to it under my Spanx hole. This makes no sense, ‘Fleabag’ is brilliant.” Mrs. Maisel herself, Rachel Brosnahan then took the podium saying she was “very surprised.” She then dedicated the award to their co-star, Brian Tarantina, who passed away in November.
BEST: Brad Pitt
This year’s winner in the Supporting Actor category for “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” doesn’t speak in public very often. It’s therefore easy to forget just how inherently funny Brad Pitt actually is. As he accepted his SAG Award Pitt deadpanned, “I need to add this to my Tinder profile.” In what turned out to be a great speech, Pitt did get serious telling the audience, “I want you to now I watch everything. I watch it all. And the work has been mesmerizing so thank you.” He then returned to the funny stuff noting how often the feet of his female co-stars appeared in “Once Upon.” He joked, “Quentin has separated more women from their shoes than the TSA.” But it was the last self-deprecating turn that was the most telling. Pitt remarked, “Let’s be honest. It was a difficult part. A guy who gets high takes his shirt off and doesn’t get on with his wife. Big stretch.” And cut to his longtime ex-wife and continuous tabloid co-star, Jennifer Aniston, who smiled.
BEST: “Parasite” standing ovation a hint of more to come
Barring the appearance of a former U.S. president or legendary Hollywood star who is rarely seen in public, it takes a lot for any audience to react to whoever is presenting a clip reel from a nominated film or television series. Something unique happened at this year’s SAG Awards that clearly indicated a future win. When the cast of “Parasite” walked on stage they earned a two-minute standing ovation before they (and their Korean translator) even spoke. They were taken aback by it and it only teased their historic win at the end of the telecast.
WORST: Actor Skills
Jason Alexander, Adam Scott, Yvette Nicole Brown, Max Greenfield and Laurie Metcalf all participated in a piece that discussed their different skills as actors. They were hard to follow and not that interesting? And in the end, considering the show went over by a few minutes and this piece didn’t help with the runtime.
WORST: No moment for Jennifer Lopez
No disrespect to Laura Dern, but she’s winning the Oscar on Feb. 9. Couldn’t SAG do the right thing and give Jennifer Lopez a well deserved moment in the sun for her performance in “Hustlers” considering her Oscar snub? Is Dern actually so incredible in “Marriage Story” that she can’t let Lopez have at least one statue? Guess not.
WORST: The Hero Montage
Why was this necessary? Was this to make actors feel better about all the genre parts they take? Who was this for? It was well cut, but…the point lost me.
BEST: Jennifer Aniston’s shout out to Adam Sandler
After surprising some with her win in the Drama Series Actress category for her work in “The Morning Show,” Jennifer Aniston gave an emotional speech where she thanked many of her on-screen and behind-the-scenes collaborators. Ready to walk off, she stopped herself and added, “Oh, Adam Sandler you’re performance is extraordinary your magic is real, buddy. I love you.” That was a shout out to her “Murder Mystery” co-star who was snubbed by the SAG Awards and the Academy Awards for his acclaimed performance in “Uncut Gems.” It wasn’t anything Aniston needed to do, but the fact she took the time showed how much their collaborations truly meant to her.
BEST: That was quick
After spending 2 and a half hours to sit through the PGA Awards the night before, a show that has no commercials and give out fewer awards, it was remarkable to watch a commercial telecast that ended in just over two hours. Not all awards shows should be shorter, but the SAG Awards, for the most part, moves things along in a remarkably efficient manner.
BEST: De Niro uses his voice
Robert De Niro raced up to the stage to accept his Life Achievement Award before presenter Leonardo DiCaprio could finish his introduction. De Niro immediately thanked Netflix, Martin Scorsese, and his family, but he also waded into politics with a very specific point. “I have to say something.” I thought I said it very to Variety last week so I’m gonna quote myself. ‘There is right and there is wrong and there is common sense and there is abuse of power. And as a citizen as an actor, a musician, an athlete…I have a bigger voice I’m going to use it whenever I see a blatant abuse of power,” De Niro noted to a big ovation. “And that’s all I’m gonna say about that tonight.” And cute a hearty laugh from the audience.