'Sinners' takes top prize at the Actor Awards, setting up an Oscar
showdown
[March 02, 2026]
By JAKE COYLE
After a near awards-season sweep by “One Battle After Another,”
“Sinners” won best ensemble at the Screen Actors Guild’s 32nd Actor
Awards on Sunday, shaking up the Oscar race and setting up a potential
nail-biter finale in two weeks at the Academy Awards.
The guild’s awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards, are one of the
most closely watched Oscar precursors. Actors make up the largest slice
of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and their choices at
the Actor Awards often align.
The victory for Ryan Coogler’s blues-soaked vampire saga showed that it
has a strong chance to win at the Oscars, too, despite an almost
unblemished run of awards for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After
Another.” It's won at the Golden Globes, the Producers Guild Awards, the
BAFTAs and the Directors Guild Awards.
But the win Sunday, in a Netflix-streamed ceremony at the Shine
Auditorium in Los Angeles, flipped that awards-season script.
Writer-director Ryan Coogler, whose “Black Panther” triumphed at the
guild's awards in 2019, became the first filmmaker to steer two
ensembles to the guild's top prize.
“From the bottom of our hearts, to the bottom of your hearts, thank you
so much for everything,” said Delroy Lindo, who spoke on behalf of the
film's cast.
Moments earlier, Michael B. Jordan also won best male actor, upsetting
the category favorite, Timothée Chalamet, and handing the 39-year-old
Jordan the most significant prize of his acclaimed career. Even Jordan
looked shocked as the audience rose to its feet and Viola Davis, the
award's presenter, celebrated.
“I wasn't expecting this at all,” said Jordan, who reflected on starting
out as actor before he paused to appreciate the moment. “Yeah, man, this
is pretty cool.”
As expected, Jessie Buckley won best female actor for her performance in
“Hamnet.” But the other actor races have been harder to call. On Sunday,
Sean Penn (who didn't attend) won best supporting male actor for “One
Battle After Another” and Amy Madigan won best supporting female actor
for “Weapons.”
The 75-year-old Madigan, who had never before been nominated by the
guild, was visibly surprised. Partway through her winding and charming
acceptance speech, she looked down at the statuette.
“It’s like when you were little and you had the Barbie and then you got
Ken and whipped down his drawers and went, ‘Hey, that’s nothing,’” joked
Madigan before apologizing for getting distracted.
A posthumous prize for Catherine O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara posthumously won best female actor in a comedy series
for her performance as a movie executive in the showbiz satire “The
Studio.” O'Hara died at the age of 71 on Jan. 30 from a blood clot in
the lungs. At the Shine Auditorium in Los Angeles, the crowd stood in a
standing ovation for O'Hara after she was announced as the winner.
Seth Rogen, co-creator of “The Studio,” accepted the award on her
behalf. He recalled a passionate collaborator who would, the night
before a scene, invariably send a polite email with suggested rewrites.
Rogen said O'Hara “showed that you could be a genius and you could be
kind.”
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Host Kristen Bell performs during the 32nd Annual Actor Awards on
Sunday, March 1, 2026, at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los
Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
 “If you have people in your lives
who don't know her work,” Rogen said, “show them O'Hara dancing to
Harry Belafonte in ‘Beetlejuice,’ show them O'Hara hurting her knee
in ‘Best in Show’ and doing that amazing thing where she hobbles
around, and tell the people as they are laughing that that's
Catherine O'Hara and we were lucky that we got to live in a world
where she so generously shared her talents with us.”
A ceremony that skirted politics
The ceremony, presented by the actors guild SAG-AFTRA, were hosted
by returning emcee Kristen Bell, who kicked off the show on a light,
song-and-dance note despite the war in Iran and entertainment
industry upheaval. Sean Astin, SAG-AFTRA president, offered a “a
prayer for peace” in his remarks.
The Actor Awards were the biggest Hollywood bash since Paramount
reached an agreement to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery for $111
billion. The merger, which awaits regulatory approval, sent shock
waves through Hollywood. Netflix chief executive Ted Sarandos, whose
company lost out to Paramount competing bid, walked the red carpet
in jeans.
The win for “Sinners” insures that Warner Bros. will head into the
Academy Awards with the two clear best pictures favorites in it and
“One Battle After Another” — an awards-season coup for a studio set
to be sold.
Before the ceremony began, the award for best stunt ensemble went to
a Paramount release: “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning.”
Among the TV awards, “The Studio” won for comedy series and “The
Pitt” won for drama series. Individual winners included Keri Russell
(“The Diplomat”), Rogen (“The Studio”), Michelle Williams (“Dying
for Sex”), Owen Cooper (“Adolescence”) and Noah Wyle (“The Pitt”).
A Harrison Ford tribute
Harrison Ford was honored with the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award,
a prize presented with warm sarcasm by Woody Harrelson. The
83-year-old actor said he was humbled.
“I'm in a room with actors, many of whom are here because they've
been nominated to receive a prize for their amazing work, while I'm
here to receive a prize for being alive,” said Ford, who called it
“the half point” of his career.
Ford teared up for much of his speech, reflecting on a career that
he noted was “not an overnight success.” He called the award “very
encouraging.”
“I'm indeed a lucky guy,” said Ford. “Lucky to have found my people.
Lucky to have work that challenges me. Lucky to still be doing it.”
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