SATVIKA NITYA / CONTRIBUTOR

The 31st Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, the only televised ceremony that exclusively honors actors in TV and film, occurred on Feb. 23. With top prizes going to movies and shows like “Hacks,” “The Substance” and “Conclave,” there were multiple notable moments from the SAG Awards.

Unlike other ceremonies where the audience or a selected batch of viewers vote on the winners, the SAG Awards stand separate because they are solely voted on by actors. Members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) make up the voting audience for the SAG awards. So, nominated actors are voted on by fellow performers who have personal experience in the industry.

In this year’s ceremony, the 2024 political thriller “Conclave” won in the “Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture” category. The last three SAG winners in this category — “Oppenheimer,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “CODA” — all went on to win the Best Picture category in the Oscars. But “Conclave” broke this cycle with only the best-picture award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts under its belt.

Timothée Chalamet won the “Actor in a Lead Role” category for his depiction of Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” 

During his acceptance speech, Chalamet explained what the moment meant to him.

“I know the classiest thing would be to downplay the effort that went into this role and how much this means to me, but the truth is this was five years of my life,” Chalamet stated. “I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats.” 

The other nominees in the lead actor category were Adrien Brody for “The Brutalist,” Daniel Craig for “Queer,”  Colman Domingo for  “Sing Sing” and Ralph Fiennes for  “Conclave.”

USD senior and working actor Julian Flores — who is eligible to join the SAG-AFTRA union — expressed his thoughts on Chalamet’s award acceptance speech.

During his acceptance speech for the ‘Actor in a Lead Role’ category, Timothée Chalamet emphasized his pursuit of greatness. Photo courtesy of @tchalamet/Instagram

“I personally, as an actor, appreciate the sincerity in those words because I chase that greatness as well,” Flores said. “Especially in the last 10 years, the lack of sincerity in wanting to strive to make the best work of art in terms of the outcome of awards is so complacent because people are now afraid of publicly admitting that they want to be the best. Timothée’s speech showed that he is passionate and he was vocal about how important the craft is for him. A lot of people are afraid to admit that ardent fervor they feel in fear of sounding too pretentious or full of themselves.”

SAG’s lead-actress award was more competitive than its counterpart, with huge industry names being nominated for the category — Cynthia Erivo in “Wicked,” Pamela Anderson in “The Last Showgirl,” Karla Sofia Gascon in “Emilia Perez” and Mikey Madison in “Anora” as nominees. But the award was triumphed by Demi Moore for her role in the 2024 horror film “The Substance.” While accepting the award, Moore gave a sentimental speech where she dedicated the award to her younger self.

 “That little girl who didn’t believe in herself,” Moore said. “The words are kind of beyond me, so I’m just gonna have to just say thank you.”

However, Moore’s win at the SAG awards did not carry over to the Oscars where Mikey Madison won the award for “Best Actress in Leading Role” for her role in “Anora.” 

USD junior and theater major Liv Meloy shared her thoughts on Demi Moore’s wins and losses this award season.

“[Moore’s] win was well deserved. She portrayed a character so wild to anyone and about concepts never heard before  that  it’s  impressive  she did  it  so well,” Meloy  said. “I think she should’ve won something given how long her career  has  been and how good she was in ‘The Substance.’ However, Mikey deserved the Oscar.”

Moore extended the sentiment to other young actors in the same place as her and gave them some advice to keep continuing  the  course they’re on. 

“So as these young actors who are having to do it all, I just encourage you, don’t lose sight of the human connection,” she said. “That’s the work that we do. It’s to be connected to one another.”

Other notable awards in TV went to Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” for “Ensemble in a Comedy Series,” and to Jessica Gunning for “Actress in a TV Movie or Limited Series” for her work in the British comedy-thriller “Baby Reindeer.” The historical drama show “Shogun” sweeped four SAG awards —  “Ensemble for Drama Series,” “Actor in a Drama Series,” “Actress in a Drama Series” and “Stunt  Ensemble  in  a  TV   Series.”

The cast of ‘Conclave’ pictured with their award for ‘Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.’ Photo courtesy of @sagawards/Instagram