Hosted by Kristen Bell, the Actor Awards — formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards — streamed live Sunday on Netflix, with “Hamnet” star Jessie Buckley, Michael B. Jordan and the rest of the “Sinners” cast emerging as the night’s biggest winners on the film side.
Inside the Shrine Auditorium, though, there were moments viewers didn’t see. Here are a few of them.
• At the pre-show reception, “The Bear” star and restaurateur Matty Matheson huddled with chef Evan Funke, who oversaw the evening’s Italian-inflected menu. The two were deep in conversation about olive oil, wedding cake and other culinary matters, while nearby his co-star Lionel Boyce leaned in for a huddle with “The Studio” co-creator Seth Rogen. As “The White Lotus” Season 3 stars Michelle Monaghan and Jon Gries caught up near the bar, Michelle Williams, one of the evening’s winners for “Dying for Sex,” slipped into a quiet corner with her husband, “Hamilton” director Thomas Kail, away from the buzz of the room.
• Attending alongside the actors were more than a few studio and streaming execs. Just days after Netflix dropped its effort to purchase Warner Bros., clearing a path for Paramount’s takeover, Dan Lin, chairman of Netflix Film, chatted with Warner Bros.’ co-chair and chief executive Michael De Luca, both smiling with evident relief as the high-stakes drama that has gripped Hollywood’s attention for months finally moves toward its resolution.
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• While the event called for formal attire, some attendees put their own spin on it. Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” and “Marty Supreme” strode into the room like he owned it in a sparkly black sequin jacket and a chain around his neck holding an NBA card signed by Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. He and two other investors bought the card at auction last year for nearly $13 million. Just a few feet away, “The Pitt” star Patrick Ball made a similarly bold fashion choice, posing for photos in a black kilt.
• While the show was decidedly light on politics, in his pre-show remarks, SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland nodded to “what’s probably on all our minds” — namely, the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran. “Our thoughts are with all of those whose lives are in danger overseas right now,” he said. “We wish for peace and we mourn those whose lives have been lost.” Turning to the state of the business, he reminded the room that the union is in “ongoing negotiations with the studios and streamers, which we are literally doing right now,” but stressed, more than two years after walking the picket lines during a bruising 118-day strike, “our union is strong.”
• Attendees were served a dinner of focaccia, a cheese board and a baked Sicilian pasta, though plenty of actors appeared more focused on networking than eating, with more than a few of the carb-heavy plates sitting barely touched.
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• During breaks from the action, attendees hurriedly packed in bursts of frenzied inter-table schmoozing before being urged back to their seats.
• Though “One Battle After Another” has dominated the guild awards thus far, “Sinners” proved to have a strong base of support among actors, who constitute the largest branch of the film academy. If one were judging the Oscar race based solely on the volume of applause in the room, Michael B. Jordan, who drew a thunderous standing ovation from his peers when his name was called, has to be considered the front-runner in the lead actor category.
• While most nominees were in attendance, a few had prior commitments: “One Battle After Another” star Leonardo DiCaprio, for example, was in Europe filming Martin Scorsese’s upcoming “What Happens at Night.” Still, many of the attendees seemed starstruck by the concentration of famous faces in the room. As Benicio del Toro, wearing dark sunglasses, entered with his daughter Delilah, Alexandra Metz, who portrays Yolanda Garcia in HBO’s medical drama “The Pitt,” leaned toward co-star Kristin Villanueva, who plays Princess, and whispered, “Oh my God, Benicio del Toro is right there.”
Kathryn Hahn, Seth Rogen and Ike Barinholtz pose backstage at the Actor Awards after winning for ensemble in a comedy series. Rogen also holds an award for Catherine O’Hara, who won posthumously for actress in a comedy. (Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
• Though the mood was generally light, the show had a few moments of genuine emotion. In one of the most poignant, the entire room rose in sustained applause as comedy great Catherine O’Hara was posthumously awarded the actress in a comedy series prize for “The Studio,” just weeks after her Jan. 30 death at age 71, with Rogen accepting on her behalf.
• Later in the evening, the room fell into hushed and somewhat awed silence as a clearly moved Harrison Ford, now 83 and still working, accepted his Life Achievement Award. “I am indeed a lucky guy,” Ford said, choking back tears before ending his speech with a wry, “This is very encouraging.”
Harrison Ford held back tears while accepting the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award on Sunday. (Kayla Bartkowski / Los Angeles Times)
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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