‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ dominates historic 2023 SAG film awards

The force is with Everything Everywhere All At Once after a dominant and historic Sunday night at the 29th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards saw the sci-fi claim best ensemble cast, lead actress for Michelle Yeoh, and supporting wins for Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Everything Everywhere All At Once became the first film to earn three individual acting awards at a SAG ceremony and the first to win four including ensemble, while Quan became the first Asian man to earn recognition from the Guild.

Hot on the heels of the film’s top prize in Saturday’s PGA Awards ceremony and the Daniels’ victory at the DGA Awards earlier in the month, this vote of confidence from the US actors guild puts the acclaimed metaverse romantic adventure in pole position for major Oscars. It leads the field on 11 nominations.

SAG awards are a robust indicator of how the Academy may vote for its individual acting categories. Actors make up the largest,  powerhouse voting group in the Academy and there is a lot of overlap between the two organisations, diluted somewhat by the Academy’s voting process which allows all voting members to cast ballots in final voting. (Branch members vote for their corresponding categories at the nominations stage.)

While all this is not to say March 12 should be viewed as a foregone conclusion – Academy voters have been known to go their own way – a comparison of SAG Awards and Oscar winners over the past decade makes a strong case for Everything Everywhere All At Once.

In the last 10 years SAG and the Academy have matched at least three out of four of the individual acting winners on eight occasions, including five complete matches of individual actors, as was the case last year when Jessica Chastain, Will Smith, Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur swept all before them.

The Oscar best picture winner has matched the SAG ensemble award recipient five times in the last decade including CODA last year.

Yeoh’s win reflects a wellspring of admiration for her performance as a stressed mother and small business owner whose world changes when she is sucked into alternate realities. Cate Blanchett, her fellow nominee at the SAG Awards and last weekend’s Bafta winner, is beloved among Academy voters (she’s already won twice, for lead and supporting) and remains a heavyweight rival for Tár.

Yeoh’s on-screen husband Quan has been the one to beat in supporting actor for some time and Sunday’s win does nothing to dispel that belief. Curtis meanwhile will vie with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s Angela Bassett – a winner at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday – at the Oscars, when Everything Everywhere All At Once is now the clear frontrunner for best picture.

SAG gave its lead actor award to Brendan Fraser for The Whale and Sunday’s win restores his early season momentum heading into the final stretch and sets up a close contest with Bafta winner Austin Butler for Elvis. Colin Farrell for The Banshees Of Inisherin, too, must not be ruled out.

Netflix streamed the SAG Awards ceremony live on its YouTube channel as part of a multi-year deal which will see the SAGs move to the streamer in 2024. 

Winners appear below in bold.

SAG Awards 2023 

FILM

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a leading role

• Austin Butler, Elvis
• Brendan Fraser, The Whale
• Colin Farrell, The Banshees Of Inisherin
• Bill Nighy, Living
• Adam Sandler, Hustle

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

• Cate Blanchett, TAR
• Viola Davis, The Woman King
• Ana de Armas, Blonde
• Danielle Deadwyler, Till
• Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All At Once

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

• Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
• Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
• Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All At Once
• Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse
• Paul Dano, The Fabelmans

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

• Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Hong Chau, The Whale
• Kerry Condon, The Banshees Of Inisherin
• Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All At Once
• Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All At Once

Outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture

• Babylon
• The Banshees Of Inisherin
• Everything Everywhere All At Once
• The Fabelmans
• Women Talking

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a motion picture

• Avatar: The Way Of Water
• The Batman
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Top Gun: Maverick
• The Woman King

TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series 

• Steve Carrell, The Patient
• Taron Egerton, Black Bird
• Sam Elliott, 1883
• Paul Walter Hauser, Black Bird
• Evan Peters, Dahmer

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

• Emily Blunt, The English
• Jessica Chastain, George And Tammy
• Julia Garner, Inventing Anna
• Niecy Nash Betts, Dahmer
• Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

• Anthony Carrigan, Barry
• Bill Hader, Barry
• Steve Martin, Only Murders In The Building
• Martin Short, Only Murders In The Building
• Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

• Christina Applegate, Dead To Me
• Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary
• Jenna Ortega, Wednesday
• Jean Smart, Hacks

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

• Abbott Elementary
• Barry
• The Bear
• Hacks
• Only Murders In The Building

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

• Jonathan Banks, Better Call Saul
• Jason Bateman, Ozark
• Jeff Bridges, The Old Man
• Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
• Adam Scott, Severance

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

• Jennifer Coolidge, The White Lotus
• Elizabeth Debicki, The Crown
• Julia Garner, Ozark
• Laura Linney, Ozark
• Zendaya, Euphoria

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

• Better Call Saul
• The Crown
• Ozark
• Severance
• The White Lotus

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

• Andor
• The Boys
• House Of The Dragon
• The Lord Of The Rings: The Rings Of Power
• Stranger Things 

• ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ wins top prize at 2023 PGA Awards