The actors union of the United States, which includes everything from Hollywood stars to extras with two lines of dialogue, monopolized the news of the entertainment industry in July by going on strike. But, once an agreement is reached, it is worth remembering that they are not always in a vindictive mode: once a year they celebrate themselves with awards, the SAG Awards, where the actors themselves vote for the best performances of the year. Which series have the best casts? Which actors have the most outstanding performances according to professionals in the sector?
In last Wednesday’s nominations, announced by Issa Rae (Insecure) and Kumail Najiani (Silicon Valley), it cannot be said that there were any big surprises. In the field of comedy, the 116,000 voters considered Abbott School, Barry, The Bear, Only Murders in the Building and Ted Lasso as the strongest casts on American television. And, in terms of drama, The Crown, The Golden Age, The Last of Us, The Morning Show and Succession were the ones chosen.
This, for the record, has a couple of commentable elements. One is that, despite going unnoticed in most awards, the actors are paying attention to The Golden Age, the period series created by Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey) and which includes Christine Baranski, Cynthia Nixon, Carrie Coon or Morgan Spector.
The other is that, in categories that reward the solidity of the choral work, the members of the SAG nominated The last of us, a cast with only two permanent actors, Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, as it is a road-trip that changes scenery and secondary in each episode. To understand the exceptional nature of this nomination, you only have to look at how many actors share the nomination for best cast with some of its competitors: Succession has 17 regular actors and The Golden Age is the largest fiction series with 34 performers on the roster.
Regarding the best individual performances, the nominations are as follows. The award for best male performance in a miniseries, anthology series or television movie goes to Matt Bomer for Fellow Travelers, Jon Hamm for Fargo, David Oyelowo for Lawmen: Bass Reeves, Tony Shalhoub for Mr Monk’s Last Case and Steven Yeun for Row. In the female category, Uzo Aduba for Painkiller, Kathryn Hahn for Tiny beautiful things, Brie Larson for Cooking with chemistry, Bel Powley for A small light and Ali Wong for Bronca compete for the statuette.
In drama series, Succession actors sweep the nominations: Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin and Matthew Macfadyen compete with Billy Crudup for The Morning Show and Pedro Pascal for The Last of Us. While, among women, Sarah Snook faces Jennifer Aniston for The Morning Show, Elizabeth Debicki for The Crown, Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us and Keri Russell for The Diplomat.
And in comedy, finally, Brett Goldstein and Jason Sudeikis of Ted Lasso compete with Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Jeremy Allen White of The Bear and Bill Hader for Barry. In the female category, Alex Borstein and Rachel Brosnahan from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel share the category with Quinta Brunson from Abbott School, Ayo Edebiri from The Bear and Hannah Waddingham from Ted Lasso.
