2 Big Surprises Among SAG Awards Winners

The papal thriller Conclave won best ensemble and Timothée Chalamet took best actor at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, a pair of twists that added a few wrinkles to awards season. All the momentum going into the SAG Awards was with Sean Baker's Anora, which had won with the producers, directors, and writers guilds. Now, with Edward Berger's Vatican-set drama winning the guild's top award, what will nab best picture in a week's time at the Academy Awards is, again, anyone's guess. That wasn't the only surprise in the ceremony held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and streamed live by Netflix. More from the AP:

• Best actor upset: Chalamet's win upset The Brutalist star Adrien Brody and put the 29-year-old on course to possibly win his first Academy Award. Chalamet looked visibly surprised when his name was announced. But once he reached the stage, the A Complete Unknown star spoke with composure and confidence.
• His candid comments: "The truth is, this was 5 ½ years of my life," said Chalamet. "I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist, Mr. Bob Dylan, a true American hero. It was the honor of a lifetime playing him." He then added: "The truth is, 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."
• Not so surprising: The other Oscar favorites—Demi Moore (The Substance), Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez), and Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)—all won.
• What the SAG Awards foretell: The SAG Awards' picks don't always align exactly with those of the film academy, but they often nearly do. The last three best ensemble winners—Oppenheimer, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and CODA—all went on to win best picture at the Oscars. All but one of the SAG acting winners of the last three years has also won the Oscar. (The sole exception was Lily Gladstone, who won SAG's award for female actor last year for Killers of the Flower Moon, but the Oscar trophy went to Emma Stone for Poor Things.)
• More winners: Jean Smart, who had advocated for canceling award shows because of the wildfires, won best female actor in a comedy series for Hacks. Martin Short upset Jeremy Allen White to win best male actor in a comedy series for Only Murders in the Building. The Hulu series also won for best comedy ensemble. Colin Farrell won his first SAG award, for his performance in The Penguin. Shogun won best drama series ensemble, along with acting awards for Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai.

(More SAG Awards stories.)