A conversation with a secret SAG voter
Friday, January 7, 2022 at 5:12PM 
by Nathaniel R
A special treat for you today, dear readers. Yesterday I spoke to a SAG voter I've known for awhile now about their ballot choices. I can't reveal their identity, of course, since they're not allowed to speak publicly about their votes. But we can share that they are actively working in the industry, and they do read The Film Experience from time to time (hence how we are acquainted).
We hope this conversation offers some incites into what it's like to get a ton of screeners at the end of the year and have to make these choices for your ballot.
NATHANIEL: Hello! Thanks for agreeing to do this. I know you've been a member of the Screen Actors Guild for some years but is this your first time serving on the actual Nominating Committee?
SAG VOTER: Yes. I got an email in the summer that I had been randomly selected and whether I could meet the requirements. I was excited to influence the awards in a small way. But honestly, I think I saw visions of advance screenings dancing in my head.
And, now you're probably just sitting at home watching screener after screener. So glamorous!
I haven’t left my couch (thanks, COVID) and I could open a DVD store. (But of course, SAG legal team, I will not. I will destroy them all as required by law.)
Before the avalanche of screeners hit, what had you seen that you were already a fan of?
I had seen and loved The Green Knight and Dune. In the Heights had a lot to admire. Oh, and Barb and Star might have been my secret favorite. Ha! But otherwise, it had been a slow year for me. I used to be someone who’d go see a movie at least twice a month. But this year, I was home so much more.
I know the list of screeners they sent you was daunting but was there any film that you really wanted to see that wasn't provided to you? I heard, for example, that West Side Story came really late to voters. Is that true?
Yes, West Side Story has only come as a digital screener in the last week. But that was one of the two or three movies that I knew I absolutely wanted to see on a big screen, so I did go to see it there.
Any other movies that weren't made available to you?
The big one I’m missing and bummed about is Red Rocket. I’ve loved that directors other films and wanted to give the lead performance a chance. I recall there were a few in-person events but, because of the health of some people around me, I chose not to go to those. No DVD or digital screener. A real dropped ball by that team. And it isn’t even available for rent or purchase online. Similarly, I bought Zola to watch because it wasn’t on the screener list either and I had heard it was essential viewing. (And I’m so glad I did!)
Let's start with OUTSTANDING CAST which is SAG's coolest category since it doesn't repeat at the Oscars.
It is a cool category! And one that I’ve really struggled to define for myself. I love certain films but are the performances really working as an ensemble? And I’ll be honest, you can’t help but think about the wider “Best Picture” thing a bit. I’m trying to be good, though!
You can vote for five so what were your no-brainers for this category?
I’ve kept a list of anyone that I want to remember when I get to voting this weekend. I’ve bolded anyone that I know must be on my ballot. Right now, I have three locks:
Mass, which I think is a textbook example of seamless ensemble work, so much so that I can’t really pick anyone to separate out for individual categories
West Side Story, because everyone in the film is working to tell the same story, almost everyone is working at an extreme level of craft & difficulty, and everyone radiates a megawatt charisma, down to the smallest dance roles.
Power of the Dog—this was one I struggled with for ensemble until I looked at it next to Mass and thought that the core foursome are similarly in a very tightly controlled “game” that I don’t think would work without the strength of their cumulative energy. I was so shaken by the film and it sticks with me.
And for the other two slots -- i assume you're still deciding -- what are struggling to choose between?
I’m really struggling, yes. Ballots are due soon. I suppose I’m thinking about Belfast, The Lost Daughter, Being the Ricardos, In the Heights, Zola, and Dune.
Okay moving on to OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR. Are you going with presumed Oscar frontrunners like Kodi Smit McPhee or the Belfast dads? Or something worthy but further afield like Colman Domingo in Zola (excuse my leading missionary zeal for this performance!).
You are preaching to the choir! Colman is in bold already on my list alongside Mike Faist and Kodi Smit McPhee.
You have impeccable taste in your top three!
What a trio, right?! Electric and layered and mysterious…but perhaps not people you’d want to hang out with if you value your safety. As for others, the CODA and Belfast guys are on my “to consider” list but I also feel a pull toward Kelvin Harrison Jr in Cyrano and Anders Danielsen Lie in Worst Person in the World.
I was going to ask about Bradley Cooper in Licorice Pizza but just recalled that before this interview you told me you disliked that film, so I guess not! Any thoughts on Robin De Jesus in Tick Tick Boom or Woody Norman in C'mon C'mon?
Doing some more lobbying, huh? Yeah, let’s not wade into Pizza (though I did enjoy the side performances in it like Cooper, Penn, and Harriet Harris). It’s strange, I really like De Jesus and the film (Garfield is in my lock list for actor) but he didn’t make my consider list. Maybe I need to rethink but there was something about how he was deployed in the film and the way AIDS is “used” by the straight lead that, no fault of his, made me stop a bit. And Woody Norman is incredible but is he a lead, oh wise category fraud judge?
Of course he's a lead! But I'm fully aware that SAG ballots require that you stick to the campaigns, and you can't actually switch categories like Oscar voters can. Since we live for actressing at the Film Experience i know readers will be dying to hear full thoughts on your "bold" must-haves in SUPPORTING ACTRESS.
Oh man, this is the death fight category. I have fifteen on my list already and still have a movie or two to try to see before I vote. My two bolded musts are Kirsten Dunst and Ruth Negga. (Let’s just put it out there that Passing would be in my Best Picture list if we had that category.) The degree of difficulty for both is so high. Ruth Negga communicates 15 things at once and manages the very tricky thing of being confidently magnetic and deeply broken at the same time. Can’t take your eyes off her! And Dunst has to be continually acted upon while still maintaining a sense of purpose, which is really hard. She broke my heart. The mountain dance scene alone, with the layers of kindness, resignation, and awkwardness… chef’s kiss!
Then it gets really really tough.
Thank you for your passionate takes on those turns. Why is the rest of the field so difficult for you -- is it too many performances you love that feel "equal"?
Exactly! I could make cases for another 10 actresses. And this is where it gets slippery and you start to lose track of what is simply on screen in THIS movie and what you pull from prior affection for an actress or their “story.”
For example, I think Caitríona Balfe is pretty miraculous and under-appreciated on Outlander, how she holds that insane tv show together, but do I vote for her for a simple, lovely performance in Belfast just to give her that boost? Ariana Debose is a tornado of talent and she makes us believe the nearly impossible whiplash turns of Anita in the last half hour of her film, but are we also voting the history it would make to nominate her in a role that Moreno won for? Toss in Rebecca Ferguson who I think is just about perfect in Dune and gives the half finished story its one fulfilled arc. Kathryn Hunter in Macbeth, Aunjanue Ellis doing wonderful things with the traditional supportive wife, Gaby Hoffman doing brilliant telephone acting, and Riley Keough’s insane, hilarious work in Zola. And I didn't even mention Buckley, Johnson and Dagmara in The Lost Daughter!!)
And if I’m feeling really sassy, I’d seriously vote for Ana de Armas for the Bond film because that is truly the supporting performance of the year. Hello, bang, boom, steal the damn movie and gone! If Amazon & MGM don't create a spinoff TV series for her character, they should have their broadcasting license taken away.
You have tough choices to make narrowing that down. Will LEAD ACTRESS be any easier for you?
A bit easier just because my current list is shorter and I don’t have as much “passion” for some of them. Olivia Colman and Penelope Cruz are my locks for their two sides of the mothering coin, one alive with messy contradictions and menace, the other making goodness fascinating and dangerous. Then I’m considering Kidman, Zegler, Thompson, Comer, Paige, and Chastain.
The one tough wrinkle here is Renate Reinsve whom I love in Worst Person but I wonder…is it a “wasted” vote because of the lack of foreign language film performances in SAG history (outside of a movie star like Cruz)? Again, I’m trying not to let outside things like that influence what I click on because i’m one of a thousand voters and I should just vote what I love but...
No Stewart or Gaga in Best Actress?
Thanks for moving on and not getting me murdered by the Gaga and Stewart mobs!
Haha. Fair. Okay, last category and I'll let you go. LEAD ACTOR. Are you a Garfield, Cumberbatch, or Smith voter or do you think it's not as simple as those three presumed frontrunners for "Best" or in SAG's case "Outstanding".
I do think those actors are in play and deservedly. I only have 6 on my list. The three you just mentioned (and I’m not usually a Will Smith fan but I liked his prickly, physical performance a lot.) Then I add Dev Patel, Joaquin Phoenix, and Peter Dinklage. One will have to go and I’m not sure yet which. And it might change because I’ve still got 24 hours to watch The Card Counter, Jockey, and Don’t Look Up. Any lobbying for what I should watch or should I just rewatch all the Supporting Actresses again and cry?
I'm going to stop lobbying -- your poor eyeballs trying to shove all these films in every night. But I sincerely thank you. If all voters took it seriously and committed to the process (and of course if the studios got the movies to voters earlier), we'd have stronger results each year!
Aw, thanks.
Any last words you want to share with readers about what this process has been like for you?
I have to say, it has been great and overwhelming at the same time. What I’ve really learned is that, for good and for ill, campaigning does have influence. Not so much in who I vote for but in what I watch. Things move around your pile when you see the names mentioned, when you feel the perceived “need” to watch something. I fought it and tried to seek out smaller films, off the radar films, yet there’s just too much to watch, and everything comes too late to not do some culling.
Also, looking back at all of this, I think I can officially say I am an "actressexual" as you say. This is my coming out. Please send presents and links to Emma Thompson interviews.
Caitriona Balfe, Kirsten Dunst, Mass, Olivia Colman, Oscars (21), Punditry, Ruth Negga, SAG, West Side Story
Reader Comments (17)
Really disappointing to hear about Red Rocket. It should be in the conversation for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress. It could definitely use all the help it can get.
This is an interesting read for me as a SAG voter not on the nominating committee. (I was on it the Babel year, lots of great parties.) What stands out:
- even in this COVID period, unlike your mystery guest, I've seen almost everything on the big screen, attended a few in-person Q&As and been invited to several receptions; then again, Mystery Guest had to watch a lot more than I did (I wonder what their grand total is)
- usually I find that my taste is radically different than fellow guild members; Mystery Guest is refreshingly on my wavelength
- since the award is for "Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture," I've never given much thought to their excellence as an ensemble - I mainly ask myself if all the individual pieces are firing on all cylinders - I also get irritated every year by the number of performers left out by that stupid title card rule; that said, West Side Story is also high on my list, as is ::ahem:: Spider-Man: Far from Home
- if Mystery Guest is reading this, I'll lobby for The Card Counter
I hope Tessa Thompson makes the secret actor's final ballot. It is a shame that she isn't a bigger part of the best actress conversation!
Has there always been a Nominating Committee? I think their nominations are incredibly boring.
They switched Connelly.
Is your mystery SAG voter hot?
Peggy -- they did not switch Connelly. She was mistaken entered by the studio as a lead so that's where they nominated her. They literally aren't allowed to vote outside of what's on the ballot.
working stiff -- Mystery guest IS reading this. i just heard. lol.
@ Mystery Guest
I meant No Way Home, of course.
Wow, that is even worse.
Last year they had Minari and they went with Chicago 7. They're on my black list.
Loved this! I only people could pay more attention to amazing international performances. Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie are 2 of the top performers of the year and were they Americans, I believe they would surely be nominated (and perhaps win?).
Team Mike Faist. Let's go!
Really nice to see Cruz and Patel among his picks... and happy to not see Stewart or Gaga, as it is refreshing...
but DeBose should be a lock for winning this year in Supporting. I haven't seen No Time to Die, so I can't comment on the Ana de Armas' performance...
Really fascinating interview.
@mystery guest: Be sassy! Ana de Armas in No Time to Die deserves it! Remember that SAG nominated Javier Bardem for Skyfall. You can go there!
And great to hear you rate Mike Faist highly. I really liked his performance in West Side Story.
Enjoy voting!
I was glad to hear Thompson named i'm hoping there is a switcheroo where a buzzed supporting role Negga brings in a lead performer Thompson and also Mass where everyone is great but Plimpton wow.
GaGa is probably the huge snub this year.
I'm also team Mike Faist and happy to see the love for West Side Story in Best Ensemble. I'm worried that it might be underrepresented, given the fact that the studio did not send SAG members physical DVDs.
I second working stiff on THE CARD COUNTER. Still my #1 male lead performance of the year (although I too have not yet seen RED ROCKET).
Impeccable taste otherwise, though, Mystery Guest!
This is so interesting. Thank you Nathaniel and mystery SAG voter. I’m so happy to read their take on Negga & Dunst which resembles my thoughts so closely. If either of these ladies win I will be happy.
I love MG's picks (except for Licorice Pizza, which I liked a lot more than I thought I was going to, along with Alana Haim, who was really great). I'm hoping the love for Negga, Faist, and the Mass ensemble translates into nominations. The international films can't get to my neck of the woods fast enough!