by Nathaniel R
SAG Awards are often a good swift night. There's no dawdling around with filler, there's not much in the way of montages, but there are clips, acceptance speeches, and a parade of celebrities. In short, we're into it. The most sublime inspired combo in terms of presenter pairings was the evil twinnage of Jenna Ortega and Aubrey Plaza. (Whoever thought of that deserves a 20% raise.) But what SAG is all about is the acceptance speeches.
They come one after the other, a veritable parade of gushing. This ranking was done on the fly from memory so... I do not stand by it should you want to fight in the comments. Nevertheless why not share the acceptance speeches? (the ones we could embed at least). Let's look at the speeches from least best to best best...
THE WHITE LOTUS - Outstanding Cast, Drama
What was happening here? Underwhelming even for those of us who were happy about the win.
BRENDAN FRASER - Best Actor, Film
If you've seen one Fraser speech, you've seen them all. We've been robbed of fawning on Farrell all season.
JASON BATEMAN - Best Actor, TV Drama
Did he have a long week? Tired but gracious vibe with a send off to his series and the many great actors in it.
JEAN SMART - Best Actress, TV Comedy
Christoper MacDonald read her message for her. It was cute. If you've been reading me for any length of time, you know that I was deeply thrilled that she chose to make the message about the many guest stars on Hacks, from day players to recurring guest stars Supporting actors are the best and they so rarely get any real kudos.
SAM ELLIOTT - Best Supporting Actor, TV
Yes, he read the speech but his voice is prime ASMR real estate and it was touching that he ended by acknowledging his wife, Katharine Ross (they met on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, over 50 years ago!)
JEREMY ALLEN WHITE - Best Actor, TV Comedy
He feels like the return of the 1970s star right? So in the craft and not glamorous but still deepy appealing.
KE HUY QUAN - Best Supporting Actor, Film
We love Ke Huy Quan and his enthusiasm for being in the room has been heartwarming in its authenticity. Would be cool if the Oscar speech was slightly more refined or well-structured while still making room for the gushing of course!!! He's had months of being the dead-certain winner to rehearse something.
JESSICA CHASTAIN - Best Actress, TV Movie or Miniseries
A surprise win but have you seen her in George & Tammy? It's a sensational performance full of an enormous range of feeling... and that's just her singing voice. She's just as (expectedly) good at the drama! For her speech she reminded us of how deeply she loves the craft (and other actors) and told a story about Philip Seymour Hoffman.
ABBOTT ELEMENTARY - Outstanding Cast, TV Comedy
Love this show so much and they're always a delight in acceptance speeches too.
JENNIFER COOLIDGE, Best Supporting Actress, TV
We missed the breathy "hello, hiiii" as intro which is unfailingly hilarious but points to Coolidge that she can be funny no matter which spacey approach she takes to an acceptance speech. This one ran the gamut from serious to silly and back again and back again -- loved the shout out to Charlie Chaplin as well as the suggestive bit about going home with her date (the hilarious gay actor)
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE - Outstanding Cast
Wonderful that they made this moment both a volley for the cast where they each got a line and a tribute to James Hong who is 94 years old.
SALLY FIELD, SAG - Lifetime Achievement
What a fun tribute and what a deserving woman. They didn't even touch on her stage work (this being the "screen" actors guild, but she's great at live theater, too.
MICHELLE YEOH - Best Actress, Film
The realness! From her problems with the mic -- what a gown! -- to her expletive laden glee/shock, she was utterly endearing and had a message, too.
JAMIE LEE CURTIS - Best Supporting Actress, Film
We already gushed about her in the previous post.