The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards proved to be a big win for diversity, with Idris Elba, Viola Davis, Uzo Aduba, and Queen Latifah all collecting trophies.
Most of the awards won by people of color were for television performances, but Elba shined bright throughout the evening. Although the actor didn’t receive an Oscar nod this year, he won the supporting actor prize for his role in the Netflix film Beasts of No Nation at the SAG Awards on Saturday.
The 43-year-old actor also took home the award for best male actor in a TV movie or miniseries for Luther. While accepting his award, he told the crowd, “Welcome to diverse TV.”
The journalism drama Spotlight won the top prize, the SAG ensemble cast award. Michael Keaton accepted the trophy, saying “This is for every Flint, Michigan, in the world. This is for the powerless. It comes down to two things. There’s fair and unfair. And I’m always going to vote for fair. I’m always going to vote for the good guys.”
The big talk about the award show is the much needed inclusiveness and contrast between the Oscars, which have been under fire for weeks for not nominating a single person of color for the second year in a row.
In addition to Elba, other winners included Latifah, who garnered at trophy for her role as blues singer Bessie Smith on HBO’s Bessie; Davis for her lead turn on ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder; and Aduba for her role on Orange Is the New Black. While accepting the award for best TV Comedy Series, Orange Is the New Black star Laura Prepon proclaimed, “This is what we talk about when we talk about diversity. Different race, color, creed, sexual orientation.”
Viola Davis told the Los Angeles Times, “They won because the actors have craft, they have a level of excellence that reaches people and we’re actors too. We’re artists, too, we deserve to be a part of it and I think you saw that tonight.”
Leonardo DiCaprio was also a big winner at the ceremony, winning his first-ever Screen Actors Guild award for his role in the Revenant. “I’m truly humbled by this because it comes from all of you, my fellow actors. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Check out a red carpet recap below and the full list of SAG Award winners here.
SOURCE: USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, LA Times | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty | VIDEO CREDIT: Inform
Diversity Wins Big At Screen Actors Guild Awards was originally published on globalgrind.com
