The Most Memorable Moments of the 2025 SAG Awards

The Screen Actors Guild differentiates itself from other award shows by shining a spotlight directly on those who are already, well, in the spotlight. Meaning we’re watching an award show full of performers who know how to keep us entertained from start to finish.

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The 31st installment of the SAG Awards was streamed live on Netflix on Sunday evening. Kristen Bell once again served as host, though she also did double duty as a nominee for Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her work in rom-com series Nobody Wants This (losing to Hacks‘ Jean Smart). Also up for nominations were the casts of movies including Anora, Conclave, A Real Pain, and Wicked, and series like Shōgun, Abbott Elementary, The Bear, and Hacks. The awards are voted on by SAG-AFTRA’s members and are meant to be a celebration of the work of actors by their peers. As previously announced, Jane Fonda received the 60th SAG Life Achievement Award.

Here are some of the highlights of the show:

Read more: The 10 Best Movie Performances of 2024

Saddest Switcheroo

The show opened with Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) from Hacks prepping to host the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She and her crack team had a line-up of killer jokes about “the movie with the gay wizards” (that would be Conclave) and how to “recreate the kissing scene from Challengers with Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Kathy Bates.” However, the jokes weren’t meant to be heard, because it turns out she’s been fired from the hosting gig because she hasn’t paid her SAG dues in years. No offense to Kristen Bell, but Deborah Vance was born for this role.

Greatest Hero’s Journey

Shrinking star Jessica Williams helped introduce the SAG Awards’ raison d’être of highlighting actors on their individual journeys to mastering their chosen art form. As she sat next to her co-star Harrison Ford, she recounted, “Living my dream of getting dressed in a Starbucks’ bathroom and my dream of crying in a Del Taco bathroom after.” Never forget, the stars are just like us!

Best Musical Number

In her opening monologue, Bell sang a parody of the Frozen hit “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” asking instead, “Do you want to be an actor?” while showcasing some of the very early roles of the stars in attendance. That included Kieran Culkin in Home Alone, Jodie Foster in a Coppertone ad, Timothée Chalamet as a patient in an ICU, Jason Segel eating watermelon, and more.

Best First Responders Shout-Out

According to Bell, the most attractive table at the star-spangled affair was the one filled with members of the Los Angeles Fire Department who helped battle the wildfires that recently ravaged large swaths of the city.

Best Non-Speech

When Kieran Culkin took the stage to accept the award for Male Actor in a Supporting Role for his work in A Real Pain, it was clear he hadn’t prepared a speech. “Thank you SAG-AFTRA for this very heavy award,” he said, putting it down quickly because “no one can hold it for 45 seconds.” “That’s the allotted time, Adrien Brody,” he said, nodding at the nominated star of The Brutalist. As he counted down the clock, Culkin remarked: “Believe it or not this actually means a lot to me.” With five seconds on the clock, he finally mentioned his co-star and the film’s writer-director, Jesse Eisenberg, but only because he wanted to thank Eisenberg’s sister who told him to cast Culkin in the film. When time was up, Culkin spit-fired the rest of his thank yous before leaving the stage.

Most Honest Tears

In a room full of actors acting, Shogun star Anna Sawai appeared to genuinely cry on stage as she accepted her award for Female Actor in a Drama Series. Because while she was really happy, she was also really sad, as it was probably the last time she would be celebrating with her cast following their wins at the Emmys and Golden Globes, among other ceremonies.

Read more: The 10 Best Movies of 2024

Best Crossover

Kristen Bell reunited with her The Good Place co-stars Ted Danson and William Jackson Harper, but as their fake argument about who was her favorite co-star heated up, they ended up trying to recreate the kissing scene from Challengers. Sadly, the camera cut away too soon.

Biggest Laughs

“We believe that men can be good actors, too,” said Quinta Brunson, before she and Ripley‘s Andrew Scott presented the award for Male Actor in a Drama Series to Hiroyuki Sanada from Shogun.

Tightest Competition

The race for female actor in a comedy series pitted host Kristen Bell vs. presenter Quinta Brunson vs. almost-host Jean Smart vs. two co-workers (Liza Colón-Zayas and Ayo Edebiri) from The Bear. The category was anyone’s for the taking, but Smart ultimately took the prize for Hacks.

Best Timesaver

Neither Hacks star Jean Smart nor Only Murders in the Building actor Martin Short were on hand to collect their respective awards, which kept the show moving along at a quick clip. It’s unfortunate, though, as it was Short’s first SAG Award and both of these comedy icons would undoubtedly have delivered memorable speeches.

Biggest Upset by a Newcomer

The Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series category was packed with Oscar winners, including Kathy Bates, Cate Blanchett, Jodie Foster, and Lily Gladstone. However, it was Jessica Gunning in her first major role in Baby Reindeer who took the prize.

Best Reason to Scream

The ceremony took a moment to pay homage to Hollywood’s Scream Queens. In addition to a scream-filled montage, there were brief interviews with Scream stars Neve Campbell and Jenna Ortega, and Halloween’s Jamie Lee Curtis, who announced, “I’ve been screaming myself hoarse since the Carter administration.”

Greatest Introduction

While introducing the nominees for Male Actor in a Limited Series, Jamie Lee Curtis opened the card and quickly announced the winner as “the man who gave me COVID at the Golden Globes.” That would be Colin Farrell, who took the mic and immediately blamed actor Brendan Gleeson for giving him COVID in the first place.

Just The Greatest, Period

Jane Fonda has spent six decades acting in Hollywood and protesting in the streets and is a very deserving recipient of SAG’s Life Achievement Award. Fonda was introduced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus who had one question: “Who else could start a beauty revolution with her mug shot?” While Fonda has won many, many awards for her acting, including two Oscars, an Emmy, and seven Golden Globes, it was winding up on Richard Nixon’s enemies list that Louis-Dreyfus considers the real prize. At 87, Fonda dubbed herself a late bloomer, cracking, “I retired for 15 years and came back at 65, which is not usual. I made one of my most successful movies in my 80s and probably in my 90s, I’ll be doing my own stunts in an action movie.”

She explained that she grew up in the ’40s and ’50s when “women weren’t supposed to have opinions and get angry.” She loved the screen because “acting gave me a chance to play angry women with opinions, which, you know, is a bit of a stretch for me.” The longtime activist urged her fellow actors to fight back during these times with empathy. “What we, actors, create is empathy. Our job is to understand another human being so profoundly that we can touch their souls,” she said.

Best Flashback

Longtime Law & Order star Mariska Hargitay swung by the award show to help highlight the series, which has become a seemingly mandatory stepping stone for young stars. That includes The Bear’s Liza Colón-Zayas, who played five different roles on the show (now that is acting) and Arrested Development star Tony Hale who didn’t even remember doing two separate turns on the set. Other actors who passed some time on Law & Order include Mahershala Ali, Pedro Pascal, Timothée Chalamet, Allison Janney, Adam Driver, Leighton Meester, and many more.

Best French

The X-Files co-stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny teamed up to present the award for Outstanding Performance in an Ensemble. “‘Ensemble’, I believe that’s a French word for thank god, I only have to work three days a week,” explained Duchovny, before announcing that the award went to Only Murders in the Building.

Most Honest Reaction

“Wait we never win!” exclaimed Selena Gomez, the only star from the series who made it on stage to accept that award, explaining: “Marty and Steve aren’t here because they don’t really care.”

Greatest Gossipers

In case you forgot, Kristen Bell voiced the titular Gossip Girl, but when it came to dishing out gossip about the folks at the SAG Awards, all she got was food talk. She complained to her source, Gossip Girl co-star Leighton Meester, that “The popes in Conclave were better at gossip than us”—Meester blamed it on just being really hungry—before introducing the cast of Conclave a.k.a. The next Gossip Girls.

Greatest Verisimilitude

The cast of Conclave, a film about Cardinals choosing a new Pope, took a moment to pray for the health of Pope Francis, who remains in critical condition in the hospital.

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