The 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards honored acting achievements in film and television. The awards show, hosted by Kristen Bell, took place at The Shrine Auditorium on Sunday in Los Angeles. "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" won big at the SAG Awards, picking up three actor statuettes.
The show focused on women, with nearly all female presenters. Bell was the first SAG Awards host ever, marking a major milestone for women in Hollywood. Producers say they were inspired by last year's Women's March to highlight women's achievements at this year's SAG Awards.
Tension over sexual misconduct accusations brewed before the show, with Giuliana Rancic of E! asking Alison Brie about the allegations against her brother-in-law, James Franco. Brie, who is married to Dave Franco, said, "I think that above all what we've always said is it remains vital that anyone who remains victimized should have the right to speak out and come forward." But she also added, "Not everything that has come forward is fully accurate." Franco attended the show amid the allegations, though he was not on the red carpet.
Halle Berry presented outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role, which went to Frances McDormand for "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" -- her third SAG Award. McDormand thanked her colleagues on the film and said she was happy to receive awards but also thought there were lots of young actors who deserved recognition as well.
"There's a lot of young ones out there and they need door stops, too," she said, holding up her award. "Let's think about that. Bye."
Brie Larson and Lupita Nyong'o presented the award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture, though there was a flub with the teleprompter and Larson initially did not know what the category was. Larson and Nyong'o talked about the Time's Up movement and Larson announced that SAG-AFTRA will have a new code of conduct on set to prevent sexual misconduct and ensure that actors could be vulnerable on set and continue to give outstanding performances. The award went to "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" -- the film's third award of the night.
Geena Davis presented outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role, which went to Gary Oldman for his role as Winston Churchill in "Darkest Hour." Oldman got emotional as he praised the other nominees and said, "Churchill reminds us we make a living by what we get, but we make a life but what we give and you have given enormously tonight," as he talked about how honored he felt to receive the award.
Kelly Marie Tran and Dakota Fanning presented outstanding performance by a female actor in a drama series, which went to Claire Foy for "The Crown." Foy was not in attendance.
Felicity Huffman introduced the in memoriam section of the show, which remembered SAG-AFTRA members who passed, including John Hurt, Jerry Lewis, Charlie Murphy, Della Reese, David Cassidy and Don Rickles.
Mom and daughter Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson took the stage to present outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series. The two joked that they are always surrounded by actors at home, but need more female actors in the family. The award went to "This is Us." Milo Ventimiglia thanked everyone behind the scenes on the show and everyone in the SAG-AFTRA.
Bell returned to the stage and said she was initially nervous about hosting the SAG Awards before realizing that no one would pay attention to her.
"This is a room full of actors," she said. "Everyone is only paying attention to themselves."
To prove her point, she started rattling off random phrases: "Fire pit ... meat city … Steve Carell," she said.
Carell stopped in his tracks before he stopped in his tracks to turn and give a thumbs up.
Olivia Munn and Niecy Nash took the stage together and said they watched "everything" in the category they were presenting, outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series, and talked about the shows and performances they loved -- but it became apparent very quickly that they had not watched anything.
Nash talked about Peter Dinklage in "Game of Thrones" and said, "He was amazing … as the dragon."
Nash corrected herself after the nominees were announced and said, "Peter Dinklage was not the dragon." Then she asked if she could announce the award if Sterling K. Brown won -- "because he's black." Nash got her wish and Munn handed over the envelope as Brown got on stage to accept his award for his role on "This is Us."
Brown said that people think actors are weird, but said, "Everybody is weird and strange. We just embrace ourselves for who we are." He thanked his colleagues on "This is Us" and his actress wife, Ryan Michelle Bathe.
Saoirse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf introduced a look at "Lady Bird."
An emotional Rita Moreno took the stage to present life achievement award to Morgan Freeman and as the audience gave her a standing ovation, she said, "It was five years ago on this very stage that my dear and beloved friend Morgan Freeman presented this same honor to me." Moreno said she'd always hoped she could return the favor.
"The stars aligned and here I am," said Moreno as she said she and Freeman met nearly 50 years ago on the set of children's show "Electric Company" in 1971. She recalled how Freeman played Dracula and impersonated Freeman's Dracula character. She praised Freeman for his commitment to education and various other charitable organizations before she presented a montage of his performances. Freeman, who wore a baseball cap, took the stage and Moreno said, "Morgan, pick up your hat. Okay, now we can see you." Freeman said to the audience, "You have no idea how long I had to put up with that."
"These moments in one's life usually require an entire litany of thank yous," he said. "I can't do that because I don't know all of your names, so I won't try." He thanked SAG-AFTRA for the honor, his family, his colleagues.
Freeman closed his speech by talking about the male statuette and said, "I'm going to tell you what's wrong with this statue ... From the front, it's gender-specific." He smiled and said, "Maybe I started something," before taking his award.
SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris spoke and thanked actors for sharing their truths.
"Truth is power and women are stepping into their power," she said. "We are in the midst of a massive cultural shift with brave voices saying 'me too' and advocates saying 'time is up.'" She urged everyone to create an environment in which harassment and abuse are not tolerated.
Carteris presented a montage of work by SAG-AFTRA artists.
Mary J. Blige and Jason Clarke presented a look at their movie "Mudbound."
Rosanna Arquette and Marisa Tomei took the stage. Arquette, who spoke out against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein in October, said that because people were empowered to speak up about abuse, "We can control our own destiny."
Tomei thanked Arquette for being "one of those silence breakers." Arquette started to tear up as she thanked all of the women and men who came forward to talk about sexual assault, including Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino, Anthony Rapp and Olivia Munn. The award went to Nicole Kidman, who got her first SAG win after 10 nominations.
"I'm incredibly nervous because this is reality colliding with fantasy right now," said Kidman. She confessed that she was up till 1 a.m. the night before working and also had the flu, but said, "But I'm here. And I'm incredibly grateful." She said she shared her award with co-stars Reese Witherspoon and Laura Dern.
Kidman talked about how Hollywood has made strides in backing women.
"I'm thankful our careers can now go beyond 40 years old," said Kidman as she added that she hopes the industry continues to tell women's stories.
Allison Williams and Daniel Kaluuya introduced a look at their movie, "Get Out."
Laura Linney presented outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role, which went to Sam Rockwell for "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." Rockwell encouraged young actors to "hang in there" and mentioned his days bussing tables.
Megan Mullally and Gina Rodriguez joined forces to present outstanding performance by a male actor in a television movie or limited series. Rodriguez wore a Time's Up pin. The actor statuette went to Alexander Skarsgard for "Big Little Lies."
Bell sat in the audience and said she wanted to talk about her favorite multi-hyphenate who is also "easy on the eyes" as she sat next to her husband Dax Shepard. Then she said she was talking about Greta Gerwig, as the camera panned to Gerwig instead, with Shepard looking unamused.
8:29 p.m.: Allison Janney wins best supporting actress for "I, Tonya"
Molly Shannon and Leslie Mann presented outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series. The award went to the cast of "Veep," and Matt Walsh made a speech and thanked the cast's "leader," Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Walsh joked and thanked his colleagues for giving him a "Grammy" before looking at his trophy and saying, "SAG Award. Sorry."
Sarah Silverman told a story about a young girl who wanted to be an actress, but was cast as a carrot in a school play. Silverman joked, "That carrot grew up to be Dame Judi Dench," before presenting outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role. Allison Janney won the SAG Award for her role in "I, Tonya." In her acceptance speech, Janney said, "It's incredibly emotional to be in this category of great women I love so much," before praising the other nominees for their "brilliant" performances.
Kristen Bell opened the 2018 SAG Awards with a monologue, talking about how she was the first host ever for the SAG Awards. Bell joked and called herself the "first lady" and said, "I honestly never thought I would grow up to be the first lady but I kinda like it."
Bell poked fun at first lady Melania Trump, and said that her platform would be to fight against cyberbullies. Then Bell's monologue took a serious turn as she talked about empathy.
"Everyone's story deserves to be told, especially now," she said. "We are living in a watershed moment and as we march forward, let's make sure we're leading the charge with empathy and diligence, because fear and anger never win the race."
Then Bell joked, "I think we can come together and delight in one thing: 'Frozen 2' is coming out in theaters in 2019."
Maya Rudolph and Kristen Bell presented the first award of the night, outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series, which went to William H. Macy for "Shameless." Aziz Ansari was a nominee, but the actor, who was recently accused of sexual misconduct, was absent.
Connie Britton and Mandy Moore took the stage to present the next award outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series, which went to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who recently announced she is battling breast cancer. Britton said, "Julia Louis-Dreyfus couldn't be here. Julia, we're thinking of you and we love you."
Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell and Frances McDormand introduced a look at "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."