The annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards ceremony, which lasted only one hour, took place on Sunday, April 4. Although the ceremony was shorter than normal, it continued the tradition of celebrating excellent performances from the previous year. Winners were announced in 13 categories, with big wins going to “Schitt’s Creek,” “The Crown,” “Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”
In previous years, the SAG Awards has been a strong signal of which Academy Award nominee might receive the Oscar — eight of the last 10 SAG actress winners went on to win the Oscars, and last year’s big SAG winner “Parasite” took home four Oscars for Bong Joon Ho. Based on the SAG Awards big winners, here are some of VALLEY’s predictions for who will take home the Academy Award on April 25.
Best Actor in a Leading Role
Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”), Gary Oldman (“Mank”) and Steven Yeun (“Minari”) are among the nominees for the Academy Award for Best Actor, all of whom were also nominated for a SAG Award. With the award going posthumously to Boseman, it’s expected that Boseman will go on to win the second posthumous Best Actor Oscar, after Peter Finch in “Network.”
Best Actress in a Leading Role
Among the nominees for Best Actress are SAG-winner Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black”) Golden Globe-winner Andrea Day (“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”), Critics Choice-winner Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”) and BAFTA nominees Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”) and Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”). With each nominee being named a Best Actress winner at a different pre-Oscar televised award show, the Academy Award for Best Actress is up-in-the air. VALLEY predicts that the winner will be either Mulligan or Davis. The two delivered exceptional performances in their respective films, and have received critical acclaim.
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Nominated for Best Actor are Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”), Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas as the Black Messiah”), Leslie Odom, Jr. (“One Night in Miami”), Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”) and Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”). VALLEY predicts that Kaluuya will receive this award. With a win not only at the SAG Awards, but also sweeping across the awards season, Kaluuya’s energetic performance in “Judas as the Black Messiah” could win him an Oscar, as well.
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”), Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elergy”), Olivia Colman (“The Father”), Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”) and Youn Yuh-jung (“Minari”) are among the nominees for the award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Much like the award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, VALLEY can see this award as being up-for-grabs. For their outstanding performances in their respective films, Colman and Yuh-jung are the frontrunners.
Best Picture
The nominated films for the Best Picture award are “The Father,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Mank,” “Minari,” “Nomadland,” “Promising Young Woman,” “Sound of Metal” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” While “The Trial of the Chicago 7” won out the SAG Awards, “Nomadland” received awards for Best Picture at both the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards. VALLEY expects that “Nomadland” be awarded the Oscar for Best Picture, as well.
Who do you think will win out at the Academy Awards? Tweet us, @VALLEY mag, and let us know!
