US actor Michael B Jordan has scored a surprise win at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards, giving him a surge of momentum in the final weeks before the Oscars.
He was named best actor for his role in vampire horror Sinners, which also scored the top prize of the night – best ensemble cast.
“I don’t even know where to begin, I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Jordan said in his speech, adding that he felt “so honoured and privileged” to have been nominated.
Accepting the best ensemble prize, his co-star Delroy Lindo said making Sinners had been an “incredible journey”, adding: “Every single day we brought ourselves, our hearts, our souls, to this endeavour.”
Lindo said: “To be recognised by you all, ‘thank you’ does not come anywhere near to encompassing what we feel, the gratitude.”
The awards for Sinners came a week after the Bafta Film Awards, where Jordan and Lindo were praised for their composure after Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson involuntarily shouted a racial slur while the pair were on stage.
Other winners at the Actor Awards included Sean Penn (One Battle After Another) and Jessie Buckley (Hamnet), as well as a surprise supporting actress victory for Amy Madigan (Weapons) and a posthumous win for Catherine O’Hara (The Studio).
In his acceptance speech, Jordan paid tribute to his mother Donna, who he has been bringing to events as his guest throughout awards season, for supporting his acting career from a young age.
“Mom, thank you for driving me back and forth to New York when we didn’t have enough money to go through the Harlem tunnel, when we were looking for gas money, parking spaces,” he said.
Jordan also thanked Sinners director Ryan Coogler and his co-stars, commenting: “Everybody that had something to do with this movie, you gave us your time and your talents and vulnerability and allowed me to do my best work.
Voting for this year’s Actor Awards ceremony closed on Friday, five days after the Baftas ceremony, where the N-word was shouted while Lindo and Jordan were on stage.
Lindo acknowledged the incident at another awards event on Saturday, telling the audience: “We appreciate the support and love we have been shown in the aftermath of what happened last weekend.
“It’s a classic case of something that could’ve been very negative becoming very positive,” he said from the stage at the NAACP Image Awards. “Thank you so much for the support.”
Catherine O’Hara wins posthumous prize
Elsewhere, Home Alone and Schitt’s Creek star Catherine O’Hara, who died in January, was named best TV comedy actress for her role in Hollywood satire The Studio.
Paying tribute to O’Hara and accepting the prize on her behalf, the show’s creator Seth Rogen said: “She really showed that you can be a genius, and be kind, and one of those things does not have to come at the expense of the other.
“Something I’ve been marvelling at over the last few weeks was her ability to be generous and kind and gracious while never minimising her own talents, and her own ability to contribute to the work we were doing.”
He added: “She knew she could destroy, and she wanted to destroy every day on set.”
O’Hara’s win was one of several for The Studio, along with best comedy ensemble and best comedy actor for Rogen.
Other TV winners included Michelle Williams (Dying For Sex), Keri Russell (The Diplomat) and British actor Owen Cooper (Adolescence), but he was not present at the Los Angeles ceremony to collect his trophy.
Medical drama The Pitt won best drama ensemble and best TV drama actor for Noah Wyle, who told his co-stars filming the series had “been challenging, difficult and rewarding in ways I couldn’t possibly fathom, but I look at your faces and I wouldn’t change one thing”.
Jessie Buckley continues to sweep
Hamnet star Buckley said it was “such a privilege” to win best actress, a category she has been bulldozing throughout awards season.
Adapted from Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, Hamnet tells the semi-fictionalised story of the death of William Shakespeare’s 11-year-old son.
Accepting her trophy, the Irish actress paid tribute her co-star Emily Watson, who was seen cheering Buckley from the audience.
“To share those scenes with you in Hamnet, I will cherish that for the rest of my life,” Buckley told Watson. “Your wild imagination, your brave untethered womanhood, your ferocious gentleness is a guiding light to me.”
She added: “To get to work with my heart in my hand and stand beside my brilliant daring friends who show me their heart, I mean what a way to spend a life, thank you.”
Amy Madigan weaponises supporting actress race
There was another surprise win in the supporting actress category, which saw Amy Madigan win for her role as a terrifying aunt in horror film Weapons.
“It’s such an honour to be here, I’ve been doing this a long-ass time,” laughed the 75-year-old.
“Gladys has surprised me because she’s getting a lot of love back,” she said of her Weapons character, an eccentric woman who turns up in a US town just before the local schoolchildren go missing.
“I’m overwhelmed and so happy,” she added. “I wasn’t expecting this, but it does really mean a lot to me from my peers.”
Madigan won a Critics Choice Award early in awards season, but lost momentum in recent weeks after missing out at the Golden Globes and not being nominated by Bafta.
Her Actor Award win gives her a late boost of momentum as the Oscars race reaches its final stages.
Ford receives lifetime achievement
Harrison Ford won the lifetime achievement prize after a six-decade career that has included roles in Star Wars, The Fugitive, Indiana Jones and Blade Runner.
“It’s a little weird to be getting a lifetime achievement award at the half-point of my career,” the 83-year-old joked. “It’s a little early isn’t it?”
He continued: “Being able to deliver the work we create together to an audience is an honour and a privilege. And because of that privilege, I’ve come to know myself.
“This is a tough business to get into. In my case it’s been a tough business to get out of, thank god, because I love what I do.”
Ford concluded: “I’m a lucky guy, lucky to have found my people, lucky to have work that challenges me, lucky to still be doing it. I don’t take that for granted.”
Could Sinners win best picture?
Taking place late in awards season, the Actor Awards are voted for by other actors and can give a valuable indication of momentum.
Sinners is heading into the Oscars with 16 nominations, the highest number for any film in Academy Awards history.
Set in the 1930s Mississippi Delta, the film tells the story of two twin brothers (played by Jordan) who hope to open a new music venue, before their plans are derailed by an evil force.
The film is a strong contender for best picture at the Oscars, but it faces particular competition from One Battle After Another, which has won major prizes at other events such as the Golden Globe, Bafta Film Awards and the Producers Guild Awards.
Jordan’s win on Sunday is further evidence of how much support there is for Sinners, and it was telling just how delighted Viola Davis and Samuel L Jackson were to announce the film’s two wins.
But Jordan has struggled to win best actor elsewhere this awards season, with Timothée Chalamet, Wagner Moura and Robert Aramayo (who isn’t Oscar-nominated) winning the award at other precursor events.
While other categories have clearer frontrunners – such as Buckley in best actress – Jordan’s Actor Award win leaves the best actor race too close to call ahead of the Oscars on 15 March.
Source: BBC
