Queer entertainers made their markalthough not a major oneat the 2024 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, held Feb. 24 in Los Angeles.
The event was live-streamed on Netflix for the first time.
Indigenous and Two-Spirit actor Lily Gladstone solidified her front-runner status for the Best Actress Oscar, winning Female Actor in a Leading Role for her role in Killers of the Flower Moon. Also, on the TV side of things, Ayo Edebiri won for Female Actor in a Comedy for The Bear.
However, LGBTQ+ actors and films were virtually shut out of all other categories. Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer) won for Male Actor in a Leading Role, beating out actor Colman Domingo (who portrayed gay civil-rights icon Bayard Rustin, in Rustin) and Bradley Cooper (who was queer composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein in Maestro). Queer actress Jodie Foster lost to front-runner Da'Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) for the Female Actor in a Supporting Role award and, on the male side, Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer) beat Sterling K. Brown (who portrays a gay character in American Fiction), among others.
In the television categories, Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown) won for Female Actor in a Drama Series, edging non-binary actor Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us); however, LGBTQ+ ally Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us) defeated three actors from the show Succession to win for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series. And Matt Bomer (Fellow Travelers) lost to Steven Yeun (Beef) in the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series category.
Barbra Streisand accepted the SAG Life Achievement Award as Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper introduced her. Streisand was met with a standing ovation and emotional responses from several audience members, according to People. After joking this is the best award to get "because you know in advance you're going to get it," Streisand began, "Thank you SAG-AFTRA. I'm very proud to be a member for over 60 years. I can't quite believe it." She also noted that she "never went to college" and "always thought acting was my education," while also thanking Funny Girl director William Wyler and cinematographer Harry Stradling, among others.
In December 2023, SAG-AFTRA announced Streisand was the 59th recipient of its Life Achievement Award, describing the EGOT honoree as "one of the greatest entertainers of all time."
Andrew Davis