Squid Game has made history by becoming the first-ever non-English language show to win Screen Actors Guild awards. The Korean show won three awards from its four nominations at SAG Awards 2022. While actors Lee Jung-jae and Jung Ho-Yeon won in the lead acting categories for drama, the show also nabbed the award for outstanding action performance by a stunt ensemble in a television series.
While accepting her award, Jung said, “First and foremost, thank you so much. I have sat many a times watching you on the big screen, dreaming of one day becoming an actor. I just want to say thank you so much. Thank you for making me dream and opening the doors for me.”
The South Korean survival drama series, which premiered on September 17, 2021, became Netflix’s biggest launch ever and amassed over 142 million household views in the first four weeks. While global viewing hours of Netflix’s Korean shows grew six-fold last year, compared to 2019, Squid Game continues to be its biggest show with 95% of its viewership coming from outside of Korea.
The nine-part series is an imaginative, unorthodox story in which 456 contestants risk their lives in a mysterious survival game for a chance to win 45.6 billion won. A second season of the show is in the works.
Squid Game was not the only history-maker at the 2022 edition of the SAG Awards.
Troy Kotsur became the first actor from the deaf community to win a SAG award. Kotsur bagged the award for outstanding supporting actor in a film for his portrayal of Frank Rossi in CODA.
The film also won the top SAG prize: outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture.
CODA (Child Of Deaf Adults) revolves around Emilia Jones’ character Ruby Rossi, who is the only hearing member of a deaf family. It had premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2021 and was acquired by AppleTV+ for $25 million – the highest in the festival’s history.
While accepting his award, Kotsur thanked the film’s makers for “casting us authentically as actors who happen to be deaf.”
He also said, “I am so proud to be a member [of SAG]. I have been a member since 2001, so now I feel like I am finally part of the family. And I know you all are artists, and that you all know what it is like to be a starving actor. [Back] then, I used to sleep in my car, in my dressing room, backstage, I couch-surfed and all of that. So, thank you so much. I am grateful to SAG for protecting us actors.”
It is notable that Kotsur is also nominated for an Academy Award in the same category.
Ariana DeBose won her first SAG award in the supporting actor category for her performance in Steven Spielberg’s musical West Side Story.
Will Smith also received his first-ever SAG award for his role in the film King Richard. Both DeBose and Smith are also Oscar nominees for their respective performances.
Jessica Chastain accepted the best lead acting award for her role in the film, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, and said, “My heart is with the international family all over the world, who are fighting for their safety and their freedom.”
Other winners of the evening included Jean Smart and Jason Sudeikis for their performances in the comedy series Hacks and Ted Lasso, respectively.
Kate Winslet, Smart’s co-actor from Mare of Easttown, won the lead acting honour in the limited series category for her role as the local cop Mare Sheehan. Michael Keaton won the male version of the same award for Dopesick.
HBO’s Succession, which had garnered the most nominations with five nods, only won for best ensemble in a drama series. Apart from just acknowledging the win for their series on a media mogul and his family, actor Brian Cox also took a minute to turn the attention to the recent Russian incursion in Ukraine.
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Cox said, “It’s truly, truly awful. And it’s particularly awful in terms of what is affecting the other people, particularly in our profession.” He highlighted the fact that Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelenskky, was a comedian and actor himself.
“But the thing that’s really distressed me is what’s happening in Russia, to my fellow actors and actresses, performers, writers, and critics. They are told under pain of high treason that they cannot say a word about Ukraine. And I think that is pretty awful, and I think that we should all stand together also for those people in Russia who don’t like what’s going on, and particularly the artists,” he added.
The 28th edition of the SAG Awards was held as an in-person event at Barker Hangar, California on Sunday night.