The Best and Worst Moments of the 2024 SAG Awards

The 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards took over the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles on Saturday, Feb. 24. The awards celebrated stars of both television and film with winners chosen by their peers in the guild. As Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy said while accepting his award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: “This is extremely meaningful, because this comes from you guys.” The gathering of the guild is particularly poignant following the SAG strike, when the members came together with screenwriters to shut down Hollywood during contract negotiations with the studios.

British actor Idris Elba kicked things off by pointing out that since the ceremony was being streamed, swearing was okay, but suggested, “Don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in front of Oprah.” The camera then cut to Oprah, on-hand to support The Color Purple, leading Elba to comment, “F— that was Oprah!” In case you wanted to watch Elba make dad jokes on repeat, the show is available on Netflix.

Read More: SAG Awards 2024: A Complete List of the Winners

That aside, here are some of the most memorable moments from the 2024 SAG Awards.

Best reunion

Meryl Streep literally stumbled on stage and quickly explained that she forgot both her glasses and the envelope naming the award winner. Luckily, two of her former Runway magazine assistants had the items. Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt strolled on stage for a The Devil Wears Prada reunion. Blunt noted that Streep and her on-screen character Miranda Priestly are “sort of like twins.” Streep protested, “I don’t think I’m anything like Miranda Priestly.” Hathaway cut her off, repeating the film’s iconic line, “No, no, that wasn’t a question.” Later, Netflix’s backstage host Tan France stated that Streep was actually wearing Prada and Hathaway wore a cerulean blue dress, so life often does imitate art.

Worst place for an autograph

Melissa McCarthy and Billie Eilish have a long history, not that Eilish recalls any of it. It turns out McCarthy’s first improv teacher was Eilish’s mom. They first met while Billie was in utero and, despite what the musician remembers, a few times after that. Regardless, McCarthy is a big fan of the singer and asked her to sign her dress. Eilish demurred, but agreed to go ahead and sign her face. McCarthy gave her a Sharpie and she autographed the actor’s forehead right there on stage. That is going to leave a mark!

Most humbling acceptance speech

The competition for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series was stacked with three stars from Succession vying against each other. Based on their success at the Emmys and the Golden Globes, many people thought one of them would win, including, apparently, Pedro Pascal. He was more than a little shocked when his name was called for his work in The Last of Us. “I’m a little drunk,” he said on stage. ”I thought I could get drunk!” He thanked the voters and tried to compliment the other actors in his category, but jokingly couldn’t remember any of their names. Instead, he signed off saying: “I’m going to have a panic attack and I'm going to leave.”

Best full-circle moment

Steven Yeun earned his SAG card by “wriggling around in a Speedo for a Milky Way commercial” in a vat of fake caramel. As he held his award for his work in Beef, he explained, “Honestly, I was just as hyped to get that card then as I am to receive this now.”

Best revenge

Pedro Pascal stopped backstage to chat with Tan France, who asked him about his ongoing pretend feud with Succession’s Kieran Culkin. “I’m going to make out with Kieran at the after-show,” Pascal quipped. “That will be my revenge.” Pascal’s interview with France was interrupted by Steven Yeun, who handed Pascal the envelope he had forgotten on stage, completing Pascal’s trifecta of adorable humility.

Best Barbra moment

Barbra Streisand shines so bright, she required two other stars to introduce her—both Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper spoke about Streisand’s incredible contributions to the stage and screen, before giving her the Lifetime Achievement Award. When handed the microphone, Streisand noted, “This is such a wonderful award to get because you know in advance you’re going to get it. You don’t have to sit there in [a] squirm… And you don’t have to put on such a happy face, ‘I’m so happy to lose!’ Anyway, you all know what I mean.” Spoken like a true legend.

Greatest fan moment

Barbra told the gathered actors, “I wanted to be in the movies, even though I knew I didn’t look like any of the other women on the screen... And somehow, someway, it all came true.” The camera cut to Anne Hathaway who was tearing up in the crowd, proving the power of Babs.

Snappiest line

“Unlike my fellow nominees, I will never grow tired of the sound of my own voice,” said Robert Downey, Jr. while onstage accepting his award for Oppenheimer.

However, as he wrapped up his acceptance speech, Downey, Jr. got sentimental, listing a long group of people who have inspired him, including his wife, Susan Downey. “For 22 years she has flawlessly portrayed a sane and rational individual who is happily married to an actor,” he said.

Most honest introduction

The cast of Breaking Bad reunited ten years after their win in the category to present the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series. Anna Gunn started spelling “ensemble,” saying, “E stands for Excellence” and cutting to Bob Odenkirk, who continued the bit with: “N stands for no f**king way am I going to do this cheesy thing.” The rest of the cast agreed, pondering what would happen to them if they didn’t do the bit, before Jonathan Banks cut things off with a curt, “It’s an awards show for Christ’s sake, so f–k ‘em!”

Best final farewell

"One last hurrah," Alan Ruck said, accepting the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series award for Succession. The show’s final season collected plenty of nods at the Emmys and Golden Globes, and this was the icing on the award-filled cake. "I think right now you're looking at some of the luckiest people on the planet and some of the most grateful, because not only did we all get to work on one of the best television shows, you know, maybe ever, we made friends for life,” Ruck, who played the eldest Roy sibling Connor, said. “I think the magic of Succession was that the writing was so fabulous. It inspired all of us to bring our A-game from the very beginning. And we got off on watching each other work, and we caught lightning in a bottle."