Film awards: Conclave, The Substance & Shogun collect top honours at the 2025 Screen Actors Guild Awards
A celebratory Sunday night commended exceptional performances in film and television of the year prior, which saw Conclave, The Substance, and Shogun collect top honours at the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.
The overall successful evening saw much critical acclaim among the deserving nominees and winners, with Conclave and The Substance taking home two big-time awards each, whilst Shogun racked up a collection of four in total.
Film News Blitz’s Aidan Leo reflects on and outlines this year’s SAG Award winners.
Conclave and The Substance take home the prominent spoils
Conclave, continuing on from its BAFTAs success, deservingly gained recognition for the film’s all-around exceptional performances, winning Cast in a Motion Picture.
Demi Moore made her return to the frontlines and the headlines for her exemplary performance in The Substance, victorious for best Female Actor in a Leading Role.
She was previously bested by Mikey Madison (Anora) at the BAFTAs for the award.
Shogun is reaching even higher heights
Many viewers and film enthusiasts, including myself, have concluded that whenever Shogun wins, Shogun wins big.
The extraordinary Japanese war epic had previously swept the Critics Choice Awards for the acting in a drama series categories (aside from Kathy Bates for Matlock).
The majestic series continued its run at the SAG Awards, with wins for Ensemble in a Drama Series, Female Actor in a Drama Series and Male Actor in a Drama Series for the wonderful and remarkably good Anna Sawai and Hiroyuki Sanada respectively.
Additionally, the series’ stunt crew were also given recognition for their faultless efforts, taking home the prize for Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series.
A completely known love for Timothee
With award season for 2025 totally stacked with top-tier performances and deserving winners, the always exceptional Timothee Chalamet remains a worthy recipient of top honours at any time, but has fallen short this year up until this point.
This time around he was not looking on in wonder and appreciation, but rather his contemporaries sat by and witnessed his award win for his stellar role as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, winning the Male Actor in a Leading Role award.
What can we glean from this year’s SAG Award winners?
With Conclave now increasingly filling its award cabinet, it raises questions as to whether the film’s competitors will be able to halt their surge going into the Oscars.
The ensemble cast award is often a key pointer towards Oscars Best Picture success and the BAFTA win a week earlier in that category means Conclave has some serious momentum.
But Conclave faces stiff competition from Anora, which has taken top honours at the Critics Choice Awards and major prizes from the Directors, Producers and Writers guilds.
After Mikey Madison’s against-the-odds victory at the BAFTAs, Moore has taken back the reins as she has done all year long, which could lead to a prominent and worthy Oscars victory for her and The Substance.
READ MORE: Film awards: Conclave and The Brutalist share the spoils at the 2025 BAFTAs
But what Chalamet’s massive achievement means for his and A Complete Unknown’s Oscars run is yet to be determined.
However, as Billboard reported, “Individual SAG Award winners for film acting generally go on to win Oscars.
“Three years ago, and again two years ago, all four SAG winners repeated at the Oscars. But last year, one of the four stumbled: Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon) won the SAG Award, but went on to lose the Oscar for best actress to Emma Stone (Poor Things).”
It will be very interesting to see whether that trend will continue this year.
We all ponder in eager anticipation now.
For the full list of the 2025 SAG Award winners, refer to the list below.
FILM
Casting in a Motion Picture
Conclave
A Complete Unknown
Anora
Emilia Perez
Wicked
Female Actor in a Leading Role
Demi Moore - The Substance
Cynthia Erivo - Wicked
Karla Sofia Gascon - Emilia Perez
Mikey Madison - Anora
Pamela Anderson - The Last Showgirl
Male Actor in a Leading Role
Timothee Chalamet - A Complete Unknown
Adrien Brody - The Brutalist
Colman Domingo - Sing Sing
Daniel Craig - Queer
Ralph Fiennes - Conclave
Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Zoe Saldana - Emilia Perez
Ariana Grande - Wicked
Danielle Deadwyler - The Piano Lesson
Jamie Lee Curtis - The Last Showgirl
Monica Barbaro - A Complete Unknown
Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Kieran Culkin - A Real Pain
Edward Norton - A Complete Unknown
Jeremy Strong - The Apprentice
Jonathan Bailey - Wicked
Yura Borisov - Anora
TV
Ensemble in a Drama Series
Shogun
Bridgerton
Slow Horses
The Day of the Jackal
The Diplomat
Female Actor in a Drama Series
Anna Sawai - Shogun
Allison Janney - The Diplomat
Kathy Bates - Matlock
Keri Russell - The Diplomat
Nicola Coughlan - Bridgerton
Male Actor in a Drama Series
Hiroyuki Sanada - Shogun
Eddie Redmayne - The Day of the Jackal
Gary Oldman - Slow Horses
Jeff Bridges - The Old Man
Tadanobu Asano - Shogun
Ensemble in a Comedy Series
Only Murders in the Building
Abbott Elementary
Hacks
Shrinking
The Bear
Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Jean Smart - Hacks
Ayo Edebiri - The Bear
Kristen Bell - Nobody Wants This
Liza Colon-Zayas - The Bear
Quinta Brunson - Abbott Elementary
Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Martin Short - Only Murders in the Building
Adam Brody - Nobody Wants This
Harrison Ford - Shrinking
Jeremy Allen White - The Bear
Ted Danson - A Man on the Inside
Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Jessica Gunning - Baby Reindeer
Cate Blanchett - Disclaimer
Cristin Milioti - The Penguin
Jodie Foster - True Detective: Night Country
Kathy Bates - The Great Lillian Hall
Lily Gladstone - Under the Bridge
Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
Colin Farrell - The Penguin
Andrew Scott - Ripley
Javier Bardem - Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
Kevin Kline - Disclaimer
Richard Gadd - Baby Reindeer
STUNTS
Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
The Fall Guy
Deadpool and Wolverine
Dune: Part Two
Gladiator II
Wicked
Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
Shogun
Fallout
House of the Dragon
The Boys
The Penguin
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