SAG-A-Palooza: A Union Member Speaks

With the 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards kicking off in a few days, a voter talks craft, politics, and (of course), the nominees.

Last year, I spoke to a non-ranking member of the Screen Actors Guild, a part of SAG-AFTRA, to dish on the then-upcoming annual awards ceremony honoring the best performances by fellow thespians of the screen.

Now, almost fifteen months later, the world has completely changed.

The effects of the coronavirus, which entered the country a mere four days after our last interview, has halted most productions and shut down gatherings among members of the guild, a union founded by actors in 1933. On top of that, hundreds of staffers have been laid off in several waves of job cuts coinciding with necessary relief benefits for members who can’t work. Long story short, Hollywood’s greatest and longest-standing union has suffered the same sort of economic whip and draining as others around the nation.

It is easy to think that a guild with some of the highest-paid members in the world would be able to survive with the amount of wealth combined among high-ranking and leadership officials. That is true to a degree, but it is easier to forget that the Screen Actors Guild is made up of actors of all statures, with the highest percentage of dues-payers made up of struggling actors working paycheck-to-paycheck.

At the moment, two big events are happening soon. Amazon employees in Bessemer, Alabama are rallying to unionize (SAG-AFTRA expressed their solidarity and support for the workers in March), with a final vote expected soon. And on Sunday, SAG members will participate in the postponed tradition of recognizing the talents of their peers in a review of the past year’s work. Enter the Screen Actors Guild Awards, now in its 27th year.

I spoke with that same friend from last year’s article, one of the aforementioned working-class members in the Atlanta Chapter, about the conditions of SAG-AFTRA now, as well as dishing on the upcoming awards ceremony he will be voting in for his 8th consecutive year.

With the Alabama Amazon workers on our minds, the subject of union workers has become quite a talking point. So, what would in other years be a discussion of betting, glamour, and the arts turned into a more specific conversation about inner-politics of perhaps the most famous union in the country (…and, still, art…and betting).

Here are his answers to my questions about SAG-AFTRA, along with the votes that he cast in each of the categories for Sunday’s show.

What is the state of the union, so to say, during a time of crisis? Especially among rank-and-file members?

The key in your question is “rank-and-file”, that’s always the conversation with SAG-AFTRA. Those members typically get left out of broader talks. Smaller names don’t have a big influence in the union.

The difficulty has been that utilities (insurance and other services offered by the guild) have in past years been underfunded and, in this time of ongoing pandemic, have plummeted even more. This could mean that the limit that the SAG insurance plans have of earnings is remaining at the same level as before, but nobody can work. You have several situations where there have been mismanagement of funds. This shouldn’t have been a problem, but it is. I personally think there needs to be a shakeup in leadership and chapter positions.

Why is a union that is run, for the most part, by wealthy individuals so classist?

Probably because there is so much wealth, as you said, in the leadership. Typically the people that rise to the top to get nominated [for leadership roles] are ones that already have a name (and a large bank account). So, there isn’t really a fair nominating process. Another problem with higher leadership electing is that the incumbent SAG-AFTRA president at the time already has access to a lot of SAG channels. [Members] see that name a lot, but not the challengers. There is no public debate on anything. All you get for these national elections is a sheet with a photo of their face and maybe a few sentences about what they want to do. With the incumbent, it’s name recognition and a paragraph or two. That can be misleading. Issues can arise in the highest offices and on chapter levels, where the same people are elected for thirty years. There is a need for new blood, just like in national politics.

Is SAG an artistic union or a fame union?

That depends on a lot of things. It’s a multi-faceted question. It serves artists, but a lot of those artists are famous. The unrecognized ones tend to be those who are artists but have to work second jobs to support themselves. Plus, there is an issue of age in the union. Theoretically, you can be a child and a union member. That’s what happened to me when I was a teenager. I could vote in union elections before I could vote in presidential elections! The issue with the president at the time when I spoke with her was youth representation. As I tried to express, how do you approach acting, as a young person, as a stable career? Parents typically discourage it.

Does that discouragement come with the territory or is there a failing within the industry?

No one should have to feel like they are on their own for being part of the union but not having a big name. I will give them credit for workshops and online services they provided for people in the past year from any chapter. One of my biggest problems with SAG for a while was that the Los Angeles chapter seemed to hold a monopoly over services to actors. The other chapters, such as ones in the midwest or non-mainland states, don’t get these things. One nice effect of the pandemic was that these services were more available because everything moved online.

I want to pick up on this later, but let’s talk about your peers who are nominated for Sunday night’s show and who you voted for. We’ll go through each of the categories starting with the film awards.

Best Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:
Maria Bakalova — Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close — Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman — The Father
Yuh-jung Youn — Minari
Helena Zengel — News of the World

Each performance had their own layer of intricacy. However, and you’ll see this as a trend among my other picks, a personal favorite this year was a movie called The Father. There was a constant attention-grab. Although the other films were great, I felt like I could skip through parts of them and not miss anything. With this one, it demanded the viewer’s attention. I chose Olivia Colman.

Yuh-jung Youn’s character connected with me a lot for personal reasons. There are similar stories with my family and the family in Minari as immigrants. Glenn Close in Hillbilly Elegy…I was hoping for so much more with that film. I wish the story had been told in chronological order. Her performance is good, but as someone who read the book I was expecting more from the movie to allow her character to grow. Borat confused me. The unfortunate thing about Helena Zengel is that the News of the World screener was sent at the last minute, so I could only see clips.

The timing that we get sent these screeners seems like we’re expected to lay down all of our work and livelihoods to watch these movies. That’s a large commitment considering we are not paid to vote in this award show.

Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Nominees:
Sacha Baron Cohen — The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chadwick Boseman — Da 5 Bloods
Daniel Kaluuya — Judas and the Black Messiah
Jared Leto — The Little Things
Leslie Odom Jr. — One Night in Miami…

Again, I got a late screener for Judas and the Black Messiah. I was able to watch a majority of it. There are a few films this year that I enjoyed but could see as being short films. Daniel Kaluuya’s performance is good, but I felt it lost its potency over the course of the film. Jared Leto I just saw clips of. I’ll leave it at that. I did enjoy Leslie Odom, Jr. in One Night in Miami, another film that could totally be a short film and have a lot of power to it. That movie just kept going and we couldn’t leave the hotel room. I think it could have been cut down more or shown in a different format. I kept finding myself getting out of the movie. That isn’t a criticism of Odom’s performance, though.

It was a tossup for me between Sacha Baron Cohen and Chadwick Boseman. Sacha surprised me in comparison to Borat. I was expecting to not even have him in consideration until I watched the movie. He brought a sense of an outsider, which he is, to a film about outsiders. Very appealing. Chadwick, as we all know, is going to win awards this year. The question is, for what film? Here’s a hot and spicy take, of the two roles he is up for, the more impactful one for me was Da 5 Bloods. The whole movie revolves around the life, death, and ghost of his character, unlike Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom where he is the antagonist for the title character. Anyway, I chose him.

Female Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:
Amy Adams — Hillbilly Elegy
Viola Davis — Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Vanessa Kirby — Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand — Nomadland
Carey Mulligan — Promising Young Woman

Not that the others aren’t deserving, but the one that needs the most attention is Viola Davis in this category. Her performance sold me the entire time. When I can’t separate the actor from the historical figure, that’s almost an automatic vote for me. When I can be a spectator, that’s gold. Viola Davis brought some gold this year.

Male Actor in a Leading Role

Nominees:
Riz Ahmed — Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman — Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins — The Father
Gary Oldman — Mank
Steven Yeun — Minari

This is one where I liked every performance. My relationship with Riz Ahmed is interesting because I got annoyed with that character, I felt his behavior and pursuits were self-centered. He was an early favorite until I saw some others. I watched Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The Father; I had an internal crisis. Both Chadwick Boseman and Anthony Hopkins have been favorites of mine for a while, and I have a once in a lifetime opportunity to vote for these two. I already mentioned my vote for Chadwick in Da 5 Bloods earlier and I’ve never had a chance to vote for Anthony Hopkins before, who is a legend in film. So, I voted for the legend in film. Plus, I liked that the audience feels what his character is feeling: you’re just as confused. With no fault to Chadwick, the weight of his character came from that being his last role and it brought me out of it. His role in Da 5 Bloods, on the other hand, captured a more personal aspect.

Cast in a Motion Picture

Nominees:
Da 5 Bloods
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Minari
One Night in Miami…
The Trial of the Chicago 7

This category is the one where I try to watch every film, even if I have commitments. I always look at screeners to see if any of them are up for Cast. The Trial of the Chicago 7 was very impressive and the cast captured the historical figures very well, but it seemed too co-ordinated. I felt that there wasn’t as much chemistry as there could have been. One Night in Miami had a very cool cast. I would’ve liked to have seen Kingsley Ben-Adir have his own nomination. I think he got snubbed. The rest of the cast had some really good moments, but again the film could’ve been a short if not have some more plot added. Genuine cast, though. Minari’s cast did something to me…I forgot they were a cast. I thought they were a real family. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’s chemistry is insane. The band members feel like real band members with real disconnect from Ma Rainey and Levy. You can feel the tension, it’s like a case study! That’s not a film I wanted to speed through at all. I was in it. Da 5 Bloods, wow. Young and mature versions of each character, what a work. Real chemistry? Yes. Clear connection between the old and young versions of the character? No. I had a hard time making distinctions. Also, we didn’t get much personality out of some of the stars.

The one that I picked was Minari, it was so personal.

And now, the TV categories:

Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Nominees:
Christina Applegate — Dead to Me
Linda Cardelini — Dead to Me
Kaley Cuoco — The Flight Attendant
Annie Murphy — Schitt’s Creek
Catherine O’Hara — Schitt’s Creek

This disappointed me, not because of performances. Either I wasn’t sent these screeners at all, or I received them a week before the voting deadline. This has been the worst delivery of SAG Awards screeners I’ve experienced being in the union.

I have a proposal: instead of nominating an entire season of a show, they should nominate the three episodes of a 30-minute show that best portrays the series, and two episodes of an hour-long show. Maybe the directors suggest them, but just show us some highlights.

I did not vote for this category.

Due to the issues with screeners, the voter chose not to vote in the categories of Male and Female Actor in a Limited Series/TV Movie.

Male Actor in a Comedy Series*

Nominees:
Nicolas Hoult — The Great
Dan Levy — Schitt’s Creek
Eugene Levy — Schitt’s Creek
Jason Sudekis — Ted Lasso
Ramy Yussef — Ramy

(*editor’s note — it bears mentioning that the interviewee proudly exclaimed his pick before I could finish reading off the nominees)

I watched Ted Lasso, so I had the advantage of seeing it beforehand. Jason Sudekis is a fine actor and I’m not just saying that because I’ve worked with him. He was able to take a character from a commercial series and make a Television show that was entertaining and heartful. So, wholeheartedly I voted for him.

Female Actor in a Drama Series

Nominees:
Gillian Anderson — The Crown
Olivia Colman — The Crown
Emma Corrin — The Crown
Julia Garner — Ozark
Laura Linney — Ozark

I love them all. I love both shows and have seen them all from the first episode. No need for screeners! This category rips my heart out. I’ve voted in previous years for both Olivia Colman as well as the Ozark cast, so I chose to make a vote with 20/20 perspective. It came down to Gillian Anderson and Emma Corrin for The Crown. Margaret Thatcher [Anderson] has been portrayed in film before. Princess Diana [Corrin] not so much, especially not from youth to marriage and so on. So, with that in mind, I voted for Emma Corrin.

Male Actor in a Drama Series

Nominees:
Jason Bateman — Ozark
Sterling K. Brown — This is Us
Josh O’Connor — The Crown
Bob Odenkirk — Better Call Saul
Rege-Jean Page — Bridgerton

I love Josh O’Connor. Great performance. It’s continual each year for the amount of depth that one actor goes to, and that’s Jason Bateman. I get stressed and anxious when I watch that show and I go back to it a lot. So, he’s my vote.

Ensemble in a Drama Series*

Nominees:
Better Call Saul
Bridgerton
The Crown
Lovecraft Country
Ozark

(*editor’s note — once again, it was a quick decision with no need to list the candidates)

The Crown. No need to ask. But it’s close, because I love Ozark’s ensemble, but I love The Crown more.

Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Nominees:
Dead to Me
The Flight Attendant
The Great
Schitt’s Creek
Ted Lasso

This was another quick pick. Ted Lasso, for all the reasons I said earlier with Jason.

Part of what will make this year’s SAG Awards unique is that the live ceremony has been cancelled. Instead of a crowded gathering of A-listers in Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium, the show will be cut down to an hour-long broadcast of pre-recorded segments featuring the recipients of the statuettes in their individual homes. Before I let him go, I felt the drastic change in approach was worth mentioning to the voter, who has always had to view the results in the comfort of his home.

This year, the ceremony will be very different in formatting. What do you think of the decision to restructure the ceremony?

I’m not looking forward to that. It feels as though we’re cancelling a moment of recognition for people who didn’t cancel their effort. I hope their recognition doesn’t get sidelined, but it already feels like it has. Like, “we can just run this slideshow of people who won their award”, and that’s what we’re doing in an hour. I’ve never seen the SAG Awards do anything like this, and I hope that it never happens again.

We shall see.

Yeah.

My thanks to my friend for taking the time to discuss. The 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards will be simultaneously broadcast on TBS and TNT at 9:00pm EST on April 4th, 2021.