#SAG Awards: ‘The Bear’ and ‘Beef’ Pick Up Early Wins

The 2024 Screen Actors Guild Awards are underway, and The Bear‘s Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri and Beef‘s Ali Wong have scored the first wins at the ceremony.

The Bear star picked up his second consecutive SAG Award for his lead role in the FX comedy series. “I’m so honored to be in this community,” said White. “I’ve wanted to be a part of this community for my whole life. I had no backup plan. I started very young, and I’m just so incredibly touched to be standing in front of you all today.”

White’s co-star Ayo Edebiri won for best actress in a comedy series for The Bear. “I’m looking out at this room of people whose work moves me and motivates me and makes me feel and laugh,” she said before announcing she’d butcher a James Baldwin quote she had recently read. “The act of love is just really an act of mirroring, and I think anything that anybody sees in me that’s worth anything is because of the people who love me and support me and it made me who I am.”

Winning best actress in a limited series, Beef’s Ali Wong thanked Netflix, which is both streaming this year’s SAG Awards and also released Beef, noting that the company has supported her since the debut of her 2016 special Baby Cobra.

Pedro Pascal beat Succession’s awards-show streak, taking the prize for best actor in a drama for HBO’s The Last of Us. Even the star appeared surprised by the win. “This is wrong for a number of reasons — I’m a little drunk,” said Pascal. “I thought I could get drunk!”

In the pre-show, HBO’s The Last of Us won the TV stunt performance category, while Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One win the respective film category.

Michael Cera, Colman Domingo, Hannah Waddingham and Idris Elba kicked off the show with the annual “I Am an Actor” presentation, sharing personal anecdotes of their career highlights. Elba also introduced the awards show from the stage, noting that for the first time the ceremony is streaming live on Netflix and cursing is allowed — within reason. “Here’s a good rule of thumb: Maybe don’t say anything you wouldn’t say in front of Oprah,” said Elba. 

The Hijack star also took the opportunity to address the biggest elephant in the room: last year’s SAG-AFTRA strike. “It is especially meaningful to be here all together for this occasion after going through a very difficult time with the strike,” said Elba. “I want to take this moment to honor and appreciate all of you both here and watching at home who stood up for SAG-AFTRA in solidarity and support.”

More to come.