‘Conclave’ triumphs at SAG Awards and Timothée Chalamet wins best actor, upending Oscar predictions

The papal thriller “Conclave” won best ensemble and Timothée Chalamet took best actor at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, a pair of twists that added a few final wrinkles to an unusually unpredictable awards season.

In winning the guild’s top award, Edward Berger’s Vatican-set drama triumphed just as the Catholic Church was praying for the health of Pope Francis, who remained in critical condition Sunday after an asthmatic respiratory crisis. “Conclave” dramatizes the fictional election of a new pope. Earlier onstage, Isabella Rossellini shared the cast’s best wishes for Pope Francis.

All the momentum going into the SAG Awards was with Sean Baker’s “Anora,” which had won with the producers, directors, and writer's guilds. With “Conclave” winning with the actors and at the BAFTAs, what will nab best picture in a week’s time at the Academy Awards is, again, anyone’s guess.

“Wow,” said “Conclave” star Ralph Fiennes taking the stage. “I’ve not been elected to speak. I’ve been designated to speak on behalf of our conclave, our ensemble.”

That wasn’t the only surprise in the ceremony held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles and streamed live by Netflix. Chalamet’s best actor win upset “The Brutalist” star Adrien Brody and put the 29-year-old on course to possibly win his first Academy Award.

Chalamet looked visibly surprised when his name was announced at the ceremony. But once he reached the stage, the “A Complete Unknown” star spoke with composure and confidence.

“The truth is, this was 5 ½ years of my life,” said Chalamet. “I poured everything I had into playing this incomparable artist, Mr. Bob Dylan, a true American hero. It was the honor of a lifetime playing him.”

He then added: “The truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness. I know people don’t usually talk like that, but I want to be one of the greats.”

The other Oscar favorites — Demi Moore, Zoe Saldaña and Kieran Culkin — all won. The SAG Awards are closely watched as an Oscar preview. Their picks don’t always align exactly with those of the film academy, but they often nearly do.

The last three best ensemble winners — “Oppenheimer,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “CODA” — all went on to win best picture at the Oscars. All but one of the SAG acting winners of the last three years has also won the Oscar. (The sole exception was Lily Gladstone, who won SAG’s award for female actor last year for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” but the Oscar trophy went to Emma Stone for “Poor Things”.)

John Lithgow, from left, Ralph Fiennes, Sergio Castellitto, and Isabella Rossellini accepts the award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture for "Conclave" during the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Zoe Saldana poses in the press room with the award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role in a motion picture for "Emilia Perez" during the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP) — Zoe Saldana poses in the press room with her SAG award for "Emilia Pérez" (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

Kieran Culkin accepts the award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role for "A Real Pain" during the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) — Kieran Culkin accepts his SAG award for "A Real Pain" (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Demi Moore accepts the award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role for "The Substance" during the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Moore seemingly solidified her Oscar chances by following up her Golden Globe win for her performance in “The Substance.” Moore, whose campaign was boosted by her speech about being pigeonholed as a “popcorn actress,” has traded awards with “Anora” breakthrough Mikey Madison.

“What we believe is so much more powerful than what we think,” said Moore. “The saying, ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ — the reality is when I believe it, I will see it.”

The SAG Awards unfolded against the backdrop of the aftermath of the devastating wildfires that began in early January. Those fires forced the guild to cancel its in-person nominations announcement and launch a disaster relief fund for SAG-AFTRA members affected. Host Kristen Bell introduced attending firefighters as “the most attractive tables” among a sea of stars.

Jane Fonda, 87, given the guild’s Life Achievement Award, provided the evening with its most passionate political moment. Fonda, a famed activist, spoke indirectly about President Donald Trump’s administration.

“We are in our documentary moment,” said Fonda. “This is it. And it’s not a rehearsal.”

Fonda added that “woke just means you give a damn about other people.”

Jane Fonda accepts the lifetime achievement award during the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

“A whole lot of people are going to be hurt by what’s happening, by what’s coming our way,” said Fonda. “We are going to need a big tent to resist what’s coming at us.”

Jean Smart, who had advocated for canceling award shows because of the wildfires, won best female actor in a comedy series for “Hacks.” Smart didn’t attend but participated in a pre-taped introduction as her character, Deborah Vance.

Also not in attendance: Martin Short, though he upset Jeremy Allen White to win best male actor in a comedy series for “Only Murders in the Building.” The Hulu series also won best comedy ensemble.

“Wait, we never win. This is so weird,” said Selena Gomez. “Marty and Steve (Martin) aren’t here because, you know, they don’t really care.”

Richard Kind, from left, Selena Gomez, Michael Cyril Creighton, Molly Shannon, and Kumail Nanjiani accept the award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a comedy series for "Only Murders In The Building" during the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Colin Farrell won his first SAG award, for his performance in “The Penguin” and also became the first winner ever introduced, by Jamie Lee Curtis, as “the man who gave me COVID at the Golden Globes.” Farrell bounded to the stage and promptly responded, “Guilty as charged,” before blaming Brendan Gleeson for giving it to him.

The night’s first televised award went to Culkin, who has won just about every award in the category for “A Real Pain.” Gripping the SAG trophy, he could quickly tell the difference.

“It is funny that the heaviest of all awards is given by actors,” said Culkin, who characteristically riffed his way through a rambling acceptance speech before swearing sincerity: “Believe it or not, this actually means a lot to me.”

Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez,” which has seen its awards hopes largely dashed by controversy over old tweets by lead actor Karla Sofia Gascón, took home the award for best female supporting actor, for Oscar favorite Saldaña.

Cynthia Erivo, left, and Ariana Grande in the audience during the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) — Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in the audience (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

Ethan Slater, left, and Ariana Grande in the audience during the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) — Ethan Slater and Ariana Grande in the audience (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)

For Netflix’s second time around streaming the awards, it inserted ads sporadically, like a traditional broadcast. Last year, downtimes were occupied by backstage interviews. Audio issues occasionally marred the broadcast, including brief interruptions of Fonda’s speech.

After romps at the Emmys and Golden Globes, “Shōgun” kept up its dominance. The FX series won Best Drama Series Ensemble, along with acting awards for Hiroyuki Sanada, and Anna Sawai and best stunt ensemble. The corresponding award for film went to the stunt performer ode “The Fall Guy.”

Here’s an updated list of winners at the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, held Sunday at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. In addition to the winners below, Jane Fonda received the SAG Life Achievement Award.

FILM

Ensemble

“Conclave”

Female actor in a leading role

Demi Moore, “The Substance”

Male actor in a leading role

Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”

Female actor in a supporting role

Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez”

Male actor in a supporting role

Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”

Stunt ensemble

“The Fall Guy”

TELEVISION

Drama ensemble

“Shōgun”

Comedy ensemble

“Only Murders in the Building”

Female actor in a drama series

Anna Sawai, “Shōgun”

Male actor in a drama series

Hiroyuki Sanada, “Shōgun”

Female actor in a comedy series

Jean Smart, “Hacks”

Male actor in a comedy series

Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”

Female actor in a limited series or TV movie

Jessica Gunning, “Baby Reindeer”

Male actor in a limited series or TV movie

Colin Farrell, “The Penguin”

Stunt ensemble

“Shōgun”

After the BAFTAs in London, the awards season circuit returned stateside tonight for the 31st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. The final major stop before next week’s Oscars, the SAG Awards honors achievements in both film and television—meaning that stars from the year’s most acclaimed small and big screen projects were out in full force at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles this evening.

On the film side, Wicked led the contenders with five total nominations. The Timothée Chalamet-led A Complete Unknown was right behind with four. Anora, Conclave, and Emilia Pérez complete the Best Ensemble race which has proven to be a reliable predictor of which film will prevail in the Oscar’s Best Picture race. In television, the Japanese feudal drama Shōgun is expected to continue its awards dominance as are Hacks, Baby Reindeer, and The Bear.

But before any trophies were handed out to their winners, stars hit the red carpet in droves to fine-tune their step and repeat style heading into Oscars Sunday. Here, all the best suits, high jewelry, and glamorous dresses from the SAG Awards 2025 red carpet.