Baku, February 24, AZERTAC

As honored as SAG Award winners must feel to take home their prizes, the ceremony may be even more important as a bellwether of things to come, according to Vanity Fair. Actors happen to make up the largest voting branch in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which means that as SAG goes, so might the Oscars.

And that, in turn, means that the 2025 SAG Awards may just have initiated a vibe shift in two of this year’s least predictable categories: best picture and best actor.

Though Wicked was the most nominated film at the SAG Awards this year, that musical wound up going home empty-handed when the SAGs were handed out in Los Angeles Sunday night. Instead, the evening ended with a surprise winner for best ensemble in a motion picture: Conclave, a crowd-pleaser that recently won this same award at the BAFTAs. Despite that previous victory, star Ralph Fiennes seemed pleasantly surprised to be delivering another acceptance speech as he and cast mates Isabella Rossellini, John Lithgow, and Sergio Castellitto took the podium.

A Complete Unknown star Timothée Chalamet looked even more shocked moments earlier, upon learning that he had won the award for best male actor in a leading role—a prize that he and chief rival Adrien Brody seem to have even odds of winning on Oscar night. Though Chalamet admitted from the stage that he had not expected the prize, he recovered by delivering a confident acceptance speech in which he noted that he intends to become one of cinema’s great actors—and saying that he takes as much inspiration from GOATs Michael Phelps and Michael Jordan as he does from screen legends like Marlon Brando, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Viola Davis.

Even the night’s TV awards had their share of surprises. Though Shōgun swept the drama categories, Colin Farrell beat Baby Reindeer Emmy winner Richard Gadd in best actor in a limited series, while Only Murders in the Building beat Emmy darlings Hacks and The Bear to win both best actor in a comedy—the award went to Martin Short, who wasn’t present at the ceremony (perhaps because, according to his pal and costar Steve Martin, he caught Covid at the SNL 50th anniversary special)—and best comedy. Star Selena Gomez, who was present, couldn’t contain her glee: "We never win,” she said from the podium. “This is so weird!"