The best moments from the 2019 SAG Awards

What a pleasant surprise! After being unfortunately shamed for working at Trader Joe’s last year, the former Cosby Show costar got the last word when he appeared in the award show’s introduction and declared himself as an actor. “So, somewhere in the middle of the road of my life, I found myself in the dark wood of unemployment and debt,” he said. “But instead of switching careers like a sane person, I took a job at a local Trader Joe’s to see if I could hang in there with my career. And, um, its actually worked out pretty well. I’m Geoffrey Owens and I am an actor.”

Blunt gave us one of the cutest moments of the night when she opened up about what it meant to work with her husband John Krasinski on A Quiet Place in her acceptance speech for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role. “The entire experience of doing this with you has completely pierced my heart directly,” Blunt told Krasinski from the stage. “You are a stunning filmmaker. I’m so lucky to be with you and to have done this film with you. Thank you for giving me the part! You would have been in major trouble if you hadn’t!”

The best lifetime achievement award acceptance speeches are the ones that have something profound and insightful to say about the art as a whole, and Alda’s definitely falls in that category. When the M*A*S*H and West Wing star took the stage Sunday night, he opined about why an actor’s ability to get inside a character’s head and see things from their perspective is so vital today, and what he had to say was poignantly reminiscent of Roger Ebert’s famous quote about the power of movies as empathy machines. “It may never be more urgent to see the world through another person’s eyes. And when the culture is divided so sharply, actors can help, at least a little, by doing what we do. And the nice part is it’s fun to do it. My wish for all of us is: let’s stay playful, let’s have fun, let’s keep searching. It can’t solve everything, but it wouldn’t hurt,” said Alda. It’s worth noting that The Wife‘s Glenn Close touched on something similar in her Best Actress speech, too. 

Another great speech! Sure, most actors thank their fellow union members when they accept their awards, but what made the Killing Eve star’s speech so special was how specific it was. As collected her trophy for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama, she tearfully shared interactions with three different actors that kept her strong throughout her career. First, she thanked Alfre Woodard for telling her “I’m proud of you up there. We fight the same fight” in 1996. She continued, “Jamie Foxx in 2006 pulled me aside and he said, ‘Keep going.’ And in 2017, Lena Waithe, she just embraced me and said, ‘You’ve already won. It’s in the work.’” Three weeks ago, Oh was responsible for a couple of standout moments at the Golden Globes, so it’s not surprising that she stood out again tonight.

Who doesn’t love a reunion? Fatal Attraction costars Michael Douglas and Glenn Close joined forces to present the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries. “In the 32 years since Fatal Attraction,” Douglas began, “and the 25 since these awards began, we’ve experienced many changes in our craft, in our industry, in the way we relate and in our world.” Interjected Close: “The one constant that unites us is the joy of being captivated by a mesmerizing performance.”

Don’t you dare play Chadwick Boseman off! Black Panther made history on Sunday night by becoming the first superhero movie to ever win a SAG Award, which is the cherry on top for a film that grossed $1.347 billion worldwide. However, what made the cast’s big win so monumental and moving was Boseman’s speech, which addressed what made working on Ryan Coogler’s Afro-futuristic epic so monumental. “We knew we had something special that we wanted to give the world, that we could be full human beings in the roles that we were playing, that we could create a world that exemplified a world that we wanted to see,” he said. “We knew that we had something that we wanted to give and to come to work with every day and to solve problems with this group of people every day, with this director. That is something I wish all actors would get the opportunity to experience.” Furthermore, Boseman’s kicker was perfect. “I know that you can’t have a Black Panther now without a ‘2’ on it.”