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SAG Awards 2023 highlights: Michelle Yeoh's F-bomb, celebratory kiss, and more

Published Feb 27, 2023 1:14 pm

The 29th Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards was everything, everywhere, all at once—just like the title of the film that dominated this year's ceremony.

Everything Everywhere All At Once actors Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis all won their respective nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, as well as Male and Female Actor in a Supporting Role.

Not to mention, the ensemble cast won the ceremony's top prize: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

The 2023 SAG result marks a major game-changer for the entire cast in their Oscars campaign for the acting categories of the upcoming Academy Awards.

Most especially, it is a huge indicator of Yeoh's shot at winning against Academy Award-winning actress Cate Blanchett, who is also a frontrunner for Best Actress this year for her critically acclaimed performance in Tár. SAG has been a bellwether for the leading and supporting acting categories at the Oscars in previous years. Since 2010, SAG awarded nine actresses who also won the Academy Award for Best Actress in their respective years.

SAG is the only televised awards ceremony that exclusively honors TV and film actors across 13 categories. The award-giving body is the largest voting body on the awards circuit, consisting of a diverse membership of over 130,000 performers.

Here are highlights from the Feb. 27 (Philippine time) event.

Michelle Yeoh's colorful acceptance speech

Yeoh could barely register her shock when she became the first Asian to win a SAG Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.

She had an interesting choice of words in mind that were definitely as authentic as her performance as the verse-jumping Evelyn.

"Sh*t! F*ck!" she emotionally opened her speech. "Wow! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! This is not just for me. This is for every little girl who looks like me."

Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Yeoh kissing scene

Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Yeoh shared a kiss in front of the whole world when the former was announced as the winner of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.

The supportive pair actually portrayed lovers in one of the alternate universes shown in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Specifically, they were sapphics with hot dog fingers.

“Where is Michelle Yeoh? I say ‘Michelle,’ you say ‘Yeoh!” Curtis used the precious airtime during her acceptance speech to instead put the spotlight on her good friend.

Immortalized on the screen

In a moving tribute to motion picture legends, SAG also featured an In Memoriam segment that starred respected names in the film and television industry.

These actors of note on the big and small screens all passed away within the past year.

The list of late celebrities included Kirstie Alley, John Aniston, Richard Belzer, Kathryn Hays, Anne Heche, Bo Hopkins, Leslie Jordan, Ray Liotta, Cody Longo, Lisa Loring, Olivia Newton-John, Nichelle Nichols, Stella Stevens, Raquel Welch, Barbara Walters, Annie Wersching, and Cindy Williams, among others.

The 29th SAG Awards ceremony was held at Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles. It was streamed live on Netflix’s official YouTube channel.