Pedro Pascal wins SAG Award for 'The Last of Us' performance

At the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony, Pedro Pascal was shocked to win the award for male actor in a drama series for his role in "The Last of Us" -- beating out Kieran Culkin of "Succession," who had won both an Emmy and Golden Globe in this year's awards season.

"I was very surprised," Pascal said afterward of his unexpected accolade -- after joking during his acceptance speech that "I'm a little drunk."

He might have been a little drunk, but Pascal was as charming as ever as he exclaimed a heartfelt thank you and then excused himself after saying he would have a panic attack backstage. 

The other awards of the night include "Oppenheimer" as the big winner in the film categories Saturday, capturing three trophies, including the top prize for cast in a motion picture, the SAG Awards' equivalent of best picture.

The movie's star, Cillian Murphy, took home the award for male actor in a leading role, and Robert Downey Jr. won for male actor in a supporting role in the film.

In winning the leading actor award, Murphy continued his run through the 2024 Hollywood awards season, beating out Bradley Cooper ("Maestro"), Colman Domingo ("Rustin"), Paul Giamatti ("The Holdovers") and Jeffrey Wright ("American Fiction").

"Oppenheimer," the story of atomic bomb mastermind J. Robert Oppenheimer, entered the evening at the Shrine Auditorium with four nominations, tied for most in the motion picture categories with "Barbie," which was shut out on Saturday.

In solidifying its chances for a best picture Oscar later this month, "Oppenheimer" beat out "American Fiction," "Barbie," "The Color Purple" and "Killers of the Flower Moon" in the cast category.

The award for female actor in a leading role went to Lily Gladstone for her role in "Killers of the Flower Moon," Martin Scorsese's tale of the discovery of oil on Osage tribal land in the 1920s and the greed-driven murders of Osage people that followed.

Gladstone beat out Annette Bening ("Nyad"), Carey Mulligan, ("Maestro"), Margot Robbie ("Barbie') and Emma Stone ("Poor Things").

Da'Vine Joy Randolph, meanwhile, won for best female actor in a supporting role in "The Holdovers."

On the TV side, "Succession" won the top prize drama prize for best ensemble in a drama series, while "The Bear" captured three awards, including for ensemble in a comedy series.

HBO's "Succession," the tale of a billionaire family's cutthroat battles to succeed an aging media mogul, entered the evening with a leading five TV nominations and closed out its much-decorated four-year run with a "last hurrah" victory Saturday.

Hulu's "The Bear" also garnered awards for star Jeremy Allen White for male actor in a comedy series and Ayo Edebiri for female actor in a comedy series.

"Beef" won a pair of awards, including for Steven Yeun and Ali Wong for male and female actor in a television movie or limited series.

Elizabeth Debicki won for female actor in a drama series, giving the Netflix series "The Crown" its lone victory Saturday.

The SAG Awards are often considered by performers as being among the most cherished Hollywood honors because they are voted upon and awarded exclusively by other actors.

"This is extremely, extremely special to me because it comes from you," Murphy said in accepting his leading male actor award, gesturing toward the crowd of other actors in the auditorium.

The SAG Awards are also strong predictors of who will win on Oscar night, which will take place March 10. Since 1996, there have been a combined 112 Oscar nominations for best picture plus the various major acting categories, and of that number, 83 first took home a SAG Award.

In another highlight Saturday, Barbra Streisand was presented with the 59th SAG Life Achievement Award -- introduced by longtime Streisand fan Jennifer Aniston and Bradley Cooper.

The 81-year-old legend -- who became the first woman to write, produce, direct and star in a major Hollywood picture with 1983's "Yentl," drew lengthy standing ovations upon her entrance and exit from the stage.

In between, she gave a heartfelt speech in which she recalled her Brooklyn childhood and the escape that neighborhood movie theaters provided her.

"Everything was so beautiful up on that screen," she said. "That make-believe world was much more pleasant than anything I was experiencing. I didn't like reality. I wanted to be in the movies, even though I knew I didn't look like the other women on the screen."

She added, "My mother said, `You better learn to type' -- but I didn't listen. Somehow, some way, thank you God, it all came true."

The ceremony was streamed live on Netflix, becoming the first awards show to be broadcast in that manner.