Two A-list stars have become the talk of Sunday’s SAG Awards after their shocking acceptance speeches.
The first of the night was Pedro Pascal, who was a surprise winner of the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series accolade for his work on The Last of Us, declaring his Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award win to be “wrong”.
The 48-year-old star admitted he thought he’d be able to “get drunk” without having to go on stage at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium because he expected one of his fellow nominees — Succession’s Kieran Culkin, Matthew Macfadyen, and Brian Cox, or The Morning Show’s Billy Crudup — to win.
Getting emotional, the actor said: “This is wrong for a number of reasons. I’m a little drunk, I thought I could get drunk and thank you HBO. Jeez Louise, I’m making a fool of myself but thank you so much for this. I’ve been in the union since 1999 so it’s an incredible f***ing honour. To the nominees, all of you, I can’t remember any of your names right now.”
Listing several HBO executives, he quipped: “I have no skills or any other interests, the least you can do is give me a job. My family, who may be watching, I’m not sure.” He said, “I’m going to have a panic attack and I’m going to leave.”
Elizabeth Debicki was equally shocked by her win later in the evening when she took home the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for her work on The Crown.
Appearing on stage with bare feet, she said: “Truly I was not expecting this. People say this, but I really am not. I don’t really know what to say, I’m going to wing it.”
She went on to pay tribute to her fellow nominees, Jennifer Aniston (The Morning Show), Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us), Keri Russell (The Diplomat) and Sarah Snook (Succession).
Telling the crowd: “The women in my category I watched with total awe and I learned how to do my craft watching you, so being nominated next to you is incredible.
“I really, really love my job. About a week ago I had the flu and was lying in bed. I had a memory about childhood and I was thinking about a happy memory. I remembered the first time I was ever cast in a play. I must have been 10, I think someone’s parents wrote it, it was about kids getting along.
“Somebody gave me that part of the last day of school and it was a 15-minute walk home and I think I levitated, I was so happy. I feel like that every time somebody gives me a job.
“Thank you for this, it means so much to me. To my beautiful Crown family, it is a joy to work with you, this job is such a gift.
“It’s my mum’s birthday, happy birthday Mum.”