The 'Joker' actor pays tribute to the late Heath Ledger and gives a shout-out to fellow nominee Leonardo DiCaprio in his acceptance speech, as the Bong Joon Ho-directed film wins a top prize.
- Jan 20, 2020
AceShowbiz - The full winners of the 26th Screen Actors Guild Awards have been unveiled as the Sunday night, January 19 ceremony has just been concluded. Having dominated this year's award season, Joaquin Phoenix was once again unbeatable as he took home the coveted Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his role in "Joker".
He paid tribute to Heath Ledger in his speech. The late actor played the villainous Joker in "The Dark Knight". "I'm standing here on the shoulders of my favorite actor, Heath Ledger," he said.
The 45-year-old actor, who has won a Golden Globe Award and a Critics Choice Award for the same role, gave a shout-out to his fellow nominees, including Leonardo DiCaprio. "There would always be two other guys that I was up against and we'd always lose to this one kid...every casting director would always whisper, 'It's Leonardo,' " he said of the "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" star. "You've been an inspiration for over 25 years to me and so many people."
Turning his attention to Christian Bale, he jokingly said that he wished the English actor ruined at least one performance, "It's infuriating. I wish you would. Just suck once." He continued, "Adam [Driver], I've been watching you the last few years and you've been turning in these beautiful, nuanced, incredible profound performances. I'm just so moved by you...you should be here."
He didn't forget to mention Taron Egerton who received critical acclaim for his performance as Elton John in "Rocketman", saying, "Taran, I'm so happy for you...you're so beautiful in this movie ['Rocketman'] and I'm so happy for you and I can't wait to see what else you do."
Also taking a top honor at the SAG Awards was the cast of "Parasite". The movie made history as the first foreign-language film to win the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and they received a standing ovation as Song Kang Ho, Lee Sun Kyun, Choi Woo Shik, Park So Dam and Lee Jung Eun took the stage to accept the prize.
Other winners in movie categories were Renee Zellweger as Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for her role in "Judy", Brad Pitt as Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood", as well as Laura Dern for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role for her turn as Nora Fanshaw in "Marriage Story".
"Avengers: Endgame" nabbed Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture, while Robert De Niro was honored with Life Achievement Award, which was presented by DiCaprio.
The SAG-AFTRA also handed out prizes for the best television actors at the ceremony.
Full Movie Winner List of the 2020 SAG Awards
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture: "Parasite"
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Joaquin Phoenix, "Joker"
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Renee Zellweger, "Judy"
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Brad Pitt, "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Laura Dern, "Marriage Story"
- Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture: "Avengers: Endgame"
- Life Achievement Award: Robert De Niro
