Queue’s Guide to the SAG Awards
A collage of Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne), Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega), Glenda Cleveland (Niecy Nash-Betts), Anna Delvey (Julia Garner), Jeffrey Dahmer (Evan Peters), Jen (Christina Applegate), Wendy Byrde (Laura Linney), Marty Byrde (Jason Bateman), Stanley Sugerman (Adam Sandler), Prince Charles (Dominic West), Queen Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton), Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), and Marilyn Monroe (Ana de Armas) against four blobs of color.

QUEUE'S GUIDE TO THE SAG AWARDS

The Netflix series and films that have been nominated, and where to watch them. 

22 February 202310 min read

Now in its 29th year, the Screen Actors Guild Awards remains unique among Hollywood’s many celebrations in its exclusive focus on the craft of acting. Voted on by the more than 160,000 performers belonging to SAG-AFTRA, the awards recognize outstanding performances across film and television, with top prizes given to the year’s most outstanding ensembles.

 Taking place on Sunday, February 26, the SAG Awards will be broadcast online at 8 p.m. E.S.T or 5 p.m. P.D.T, streaming on Netflix’s YouTube channel, YouTube.com/Netflix, with real-time coverage of the red carpet and the ceremony happening on Netflix’s social media channels.

 Many of Netflix’s 15 nominees will already be familiar to readers of Queue: Prestige crime thriller Ozark received four nominations, including Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, a category that also honors Peter Morgan’s royal drama The Crown. Ryan Murphy’s chilling limited series Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story earned nominations for its stars Evan Peters and Niecy Nash-Betts; and former Queue cover star Julia Garner is doubly nominated for her work in Ozark, and her starring role in Shonda Rhimes’s docudrama Inventing Anna.

 On the film side, Blonde’s Ana de Armas and Hustle star and producer Adam Sandler are first-time nominees, while two-time SAG Award winner Eddie Redmayne is nominated once more for his supporting performance as convicted killer Charles Cullen in the true crime drama The Good Nurse.

 Read on for a detailed breakdown of the nominees and how to watch these remarkable performances before the Screen Actors Guild unveils its winners on February 26.

OZARK

Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) wears a black outfit and stands in front of a crowd of people. She looks down at a green coffin with a heartbroken look on her face.

Ruth Langmore (Julia Garner) 

Photograph by Steve Dietl

Showrunner Chris Mundy’s searing drama reaches its harrowing conclusion in an unforgettable fourth season, which is divided into two parts and sees stars Jason Bateman, Laura Linney, and Garner delivering deeply nuanced work across its final 14 episodes. Bateman and Linney’s cartel kingpins Marty and Wendy Byrde survive untold dangers to find a kind of fresh start, while their famously foul-mouthed rival Ruth Langmore is undone (and done in) by her crimes. “That was the last scene that I filmed,” Garner told Queue of her Ozark exit. “I wasn’t acting. I didn’t need to act because I’ve been this person for so long, and I did feel like I was dying because I was, in a way. Ruth does feel like a part of me.”

 With a total of four nominations on its SAG scorecard — Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series; Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series for Bateman; and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for Linney and Garner — Ozark’s finale featured some of the finest acting in the history of the acclaimed drama.
“The first thought that came to mind, and really the dominant thought still today, is wanting to direct that final episode so it’s like a big group hug, all the way through,” Bateman said to Queue of wrapping the beloved series. “That’s really the way it felt, with all the big moments that Chris so beautifully tied up there in that final episode.” 

To fully experience the tumultuous highs and lows of Marty and Wendy’s (and Ruth’s) story, we recommend watching (or rewatching) all 44 of the show’s impressive episodes. But to see the work that so impressed SAG’s voting body, make sure to view the powerful concluding act of Ozark’s fourth and final season.

THE CROWN

Prince William (Senan West), Prince Harry (Will Powell), Prince Charles (Dominic West), Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (Marcia Warren), Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), Queen Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton), Timothy Laurence (Theo Fraser Steele), Princess Anne (Claudia Harrison), Prince Philip (Jonathan Pryce), Prince Edward (Sam Woolf), Princess Margaret (Lesley Manville), and Prince Andrew (James Murray) pose for a picture.

Prince William (Senan West), Prince Harry (Will Powell), Prince Charles (Dominic West), Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother (Marcia Warren), Princess Diana (Elizabeth Debicki), Queen Elizabeth (Imelda Staunton), Timothy Laurence (Theo Fraser Steele), Princess Anne (Claudia Harrison), Prince Philip (Jonathan Pryce), Prince Edward (Sam Woolf), Princess Margaret (Lesley Manville), and Prince Andrew (James Murray)

Keith Bernstein

For the British royal family, the 1990s was a time of great turbulence and upheaval, with personal strife and scandal besetting the palace and the public beginning to question the relevance of the monarchy itself. Still, The Crown creator and writer Morgan tackles the difficult chapter head-on in the fifth season of his stately drama, bringing with him a new cast to portray yet older incarnations of the royals. Actor Imelda Staunton puts her stamp on an aging Queen Elizabeth, and stepping in as Prince Philip is Tony Award winner Sir Jonathan Pryce. Claudia Harrison plays Princess Anne, Olivia Williams takes on Camilla Parker Bowles, and Lesley Manville is an ever-charismatic Princess Margaret.

 For the key supporting roles of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, Morgan enlists actors Dominic West and Elizabeth Debicki. The cast is collectively nominated in the Outstanding Ensemble category, with Debicki also nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. The Australian performer brings to life some of Diana’s most famous moments from the period, including her daring 1994 gala appearance in the so-called “revenge dress” and her candid BBC interview with Martin Bashir (Prasanna Puwanarajah), obtained through falsehoods and fabrications. “I think so many of the stories that Peter explores in The Crown are about women surviving and evolving and being profoundly challenged and finding themselves strong enough to endure it,” says Debicki, who will reprise the role for Season 6 alongside her Season 5 castmates.

 To see the outstanding work of the entire cast, make sure to watch all 10 episodes of Season 5 of The Crown.

DAHMER - MONSTER: THE JEFFREY DAHMER STORY

Delivering an utterly chilling performance in Murphy’s gripping 10-episode portrait of serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, Peters earns a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series. Although he’d worked with Murphy previously on the award-winning American Horror Story anthology series, initially Peters wasn’t sure about playing such a sinister real-life figure. “I struggled with whether to dive into it or not,” the actor says, adding that eventually his creative curiosity won out. “I was transfixed by how he spoke about what he did and confused by it, and wanted to dive into the psychology of that and ultimately said yes.”

 His co-star, Nash-Betts, was also recognized for her brave performance as Dahmer’s real-life neighbor, Glenda Cleveland, who raised alarms about his ominous behavior but was routinely ignored by their landlord and the authorities. For Nash-Betts, the experience of playing Glenda allowed her to showcase her tremendous dramatic range, but perhaps the actor’s most gratifying takeaway was bringing attention to Cleveland, a largely unsung hero. “My tears often come when I wonder where Glenda’s spirit is right now, and whether she knows that the world has shown up and taken note of what she was trying to get people to [notice],” Nash-Betts says. 

Watch Peters and Nash-Betts’s memorable performances in DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

INVENTING ANNA

Anna Delvey (Julia Garner) wears a houndstooth poncho and stands in a construction site looking hopeful.

Anna Delvey (Julia Garner)

Photograph by Nicole Rivelli

Audacious entrepreneur or con artist? That’s the question posed in Shondaland’s study of Anna Delvey, the grifter who convinced New York’s elite she was a German heiress. Adapted from a New York Magazine article by Jessica Pressler, the nine-episode limited series sees Garner deliver a deft turn that’s a world away from her work as Ozark’s Ruth Langmore — and one that’s earned her a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series. “What I wanted to capture was her spirit,” Garner told Queue of her approach to playing Delvey. “She was hilarious, and she’s extremely clever.” 

Watch Garner work her magic as the notorious social chameleon in Inventing Anna.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) and Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers) stand in the middle of some other students in cat outfits.

Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) and Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers)

Photograph by Vlad Cioplea

As the delightfully deadpan Wednesday Addams in 2022’s breakout hit series Wednesday, Jenna Ortega snaps her way to her first Screen Actors Guild nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series. Created by the Smallville team of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the series sees 16-year-old Wednesday shipped off to Nevermore Academy, her parents’ alma mater and a haven for all manner of outcasts, where she promptly becomes embroiled in a murder mystery. At the same time, she also attempts to adapt to (or at least come to tolerate) her new environment, possibly even making friends with perky werewolf roommate Enid (Emma Myers). With its unconventional take on the coming-of-age tale and gleefully goth aesthetic, the series became a pop culture obsession — that dance! — but there’s no question that it’s Ortega’s top-notch turn as the unblinking heroine that serves as the show’s beating black heart. 

Travel to Nevermore Academy with SAG nominee Ortega in Wednesday.

DEAD TO ME

Judy (Linda Cardellini) and Jen (Christina Applegate) open a yellow door to a brunette man in a denim shirt.

Judy (Linda Cardellini) and Jen (Christina Applegate) 

The third and final season of brilliant black comedy Dead to Me marks the end of the road for Judy (Linda Cardellini) and Jen (Christina Applegate), the unlikely best friends whose unshakable relationship is forged during meetings of a grief support group. Thanks to Judy’s nurturing spirit, by the series’ end, Jen had a vastly different perspective on the accident that claimed the life of her husband, leaving her a single mother to two sons, and a radically different outlook on life itself. While the real estate agent comes to terms with tragedy and loss, finding joy in unexpected places — she’s still the same deeply flawed human being, whose complexities are channeled through Applegate’s noteworthy work in the role. The unforgettable turn has earned the actor a well-deserved nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series category. 

To watch her chart Jen’s arc over the entire course of the show opposite Cardellini, make sure to binge all 30 episodes of Dead to Me.

BLONDE

Ana de Armas behind the scenes of Blonde. She wears a v-necked red dress.

Ana de Armas

Photograph by Matt Kennedy

When Blonde, Andrew Dominik’s fictionalized biography about the traumatic life of Marilyn Monroe, premiered at 2022’s Venice Film Festival, star de Armas received a 14-minute standing ovation for her transformative work in the uncompromising film. Desperate to find love, stability, and family, the woman born Norma Jeane Baker instead finds herself imprisoned by the trappings of fame, unable to break free from her status as an international sex symbol in Blonde. For de Armas, portraying such a complicated character felt like a singular gift. “As an actress, you don’t get roles like this,” de Armas told Queue. “You don’t get to live an experience like this and a process like this. It was a crazy, beautiful opportunity.” 

To fully appreciate the lengths to which de Armas went to earn her SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, Blonde is required viewing.

HUSTLE

Stanley Sugerman (Adam Sandler) and Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangómez) on the basketball court.

Stanley Sugerman (Adam Sandler) and Bo Cruz (Juancho Hernangómez) 

Photograph by Scott Yamano

Basketball has been a lifelong passion for Sandler — with Hustle, the actor and producer translates his love for the game to the screen, starring in the inspiring drama as Stanley Sugerman, a recruiter for the Philadelphia 76ers who discovers a potential superstar (played by real-life Toronto Raptors power forward Juancho Hernangómez) on a scouting trip to Spain. After acclaimed turns working with auteurs including Paul Thomas Anderson (Punch-Drunk Love) and the Safdie brothers (Uncut Gems), Sandler’s standout work in Hustle nets the actor his first SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role. A rousing underdog story featuring dozens of real-life professional basketball players, Hustle is an inspiring film that will leave you smiling and rooting on Sandler’s Stanley from the sidelines. 

Watch Hustle now.

THE GOOD NURSE

Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) and Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain) wear teal scrubs and sit against a medicine cabinet in a darkened hospital.

Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) and Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain)

Photograph by JoJo Whilden

Revered as one of the greatest actors of his generation, Oscar winner Redmayne puts his superlative skills to work in sinister fashion, playing The Good Nurse’s Charles Cullen, the real-life killer who murdered as many as 400 people between 1988 and 2003 while working as a nurse in hospitals in the mid-Atlantic U.S. In the film, directed by Tobias Lindholm and adapted from Charles Graeber’s nonfiction book The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder, Redmayne alters his own physicality to slip beneath the character’s skin. “This person was this weird hybrid of being translucent and skinless and vulnerable while also being a total closed book,” Redmayne told Queue. “Anonymity was his tool, and he got great power and a kick out of being sort of anonymous. So how do you make a character present while also being anonymous? That was the conflict for me.”

 To see the work that earned Redmayne a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role and to see Oscar-winning actor Jessica Chastain deliver an impressive turn of her own opposite Redmayne, watch The Good Nurse.

STRANGER THINGS

Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) faces off with Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower) in a red-lit scene.

Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and Vecna (Jamie Campbell Bower)

It’s not only famous faces who are lauded by the Screen Actors Guild. To recognize some of the vital work that goes on behind the scenes, the organization created a special category for stunt performers. Nominated this year for Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series is the stunt team of Stranger Things, who, during both volumes of the hit show’s fourth season, outdid themselves as the series’ narrative canvas expanded far beyond the confines of Hawkins, Indiana. From creating rough-and-tumble fights in Siberian prisons to acting out scenes of life-threatening peril involving the show’s courageous band of adolescent heroes, there was no shortage of exemplary stunt work on display. “The happiest I am is when something really works either on set, or in editorial, or in the writing of the scene,” Matt Duffer told Queue of the talented crafts behind the hit series. “That’s the ultimate high.”

Relive the daring stunts of Hawkins’s favorite heroes by watching Stranger Things 4.