SAG Awards Predictions (TV): Expect ‘Schitt’s,’ ‘Queen’s’ and ‘Lasso’ to prevail

With this year’s SAG awards being held in an hour-long ceremony that’s pre-recorded, it’s likely that they have already handed out the awards to the winners in each category. That means that the nominees in each category probably already know who the winners are and aren’t able to say anything. In any case, the general public still doesn’t know who will take home awards in each category, meaning it is time for some television predictions for the 2021 SAG awards.

SAG Awards presenters will include Cynthia Erivo, Jimmy Fallon, Henry Golding, Ethan Hawke, Helen Mirren, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Lily Collins, Daveed Diggs and Sterling K. Brown.

The 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards will air April 4 at 6pm PT/9pm ET on TNT and TBS will include the traditional ‘I Am An Actor’ segments, which will be produced with a two-person crews will be sent to performers’ homes or recorded via their own computers and edited into the show. One major element missing will be the Lifetime Achievement Award, which will not be given out this year. It’s also forgoing a host or even a set.

Here are my Screen Actors Guild predictions for television.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

• Bill Camp – The Queen’s Gambit
• Daveed Diggs – Hamilton
• Hugh Grant – The Undoing
• Ethan Hawke – The Good Lord Bird
• Mark Ruffalo – I Know This Much is True

Though having been nominated for two previous SAG Awards for Boyhood and Training Day, Ethan Hawke seems the be the least likely to take this category. Hawke was also nominated at the Golden Globes for his role in the show, whereas Daveed Diggs was nominated for the show at the Critics’ Choice Awards. Diggs is nominated in this category for his work in Hamilton, released on Disney+ last year, a play that has more than its fair share of die-hard fans. People could really rally behind Diggs in this category if they liked the performance enough, but it would be a strange win considering Hamilton is still a filmed play. Hugh Grant, who has previously been nominated for three SAG awards (once in this category for A Very English Scandal), kept everyone talking with his performance on The Undoing, but will it be enough to keep in the winners conversation in this category? It seems like it’ll be between him and Mark Ruffalo, who could easily take this category. Ruffalo has won the Emmy and recently the Golden Globe for his work as twins on I Know This Much is True, turning in two stunning performances in one series. 

Predicted winner: Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much is True

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

• Cate Blanchett – Mrs. America
• Michaela Coel – I May Destroy You
• Nicole Kidman – The Undoing
• Anya Taylor-Joy – The Queen’s Gambit
• Kerry Washington – Little Fires Everywhere

If you would have asked one year ago who the frontrunner in this category would be, the answer would almost have assuredly been Cate Blanchett for her role as Phyllis Schlafly in Mrs. America. Blanchett turns in great work in the series, as usual, but now that it’s been almost a year since the limited series premiered on FX, Blanchett winning in this category looks much less likely. The same thing applies to Kerry Washington’s work in Little Fires Everywhere; while turning in a great performance, a year has now passed since the show aired, giving way to more recent things that have come out. Michaela Coel is huge competition in this category for her HBO series, I May Destroy You, focusing on power and consent. Coel dazzles in the show as she gives a vulnerable and honest performance as a victim of a rape attempting to manage her trauma as best she can. Coel winning in this category would be quite an upset, though, as it seems Anya Taylor-Joy might be the frontrunner going into the ceremony. Having recently won the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for her work as Beth Harmon, an orphaned chess prodigy suffering from addiction, Taylor-Joy seems most likely to continue her winning streak as we head into the SAG Awards.

Predicted winner: Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

• Jason Bateman – Ozark
• Sterling K. Brown – This Is Us
• Josh O’Connor – The Crown
• Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul
• Regé-Jean Page – Bridgerton

This category seems pretty easy going if other award shows are any indication. Sterling K. Brown gives a consistently good performance in This Is Us and has won in this category before for his work on the show (this is his fifth time being nominated), but it doesn’t seem like he has any real shot of winning this year. Jason Bateman is another previous winner in this category for his work on Ozark, but once again, it just doesn’t feel like this is his year to win again. Bob Odenkirk finds himself in the category for the sixth time, but will he pull out a win this year? Seems unlikely. It seems like the two actors from Netflix shows will be the two dueling it out for the win. Regé-Jean Page’s buzzy performance in Bridgerton could land him as the winner, but it really seems like the winner in this category will be Josh O’Connor for his work as Prince Charles. He’s already taken home the Golden Globe and Critics Choice award for his role, and it seems he’ll continue his winning streak at the SAG awards for his incredible performance. 

Predicted winner: Josh O’Connor, The Crown 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

• Olivia Colman – The Crown
• Gillian Anderson – The Crown
• Emma Corrin – The Crown
• Laura Linney – Ozark
• Julia Garner – Ozark

This category is strange because, for the first time ever, there are only two shows represented amongst the five nominees. Ozark has two actors in the category while The Crown boasts the other three. If that isn’t strange enough, it makes it slightly more interesting when remembering that SAG doesn’t differentiate between supporting and lead performance within these categories. Within this category, there are two supporting performances, Julia Garner from Ozark and Gillian Anderson from The Crown. Can they compete amongst the lead performances in the category? It’ll be difficult, but Anderson has earned quite a bit of praise for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Crown. On the other hand, Olivia Colman was just nominated in this category just last year for the same role as Queen Elizabeth II, but will she be able to beat her co-star Emma Corrin? Corrin has already won the Golden Globe for her captivating performance as princess Diana and it seems most likely that she’ll continue to win for her perfect performance. 

Predicted winner: Emma Corrin, The Crown

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

• Nicholas Hoult – The Great
• Daniel Levy – Schitt’s Creek
• Eugene Levy – Schitt’s Creek
• Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso
• Ramy Youssef – Ramy

Every actor in this category has been nominated for either a Golden Globe or an Emmy for their work on their current shows, with some of them having been nominated for both. Jason Sudeikis and Ramy Youssef have both won a Golden Globe for their shows while Eugene and Daniel Levy just took home Emmys for their performances in the final season of Schitt’s Creek last September. That doesn’t mean that Nicholas Hoult should be counted out, as he was just nominated for his work in The Great at the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes. Another notable fact about this category is that Daniel Levy is the only supporting performance out of the five nominees, the other four being lead performances in their shows. While it doesn’t seem like that should set Levy back any, it could be a hindrance when it comes to how much screen time he gets on his show in comparison to the other nominees. While Eugene and Daniel Levy both just took home Emmys for their roles, it seems that Jason Sudeikis might prove to be the frontrunner of the category as Ted Lasso continues to steamroll through awards season, having won Jason Sudeikis the Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award for his performance on the show. 

Predicted winner: Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso 

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

• Christina Applegate – Dead to Me
• Linda Cardellini – Dead to Me
• Kaley Cuoco – The Flight Attendant
• Annie Murphy– Schitt’s Creek
• Catherine O’Hara – Schitt’s Creek

As was the case in Male Actor in a Comedy Series for Daniel Levy, Annie Murphy of Schitt’s Creek finds herself giving the sole supporting performance in the category. Just like in the case of Levy, it could end up hurting her chances of winning this award, as the other nominees in the category find themselves with more screen time than Murphy. Dead to Me co-stars Linda Cardellini and Christina Applegate find themselves nominated alongside one another similar to the Emmys, where neither prevailed. Applegate was nominated last year in this category while Cardellini was not. Kaley Cuoco has been earning rave reviews for her lead performance in HBOMax’s The Flight Attendant, so she is definitely some heavy competition in this category. It seems like it’s going to end up being between Kaley Cuoco and Catherine O’Hara of Schitt’s Creek, who recently won the Golden Globe for her performance (and the Emmy last September!). With it being Schitt’s Creek’s final season and O’Hara building momentum, it seems like it will be O’Hara’s to lose.

Predicted winner: Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

• Better Call Saul
• Bridgerton
• The Crown
• Lovecraft Country
• Ozark

Netflix is overrepresented in this category, filling three of the five slots with their original series, but can one of them win? It seems likely. While Bridgerton is new, SAG usually isn’t as concerned with that factor as much as the Golden Globes are, so that won’t give it an edge in this race. This is Ozark’s second time being nominated in this category and it could win even without winning any individual acting races (The Crown just did it last year), but it just doesn’t seem likely. HBO’s Lovecraft Country could prove to be steep competition because of the great reviews and attention it received when it was on, but it looks like this category belongs to The Crown. With a stellar fourth season and with two leads probably winning awards as well (Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor), it seems fit that The Crown will repeat its win from last year and take this years award for outstanding ensemble in a drama series. 

Predicted winner: The Crown

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

• Dead to Me
• The Flight Attendant
• The Great
• Schitt’s Creek
• Ted Lasso

This is a complicated category. Every series nominated in this category has at least one actor from it also nominated for an individual award, which can’t be said for the drama ensemble category (Lovecraft Country didn’t get any individual nominations, only one for ensemble). That being said, it seems that The Flight Attendant and The Great could find themselves at the back of the pack, as they only have one other nomination each. Dead to Me is benefitting from both of its lead actresses being nominated at the SAGs, while Ted Lasso not only just won a Critics Choice and Golden Globe for Jason Sudeikis, but Hannah Waddingham also just took home a Critics Choice for her role in the series. Schitt’s Creek has the benefit of recently sweeping the Emmys in all comedy categories (as well as Catherine O’Hara having just won a Golden Globe for her role as Moira), so it seems to be the frontrunner here. In the end, it will most likely be a showdown between the new Ted Lasso or the final season of Schitt’s Creek.

Predicted winner: Schitt’s Creek