Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Predictions: Television

Erik Anderson January 26, 2019

The 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards are tomorrow night and I’ve already revealed my predictions for Motion Picture and now have my TV ready to go.

Voters seemed a bit lazy here this year with some categories so stacked with double nominees from the same show that some, especially in comedy, only made room for three programs represented. There’s a clear reason for this though and that’s that SAG still doesn’t have supporting categories for television so lead and supporting actors get shoved into one. Both Bill Hader and Henry Winkler from Barry are competing against each other. Rachel Brosnahan and Alex Borstein from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel are going to head to head. All four of them won respective lead and supporting Emmys for their roles last September but now have to compete against each other. Considering that SAG-AFTRA added the stunt categories five years ago you’d think they’d rectify this.

It’s hard to imagine The Americans pulling off a win in Ensemble since they didn’t even bother to nominate the show’s stars, but its final season has done quite well with awards groups so far, winning the Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice earlier this month. I’m counting on This Is Us repeating as this category loves repeat winners. Ozark is the most-nominated drama series but Jason Bateman feels like the show’s only shot. I only have him as a ‘could win’ in favor of back to back wins for Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us). It’s a tough call between Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Sandra Oh (Killing Eve). Oh has the momentum, Moss finally has two-time winner Claire Foy out of the way. I’m leaning to Moss but I know that Oh makes more sense.

Rachel Brosnahan is set to join an elite group of awards winners if she takes the SAG tomorrow (and really, there’s almost no way she won’t). Winning the SAG would complete her run of the Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, Critics’ Choice and Television Critics Association awards (basically TV’s version of the EGOT). Only five other actors have accomplished that for a single role: Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Claire Danes (Homeland), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) and Sarah Paulson (The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story). Brosnahan, who missed out on last year’s SAG cycle, would become only the second actor to win all five awards for a comedy performance, after Fey. Paulson remains the only person to win all five awards in the same awards season.

The Stunt category will finally see a new winner for the first time since the category’s inception five years ago. Game of Thrones has won this four years in a row but did not air a season during the eligibility period. That gives a perennial nominee like The Walking Dead a chance, or returning shows like Westworld or Daredevil. I think first timer Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan might be their choice though.

Here are my winner predictions for the 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards in television.

Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series

Will win: The Is Us
Could win: The Americans
Watch out for: The Handmaid’s Tale
Also rans: Better Call Saul, Ozark

Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series

Will win: Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Could win: Jason Bateman, Ozark
Watch out for: John Krasinski, Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
Also rans: Joseph Fiennes, The Handmaid’s Tale; Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Outstanding Female Actor in a Drama Series

Will win: Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale
Could win: Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Watch out for: Laura Linney, Ozark
Also rans: Julia Garner, Ozark; Robin Wright, House of Cards

Outstanding Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Will win: The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Could win: Barry
Watch out for: The Kominsky Method
Also rans: Atlanta, GLOW

Outstanding Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Will win: Bill Hader, Barry
Could win: Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Watch out for: Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Also rans: Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method; Henry Winkler, Barry

Outstanding Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Will win: Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Could win: Alison Brie, GLOW
Watch out for: Jane Fonda, Grace and Frankie
Also rans: Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Outstanding Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Will win: Darren Criss, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Could win: Hugh Grant, A Very English Scandal
Watch out for: Bill Pullman, The Sinner
Also rans: Antonio Banderas, Genius: Picasso; Anthony Hopkins, King Lear

Outstanding Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series

Will win: Amy Adams, Sharp Objects
Could win: Patricia Arquette, Escape at Dannemora
Watch out for: Patricia Clarkson, Sharp Objects
Also rans: Penelope Cruz, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story; Emma Stone, Maniac

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series

Will win: Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan
Could win: The Walking Dead
Watch out for: Marvel’s Daredevil
Also rans: GLOW, Westworld

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.