Intro for March 2, 2026

The SAG Actor Awards were last night on Netflix, and as can happen as we get deeper into awards season, surprises abound. There were several surprises but the biggest were the twin wins for Sinners, with Michael B. Jordan taking home Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his dual performance as the twins Smoke and Stack.

He showed up in a grey Tom Ford suit, looking like the hottest lawyer at the firm, though he said it was tribute to one of his characters, Smoke.

But that was not the end of the night for MBJ or Team Sinners, as they took home Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, beating out One Battle After Another.

There is no understating how big these wins are for Sinners. Oscar voting closes on Thursday, and if One Battle was starting to look like a sure thing, well, it’s not. We have a real goddamn race for both Best Picture and Best Actor. And MBJ gave a lovely speech for his acting award, while Delroy Lindo delivered a beautiful speech on behalf of the Sinners team, which can do a lot to push fence-sitting voters onto their side.

MBJ also won big the night before at the NAACP Image Awards, where he was a triple winner for Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, and Entertainer of the Year. There, he dedicated his acting award to Chadwick Boseman.

So in the Best Actor category, the question is now Wagner Moura or MBJ. Truly, no one loses here, but the tea leaves aren’t much help. Wagner Moura hasn’t won anything from a group actually voting on the Oscars, but MBJ might have that age thing against him. He’s freshly turned 39, which isn’t young-young, but might still be too young for some of the old fart voters.

I’m also not sure how many Academy members are aware of his rise from soaps and child acting to TV stardom to outright film stardom. This is a path not many actors could traverse in previous generations. Do they know that, though? It would make an Oscar win before he’s 40 a kind of fairy tale, I just don’t know how many voters are keyed in. Remember that Adrien Brody won last year in part because two voters didn’t know Ralph Fiennes does NOT have an Oscar. These are not the most informed voters.

More on the Sinners win and implications on the other races shortly.

Live long and gossip,

Sarah

(PS/Note from Jacek: Lainey is out of commission today but we do plan to have a full-ish day of post SAG coverage so please visit throughout the day)