Big Win for Diverse actors at the SAG Awards 2022! 🏆
- gueneverechin08
- May 23, 2022
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 20, 2024
Written by: Guenevere Chin
March 12th, 2022
An essential to seeing Hollywood and the entertainment industry evolve and reflect the society that we live in today is by embracing diversity. It is almost guaranteed that we see diversity being an issue throughout all media from now and in the future. Seeing how representation and diversity can make a difference in the media we watch is just the start.
On February 27th, 2022, the 28th annual Screen Actors Guild (SAG) were broadcasted on TNT and TBS. After seeing the embarrassing award show that the Oscars and Emmys put on in 2021 and previous years it’s great to hear how the SAG Awards has stepped up in 2022 and rightfully awards diverse actors and projects for their excellence in entertainment. With the introduction of Korean entertainment in the United States it set a new standard of film for the industry. That standard meaning allowing nominations for foreign films with closed captions being an accepted submission in film award shows. The start of this Korean entertainment wave began with the 2019 Oscar winning film, Parasite by Oscar winning director, Bong Joon-ho who introduced a dark story about how the poor leech’s money off the rich a meaning explained by Scmp This year’s SAG Awards awarded the popular Netflix show, Squid Game created by director, Hwang Dong-hyuk who wrote the story back in 2008 but wasn’t picked up by Netflix until 2018. Vulture reported that the reasoning behind this was that global markets didn’t have the mindset for this type of story in 2008.
"With the introduction of Korean entertainment in the United States it set a new standard of film for the industry."
The first award was given for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series by actress, Jung Ho-yeon. The second award was given for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series by actor, Lee Jung-jae. This win was actress, Jung Ho-yeon break out role which makes it a phenomenal win. She was also a model before this role and even competed in the fourth season of Korea’s Next Top Model and placed as a runner up. This win for actor, Lee Jung-jae was his first ever SAG award nomination and win. He was overwhelmed with joy and according to People he said, “Oh my thank you much! This is truly huge that it’s happened to me.” The third award that the show was Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series. The elderly man who was known as Player 001 played by actor, O Yeong-su in the show won Best Supporting Actor in A Series, Miniseries, or Television film at this year’s Golden Globe Awards. These wins were a tremendous success for the show.
With the release of Squid Game over 1.65 billion hours were spent watching the show in the first 28 days of its release as reported by CNET. The hit Netflix show focuses on the desperately indebted people of South Korea and how they would do anything to get rid or out of debt. This eye-opening show was the most talked about and trending all over social media with theories, reactions, and possible predictions for the next season by fans on Tik Tok, Twitter, and Instagram. The show won three SAG Awards which made it the most-awarded show of the night as reported by Gizmodo.com. With a second season confirmed back in January by Netflix it has fans wondering where the show creator is going to take the story and the loose ends, they left some characters story lines. Show creator, Hwang Dong-hyuk told People that “If there were to be a season 2, Gi-hun the character would learn from the games and his experience from season 1 and everything he learned would be put to use in a more active manner.”
Along with this historical win there was also another film CODA which was an unexpected winner in the film category made history as the first Deaf and Disabled cast to get nominated. The Hollywood Reporter mentioned that CODA actor Troy Kotsur won the first Best Supporting Actor Award as a deaf person and not in an individual category. Another amazing win of the night was by Ariana DeBose as Anita in West Side Story directed by Steven Spielberg. DeBose made history as the first Queer Afro-Latina actress to win a SAG Award for Best Supporting Actress. She told the press according to Teen Vogue that, “I think its just indicative that the doors are opening. It’s an honor to be seen, its an honor to be an Afro-Latina-an openly queer women of color, a dancer, a singer, and an actor. Whatever firsts are attached to my name, they are immensely special to me, but I’m focused on the fact that if I’m the first of anything that means I won’t be the last.” DeBose and many other diverse actors are breaking Hollywood barriers and its an inspiring thing for the next generation of people to witness.
"I think its just indicative that the doors are opening. It’s an honor to be seen, its an honor to be an Afro-Latina-an openly queer women of color, a dancer, a singer, and an actor. Whatever firsts are attached to my name, they are immensely special to me, but I’m focused on the fact that if I’m the first of anything that means I won’t be the last." -Ariana DeBose
With these incredible wins for diverse actors and these projects it is paving a new future for the entertainment industry spotlighting the change that many have asked for years. Can we expect the Oscars and Emmys to follow in the SAG awards footsteps in embracing diverse wins?
Read more sources here:
3. People: https://people.com/tv/sag-awards-2022-best-actor-in-drama-series-winner-lee-jung-jae-squid-game/
The Hollywood Reporter: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/diversity-sag-awards-2022-1235100838/
6. Teen Vogue: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/ariana-debose-makes-history-first-queer-afro-latina-actress-to-win-sag-award
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