In a nod to the Oscar diversity controversy, Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards included a highlight reel of films showcasing social, political and race issues.
When the Academy Award nominations counted a white person in each of the 20 acting categories, social media erupted with complaints over lack of variety, carrying the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.
SAG president Ken Howard addressed the crowd at Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium on Sunday, praising film and TV work that salutes the full scope of the human experience.
“Since the dawn of motion pictures, filmmakers have used this art form not only as entertainment but as a mirror to reflect vital issues facing society. In movies and on television groundbreaking performances of actors … have informed and inspired,” Howard said.
“They have awakened audiences to and spoken out about basic human concerns. Tonight, as we celebrate the outstanding acting from the past year, we also reflect on landmark portrayals which depict important subjects that affect us all.”
They weren’t kidding about being inclusive: the clip reel featured movies and shows grappling with race, sexual orientation, addiction, gender in the workplace, height and weight.
Titles included Frank Sinatra’s “The Man with the Golden Arm,” Denzel Washington‘s “Flight,” “Imitation of Life,” “9 to 5,” “All in the Family,” “Jane The Virgin,” “Losing Isaiah,” “Selma” and even “Star Trek.”
SAG Awards 2015: Red Carpet Arrivals (Photos)
Justin Theroux ("The Leftovers") and Jennifer Aniston ("Cake")
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Matthew McConaughey ("True Detective") with wife Camila Alves
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Nikolaj Coster-Waldau ("Game of Thrones")
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Lupita Nyong'o ("12 Years a Slave")
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Claire Danes ("Homeland")
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Meryl Streep ("Into the Woods")
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Paula Patton ("About Last Night")
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Julianne Moore ("Still Alice")
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Julia Roberts ("The Normal Heart")
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Emmy Rossum ("Shameless")
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Reese Witherspoon ("Wild)
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Joanne Froggat ("Downton Abbey")
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Steve Carell ("Foxcatcher") with wife Nancy Carell
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Sarah Paulson ("American Horror Story"), Pedro Pascal ("Game of Thrones") and Amanda Peet ("Togetherness")
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Amy Poehler ("Parks and Recreation")
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Viola Davis ("How to Get Away with Murder")
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Natalie Dormer ("Game of Thrones")
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Keira Knightley ("The Imitation Game")
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Gwendoline Christie ("Game of Thrones")
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"Modern Family" stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Julie Bowen
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Kit Harrington ("Game of Thrones")
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J.K. Simmons ("Whiplash") and Kevin Costner ("Black or White")
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Edie Falco ("Nurse Jackie")
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Laverne Cox ("Orange Is the New Black")
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Kevin Costner ("Black or White") with wife Christine Baumgartner
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Veep")
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Uzo Aduba ("Orange Is the New Black")
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Julianna Margulies ("The Good Wife")
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Michael Kenneth Williams ("Boardwalk Empire")
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"Game of Thrones" stars Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner
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Chelsea Peretti ("Brooklyn Nine-Nine") and Jordan Peele ("Key and Peele")
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Sarah Hyland ("Modern Family")
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Gretchen Mol ("Boardwalk Empire")
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Eddie Redmayne ("Theory of Everything")
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Ellar Coltrane ("Boyhood")
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Naomi Watts ("Birdman") and Liev Schreiber ("Ray Donovan")
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Joe Manganiello ("True Blood") and Sophia Vergara ("Modern Family")
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Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher ("Star Wars")
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Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl")
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Sophia Bush ("Chicago P.D.")
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Joan Collins
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"Boyhood" stars Ethan Hawke, Lorelei Linklater and Ellar Coltrane
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See what this year’s Screen Actors Guild Awards guests and nominees are wearing as they arrive at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles
Justin Theroux ("The Leftovers") and Jennifer Aniston ("Cake")