Shrine Auditorium and the first time t

[Jin Wah]

The ceremony will be preceded by a red carpet — a somewhat return to normal as pandemic restrictions continue to loosen nationwide and in Los Angeles County. The SAG red carpet opens at 2:30 p.m. PT and E! will cover it with Live From E!: SAG Awards beginning at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT hosted by Laverne Cox with co-host Yvette Nicole Brown.

Viewers of both the red carpet and the show can follow along on social via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and TikTok (via @sagawards and #SAGawrds), and online at SAGAwards.org.

As for the show, the first big Hollywood guild to weigh in this movie-awards season, MGM/UA’s House of Gucci and Netflix’s The Power of the Dog come in with the most nominations on the film side with three apiece, though Power of the Dog, which has a leading 12 Oscar nominations, does not have a nom in SAG’s marquee Ensemble category. Those went to Focus Feature’s Belfast, Apple’s CODA, Netflix’s Don’t Look Up, Warner Bros’ King Richard and Gucci.

SAG Awards 2022
Screen Actors Guild Awards 2022
Watch Screen Actors Guild Awards 2022
The SAG Awards 2022 Online
Screen Actors Guild Awards SAG 2022 Online

This year’s Ensemble candidates will be introduced by their key casts: Caitríona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, Jude Hill and Ciarán Hinds for Belfast; Daniel Durant, Emilia Jones, Troy Kotsur and Marlee Matlin for CODA; Cate Blanchett, Leonardo DiCaprio and Tyler Perry for Don’t Look Up; Lady Gaga and Jared Leto for House of Gucci; and Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton and Will Smith for King Richard.

After last year's ceremony was delayed and reimagined in the wake of COVID-19, the Screen Actors Guild Awards return tonight to hand out hardware at a live show and boost some Oscar contenders on the road to next month's Academy Awards.

The 28th SAG Awards will take place live Sunday at Santa Monica Airport's Barker Hanger, changing up the spot from the usual locale of Los Angeles' Shrine Auditorium and the first time the SAGs have been in Santa Monica since 1996. It's a symbolic move proving that while award shows are back in person, everything's not back to normal in Hollywood quite yet.

Why does this show matter so much in the Oscar race? Actors comprise the Academy's largest voting bloc, so the SAGs are usually a good bellwether for the acting categories at the Oscars. And after this year's untelevised, controversy-plagued Golden Globes, this SAG ceremony might have renewed importance with voters heading toward the big show March 27.

For the third year in a row, the SAG Awards will have no host, instead, the ceremony will depend on multiple presenters. Megan Mullally was the last person to host the awards in 2019, and Kristen Bell took on hosting duties in 2018.

In the Male Actor In A Leading Role category for film, The Power Of The Dog’s Benedict Cumberbatch will duke it out with Javier Bardem, Andrew Garfield, Denzel Washington, and Will Smith. These actors will also battle it out in the Best Actor category at the Oscars.

While Lady Gaga did not grab the Oscar nom, she is nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor alongside Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter), Jennifer Hudson (Respect), and Nicole Kidman (Being The Ricardos).

On the television side, the shows competing for the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series include The Handmaid’s Tale, The Morning Show, Squid Game, Succession, and Yellowstone.

Succession dominates the leading actor categories for drama series, with Sarah Snook, Jeremy Strong, Brian Cox, and Kieran Culkin all nominated. For limited series, Mare of Easttown is well represented with Jean Smart, Winslet, and Evan Peters earning nominations in their respective categories.