The 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards honored acting achievements in film and television in Los Angeles on Jan. 29.
Out actress/comedian Lily Tomlin took home the SAG lifetime achievement award, presented by her 9 to 5 co-star, Dolly Parton. Tomlin—who thanked wife Jane Wagner (“My partner, Jane Wagner, are whose shoulders I stand the tallest”)—said, among other things, “Don’t leave your house drunk.”
However, one theme rang throughout the night: politics. Many winners’ speeches were political in nature. That included Tomlin, who poked fun at President Donald Trump, noting that no one had to give “alternative facts” when talking about her career. Julia Louis-Dreyfus (outstanding performance by a female actor in a comedy series for Veep) said in her acceptance speech that she is the daughter of an immigrant who fled the persecution of Nazi-occupied France.
Sarah Paulson—who won the outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or miniseries award for her role in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.—encouraged people to donate to the American Civil Liberties Union.
However, Moonlight actor Mahershala Ali may have given the night’s most emotional speech. Ali, who won for outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role in a movie, shared that his mother is an ordained minister who was not thrilled when he converted to Islam 17 years ago.
As for the awards themselves, Orange Is the New Black surprised some with its win for best ensemble in a comedy series. On the film side, Hidden Figures (starring Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monae) won for best cast in a motion picture, while Fences’ Denzel Washington and Viola Davis won for, respectively, best male actor and supporting female actor.