For a memorable Saturday night at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in LA, the biggest names in TV and film brought their best selves. SAG Awards 2024 was full of hilarity and highlights. While Melissa McCarthy expressed her love for the What Was I Made For singer, Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway used the popular, unforgettable lines from The Devil Wears Prada, amusing the audience. Predo Pascal’s alcohol-fueled cute acceptance speech won many hearts as he received the award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a drama series. Cillian Murphy revealed who coined the ‘Oppenhomies’ nickname. He credited the 37-year-old Olivia Thirlby for it.
Also, with stars lighting up the carpet in their stylish suits, flirty frocks, and sparkling gowns, the 2024 Screen Actor Guild Awards was something. While buzzy newbies such as Ayo Edebiri gave off cool girl vibes, legends including Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Aniston were the epitome of classic beauty.
Other popular celebs such as Reese Witherspoon, Elizabeth Debicki, America Ferrera, Brie Larson, Ariana Greenblatt, and more also shined in their outfits.
However, the one actress who rocked the night with her presence and who definitely stole all the limelight was Lily Gladstone. ‘Mollie Burkhart’ was a poetry in motion as she walked the Red Carpet looking gorgeous in red from head to toe.
Winning the Best Actress award for her performance in the Killers of the Flower Moon, Gladstone was breathtaking in her custom red fringed dress. The red silk gown was accented with blue fringe at the hem. It had a kinetic magnetism that was further enhanced by ruby-red crystal strands. As for accessories, she chose to go with stained glass-inspired earrings and completed her look with sleek, half-up braided hair and soft makeup.
Her makeup artist Fiona Stiles stated, “I wanted to keep the makeup soft and spare to feature her incredible beauty”. “My goal was flawless, glowing, sculpted skin and show-stopping lashes, keeping the focus not on the makeup but on Lily”.
Gladstone’s stylist Marc Mena, on the hair front, thought about echoing the fluidity of the dress. He explained, “It was a unanimous decision that it should be long with lots of movement to mimic the fringe”.
As other talented heroines like Emma Stone, Margot Robbie, Carey Mulligan, and Annette Bening were nominated in the same category for their performances in Poor Things, Barbie, Maestro, and Nyad, the win wasn’t so easy. Winning the award for her role as Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese’s directorial, Killers of the Flower Moon, she became the first indigenous actor to win in this category.
Gladstone started her winning speech with “My friends, fellow actors, I feel the good in what you have done – what you do”. “This has been a hard year for all of us. Those in this room, those not in this room. I am so proud that we have gotten here in solidarity with all of our other unions”.
“It’s truly a gift that we get to do this for a living. That’s the win. It was getting to be here. It was getting to be on set. It was getting to tell stories. It’s so easy to distance ourselves. It’s so easy to close off, to stop feeling, and we all bravely keep feeling, and that humanizes people. That brings people out of the shadows, it brings visibility”.
“Keep telling stories to everybody in this room, to everybody watching abroad. Those of you who are not actors but have a voice, have a story that needs to be heard. Thank you for all of the compassionate souls in this room and all of the storytellers here tonight. Keep speaking your truths, and keep speaking up for each other.”
For those of you who still haven’t watched the movie yet, she plays the Osage lady Mollie Kyle, the spouse of Ernest Burkhart (played by Leonardo DiCaprio). Her mother, sisters, and other family members were killed over their headrights, or rights to oil reserves found underneath their reservation in Oklahoma. The movie shows the Osage killings at the hands of William Hale, the criminal boss (played by Robert De Niro).
While preparing for the role of Mollie, Gladstone said “there was so much space to fill”.
She made the intense character her own, being inspired by her great-grandmother and her own Native communities. She said it helped her bring special focus to her character in Scorsese’s hit Killers of the Flower Moon.
The actress became the first Native American woman to win a Golden Globe this year, giving her winning speech in her native Blackfoot language.
Do you know she is the first Native American nominee for Best Actress at the Oscars?
As Oscars voting begins, the Best Actress race will be interesting to watch. After all, it’s a battle between two famed actresses (Lily Gladstone v/s Emma Stone). While Lily Gladstone emerged victorious for her performance as the anguished Osage woman at the SAG Awards 2024, Emma Stone won the Leading Actress award for sex-charged gothic comedy, Poor Things, at BAFTA 2024.
Gladstone has the SAG and the Golden Globe for Drama but Stone is keeping up with BAFTA, Critics Choice, and the Golden Globe for Musical. Doesn’t this sound similar to the time when Michelle Yeoh and Cate Blanchett were in the race for the Oscars? While the latter took BAFTA, Critics Choice, Golden Globe for Drama, and Volpi Cup and Yeoh won the Golden Globe for Comedy and SAG, it was Yeoh ultimately winning the gold statuette for Everything Everywhere All at Once for Best Actress. And, just like that she became the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress. If Gladstone wins this year, she will create history by becoming the first Native American winner to win this award.
Are you excited for the 96th Academy Awards on 11th March? With both actresses giving a power-packed performance in their respective movies, it’s going to be a must-watch!
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