But the two awards do not always go hand in hand. Of the 25 films that won the SAG Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a film since the beginning of the category in 1995 (the second year of the award), 12 won the Oscar for best film, 12 went on to be nominated for best film (but not to win), and one was not even nominated for an Oscar for best picture. (That was Mike Nichols’ scam in 1996 The cage.)
Looking from another direction, of the last 25 Oscar winners for best picture, all but three were at least nominated for the SAG award. The three Academy Award winners for best film who were not nominated for SAG in the cast category were Brave Heart (1995), The shape of the water (2017) and Green Paper (2018).
Is there a standard for which types of films do best in the main category of each show? Broadly speaking, big, epic movies seem to do better at the Oscars. These include Brave Heart, Titanic and Gladiator. Smaller, more intimate films seem to perform better at the SAG Awards. These include The whole amount, Laterally and Little Miss Sunshine.
The five films that seem to be on the right track for this year’s SAG nominations are The Chicago Trial 7, One night in miami, Black Bottom by Ma Rainey, Da 5 Bloods and Mank.
Other strong competitors include Minari, The prom, Promising young woman, Metal sound and Judas and the Black Messiah.
Here are all the SAG winners for outstanding performance by a cast in a film, separated into three categories based on the films’ performance at the Oscars. Note: In the second and third categories, the second title of each line is the name of the film that won the Oscar for best film.
Won the SAG Award; won the Oscar for best film
Passionate Shakespeare (1998)
American Beauty (1999)
Chicago (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
Beat (2005)
Where the weak have no place (2007)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
The king’s speech (2010)
Argo (2012)
bird Man (2014)
Spotlight (2015)
Parasite (2019)
Won the SAG Award; nominated for an Oscar for best film
Apollo 13 (1995); Oscar: Brave Heart
The whole amount (1997); Oscar: Titanic
Traffic (2000); Oscar: Gladiator
Gosford Park (2001); Oscar: A brilliant mind
Laterally (2004); Oscar: Million Dollar Baby
Little Miss Sunshine (2006); Oscar: The dead
Inglourious Basterds (2009); Oscar: The Hurt Locker
The help (2011); Oscar: The artist
Cheating (2013); Oscar: 12 years as a slave
Hidden figures (2016); Oscar: Moonlight
Three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017); Oscar: The shape of the water
Black Panther (2018); Oscar: Green Paper
Won the SAG Award; not even nominated for an Oscar for best picture
The cage (1996); Oscar: The English patient
SAG Trivia
Of the 25 SAG cast award winners, the film with the highest cast was Gosford Park (20 actors shared the prize). The film with the smallest cast was Laterally (only four actors – Thomas Haden Church, Paul Giamatti, Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh – shared the award).
Black Panther is the only superhero film to win the cast award.
The whole amount, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Parasite are the only winners who have not been nominated in any other category at the SAG Awards.