In something of a surprise, the Screen Actors Guild announced Friday that the now 30-year-old SAG Awards will forever be known as – wait for it – The Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA. An unprecedented move for such an established honor.
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Intriguingly, SAG did not issue a press release or even an official statement about the name change. It was leaked to a trade outlet and revealed on social media (where the reaction was not all positive). They did post a question and answer FAQ page on their official site, however.
The reasoning behind the change was as follows: “Since the show started over 30 years ago, our iconic statuette has always been called The Actor, and simply evolving the show’s name to align with the award itself made obvious sense. We wanted to provide clearer recognition in terms of what the show is about for our domestic and global audiences – we honor actors in film and television. Laser-focusing the name on those two things became the clearest and most straightforward path for this new chapter of the show.”
So, here’s the thing. If you’re gonna go full, “The Actor Awards,” just drop the SAG-AFTRA part. It makes a generic awards show name, one that sounds like it was created for a fictional event in a movie, and sounds clumsy (even the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim was only for contractual purposes). More importantly, was this even necessary?
SAG has stated this move was in the works for some time, but making the change now is curious. The union’s streaming agreement with Netflix currently ends after the 2026 ceremony. Is this a last-ditch effort to increase viewership? Awards show ratings have been up incrementally over the past 18 months, but it’s unclear if Netflix wants to continue forward. Even as their live event programming slate increases. If there is concern over the agreement with the streamer or future ratings, it seems something of a stretch that this change would move the needle enough to impact 2026’s results.
But there are other considerations. If I’m a SAG member, wouldn’t I want to win an award tied to my union? The one I walked picked lines for? That I spent hours in the sun in the San Fernando Valley or on the streets of New York City fighting for collective bargaining rights? Was this tied to Sean Astin taking over the reins as SAG president after Fran Dersher termed out? Ponder.
What’s more peculiar is how much the SAG Award has meant to actors themselves. Most industry honors may not equate to an Oscar or an Emmy, but they often resonate more than the general public understands. In particular, actors are often effusive about how much recognition from their peers means. But maybe a few years from now, no one will care and the SAG Awards will be a relic of the past, such as the Broadcast Film Critics Awards, the infamous Hollywood Awards, the Cable Ace Awards, and – blast from the past, the American Comedy Awards.
In any event, we look forward to the DGA, WGA, and PGA rebranding to The Director Awards, The Writer Awards, and The Producer Awards next.
The 2026 Actor Awards will be handed out on March 1, 2026, and stream live on Netflix at 5 PM PT/8 PM ET.
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