Kristen Bell Jokes About Name Confusion for Rebranded Actor Awards
Kristen Bell has humorously confessed to struggling with the recent rebranding of the awards show she is set to host this weekend. The star of Nobody Wants This, who first hosted the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards in 2018 and returned last year, will once again take the helm. However, the ceremony has now been renamed the Actor Awards, a change that Bell admits has led to frequent slip-ups.
Adjusting to the New Name
In an interview with USA Today, Bell, 45, quipped, "Renaming it is a big thing to apply to the old processor. There's been a lot of slip-ups. But we politely correct each other when I say the SAG Awards. Nope, it's now called the Actor Awards." She emphasized that the decision to change the name was "not my department, and above my pay grade," but expressed hope that the new title would highlight the ceremony's unique focus on actors having their say on peer performances in film and television.
Bell added, "That's what this show is about, that’s what makes it unique. Some branding genius was like, 'Why not call it the Actor Awards?' And they called me, told me it's called the Actor Awards, and I said, ‘Let's roll!’"
Leading Nominations and Notable Snubs
The Actor Awards nominations are led by One Battle After Another with seven nods, including for best ensemble. Other top contenders include Sinners, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, and Frankenstein. However, the film categories also featured some surprising omissions:
- Ariana Grande received a nomination for her supporting role in Wicked: For Good, but Cynthia Erivo was overlooked for her lead performance as Elphaba Thropp.
- Dwayne Johnson was not recognized for The Smashing Machine, and neither George Clooney nor Adam Sandler landed nominations for their work in Jay Kelly.
- No performances in foreign films were nominated, meaning Norwegian drama Sentimental Value and Brazilian thriller The Secret Agent were excluded, despite Wagner Moura winning best actor at Cannes for the latter and being tipped for Oscar success.
Television Categories and Special Honors
In the TV categories, Hollywood comedy The Studio scored the most nominations with five, while Netflix's Adolescence and Mike White's The White Lotus each earned four. Catherine O'Hara is posthumously nominated for her performance in The Studio. Additionally, Harrison Ford is set to receive the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award during the ceremony.
Broadcast Details
The Actor Awards will be streamed live on Netflix from the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall in Los Angeles on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT. This marks another year of the event being available to a global audience through the streaming platform, continuing its tradition of celebrating outstanding performances in the entertainment industry.
