Screen Actors Guild Awards changes name from SAG to The Actor Awards
Screen Actors Guild Awards, the important award ceremony where actors are honored, has a new name.
The awards ceremony, popularly known as the SAG Awards, will now be called the Actor Awards, presented by Sag-Aftra, the labor union representing U.S. film, television and radio actors.
“Since the beginning, our statue has been named ‘Actor,’ and we’re a show that’s all about the actors, so this new name is the perfect next step in the show’s evolution,” the show’s executive producer said in a statement Friday.
The rebrand comes ahead of the 32nd anniversary of the star-studded ceremony, which is scheduled for March 1, 2026.
The awards show’s executive producer, Jon Brockett, told the BBC that the name change, announced at a board meeting on Friday, had given viewers in more than 190 countries “an instant understanding of who we are and what we’re about” as a show about actors honoring actors.
“Now that our global audience has really grown, people don’t always understand what the name of the union is,” added JoBeth Williams, chair of the awards committee.
“But they know the ‘Actors Awards’ and they know they’re going to see their favorite actors,” Ms. Williams said.
The actor award also provides a boon for winners in the run-up to the Academy Awards. Brings the Oscar race It becomes a focal point every year.
The Oscars, like the Emmys, Grammys and Golden Globes, are better known by the monikers they take from the awards they receive, rather than by the organizations and professional academies that support them.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (Aftra) merged in 2012 and represent approximately 160,000 members. The union said the show’s new name now allows the organization to fully recognize this merger and align it with the statuette’s name.
The name change comes weeks after Sag-Aftra named Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin as its new leader.
Astin will replace Nanny star Fran Drescher, who led the organization through the 2023 Hollywood strikes during her four-year tenure.
