How Catherine O'Hara, Ryan Coogler and More Made Actor Awards History

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Actor Awards 2026 Biggest Winners: Michael B. Jordan, 'The Pitt' & More

It was one history-making moment after another at the 2026 Actor Awards.

During the March 1 ceremony—which was hosted by Kristen Bell at Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles—Sinners dominated the film categories while The Studio and The Pitt picked up numerous TV awards.

Not only did Michael B. Jordan and the entire ensemble cast of Sinners—including Miles Caton, Wunmi Mosaku, Delory Lindo and Hailee Steinfeld—each earn awards during the evening, but the wins also marked a milestone for director Ryan Coogler.

While the Actor Awards, previously known as the SAG Awards, only honor acting and stunt work, Sinners’ wins made Ryan the first director to helm two projects that earned ensemble wins at the award show: The cast of Black Panther, which also featured Michael, previously won in 2018.

“We’re all anointed to be a part of this incredible journey created by the genius Ryan Coogler,” Delroy said while accepting the ensemble award onstage with the rest of the cast. “We brought our spirits to this endeavor, and to be recognized by you all—thank you doesn’t come anywhere near to encompassing what we feel, the gratitude."

Meanwhile, the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series became an especially poignant moment when Catherine O’Hara won posthumously for The Studio, one month after her death at the age of 71.

The honor marked the first time an actress has won a posthumous Actor, and only the third time in history one has been awarded out. (Heath Ledger and Chadwick Boseman were previously awarded for The Dark Knight and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, respectively, following their deaths.)

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Accepting on her behalf, costar Seth Rogen—who also won for his work in the Apple TV+ series—fondly remembered the ways in which the Schitt’s Creek star only ever made The Studio better.

“Pretty much every evening before she had a shooting day on our show, she would email me and Evan [Goldberg] an email that always was pretty similar,” he recalled. “It said, ‘Hello, I hope you'll consider the following,’ and then there would be a completely rewritten version of the scene she was in. And literally, 100 percent of the time, it made not just her character better, but it made the scene better and the entire show better as a whole.”

Seth also spoke to the indelible legacy and countless beloved works the actress has left behind.

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“If you have people in your lives that don't know her work,” he said, “show them O'Hara dancing to Harry Belafonte in Beetlejuice. Show them O'Hara hurting her knee in Best in Show and doing that amazing thing where she hobbles around. And tell the people, as they are laughing, that that's Catherine O'Hara, and we were lucky that we got to live in a world where she so generally shared her talents with us.”

And finally, Adolescence’s Owen Cooper continues to make history for his work in the Netflix series. Not only has the 16-year-old already become the youngest actor to take home a Golden Globe and Emmy during this award cycle, but he’s now also become the youngest person to ever win an Actor Award.

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The English actor won for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series, beating out industry veterans Jason Bateman (Black Rabbit), his costar Stephen Graham (Adolescence), Charlie Hunnam (Monster: The Ed Gein Story) and Matthew Rhys (The Beast in Me).

Since Owen wasn’t at the Actor Awards to accept the honor in person, category presenter Damson Idris joked, “Owen couldn’t be here, so I’ll be taking this home.”

With so many history-making moments at the 2026 Actor Awards, it only made sense that the many nominees and winners wanted to keep the good vibes going after the ceremony. For some of the best moments from the after-party hosted by Netflix, read on.