The “Sinners” star won the Actor Award for lead actor for portraying the film’s twin ex-mob enforcers turned juke joint owners, Smoke and Stack.
“I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Jordan said as he accepted his award Sunday evening. “I’m so honored and privileged to be nominated in categories with people and actors and humans that I love.”
“I love their work and what you contribute to to our craft, and this ride has been unbelievable,” he said. “So thank you for welcoming me in and making me feel seen.”
Jordan went on to reminisce about his time as an entry-level SAG-AFTRA member, aspiring toward truly belonging to “this club that I wanted to be in so bad.”
“Those guys that were talking on stage with the awards and nice suits, talking, being in fancy places like that,” the actor said. “That’s what I always wanted and that kid from Newark, New Jersey’s standing here right now.”
The “Creed” alum went on to thank his mother for driving him to his earliest auditions and director Ryan Coogler for “giving me the opportunity to show what I can do and to be fearless and to create a safe space for us to find the truth.”
Finally, Jordan extended gratitude to his fellow actors and his fans, “who’ve seen me grow up in front of the camera and in these rooms.”
Jordan’s triumph over his fellow nominees, particularly “Marty Supreme” star Timothée Chalamet, is a positive sign as the actor looks toward the Academy Awards later this month.
“Sinners” received a record 16 nominations, many of which are sure to turn into wins at the March 15 ceremony.
When the Screen Actors Guild gathers to present its annual awards for the 32nd time on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Shrine Auditorium in L.A., the event will have a new name: the Actor Awards presented by SAG-AFTRA. The new moniker aligns with the name of the statuette that’s been presented to winners since 1995 (but a lot of folks are still referring to them as the SAG Awards). The show will stream live on Netflix, with Kristen Bell hosting for the third time, after previous gigs in 2018 and 2025.
In the film categories, just two weeks before the Academy Awards, the top contenders are “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners.” Paul Thomas Anderson’s political thriller led all films with seven nominations, including cast in a motion picture and individual recognition for actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Chase Infiniti, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn.
“One Battle’s” toughest competition will likely be Ryan Coogler’s Southern vampire horror-musical, “Sinners,” which earned five nominations. Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku and Miles Caton each earned individual nominations, as well as nods for the film’s cast and stunt ensembles.
Timothée Chalamet, nominated for male actor in a leading role for “Marty Supreme,” could be the first performer to win in consecutive years after taking home the Actor last year for his portrayal of Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown.” “Marty Supreme” has three nominations overall, including Odessa A’zion for female actor in a supporting role and performance by a cast in a motion picture.
In television, Apple TV’s “The Studio” scored the most nominations, with five, including one for performance by an ensemble in a comedy series. The show’s individual nominees are Seth Rogen, Kathryn Hahn, Ike Barinholtz and the late Catherine O’Hara.
HBO’s “The White Lotus” and Netflix’s “Adolescence” followed with four nominations each. The latter’s nominees include 16-year-old Owen Cooper, who would be the youngest performer to win an individual Actor Award. Currently, the youngest winner is Kate Winslet, who was 20 when she won for female actor in a supporting role for “Sense and Sensibility” in 1996.
Harrison Ford will be presented the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award during the telecast. Recent honorees include Jane Fonda, Barbra Streisand and Sally Field.
Follow along as we update the list live throughout the evening. Nearly everyone in attendance will go home with an actor, but who will take home an Actor statuette?
Miles Caton, “Sinners” Benicio del Toro, “One Battle After Another” Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein” Paul Mescal, “Hamnet” Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”
Kathryn Hahn, “The Studio” Catherine O’Hara, “The Studio” Jenna Ortega, “Wednesday” Jean Smart, “Hacks” Kristen Wiig, “Palm Royale”
Performance by a male actor in a comedy series
Ike Barinholtz, “The Studio” Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This” Ted Danson, “A Man on the Inside” Seth Rogen, “The Studio” Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”
Britt Lower, “Severance” Parker Posey, “The White Lotus” Keri Russell, “The Diplomat” Rhea Seehorn, “Pluribus” Aimee Lou Wood, “The White Lotus”
Performance by a male actor in a drama series
Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise” Billy Crudup, “The Morning Show” Walton Goggins, “The White Lotus” Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses” Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”
Performance by a female actor in a television movie or limited series
Claire Danes, “The Beast in Me” Erin Doherty, “Adolescence” Sarah Snook, “All Her Fault” Christine Tremarco, “Adolescence” Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”
Performance by a male actor in a television movie or limited series
Jason Bateman, “Black Rabbit” Owen Cooper, “Adolescence” Stephen Graham, “Adolescence” Charlie Hunnam, “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” Matthew Rhys, “The Beast in Me”
Action performance by a stunt ensemble in a motion picture
“Sinners,” the blockbuster film that has been a major contender during awards season, was the dominant winner at the 57th NAACP Image Awards.
The film scored trophies for outstanding motion picture and most of the acting awards, including breakthrough performance, awarded to Miles Caton. Michael B. Jordan, who won for actor in a motion picture, also won entertainer of the year.
Before the ceremony, Ryan Coogler won writing and directing honors, while Wunmi Mosaku and Delroy Lindo won the supporting actress and actor awards, respectively.
But the ceremony was not only about honoring Black excellence in entertainment. The event was also flavored by several remarks from celebrities addressing the divisive political climate and recent events that have targeted and affected Black entertainers.
Viola Davis received the chairman’s award during the 57th NAACP Image Awards on Saturday.
(Chris Pizzello / Chris Pizzello/invision/ap)
Host Deon Cole kicked off the ceremony by welcoming the audience to “the Trump Image Awards. Because you know he wants his name on everything.”
Asking permission to “buy a curse word,” he made a joke that was bleeped out during the live stream, but was apparently aimed at federal ICE agents. The comment sparked a standing ovation from the predominantly black-tie audience, many of whom wore anti-ICE pins.
“I don’t want to see no ICE ever again,” he said. “When I looked at the guest list, I took off Ice Cube, Ice-T, Ice Spice. I don’t want no ice cream, I don’t want no ice in my drink.”
Utilizing one of Jackson’s trademark slogans, Jackson said, “We will not be erased from this country’s history because I am somebody.”
And in accepting the award for actor in a drama series for “Paradise,” Sterling K. Brown added, “Like Sam said, they can’t erase us because there is no country without us.”
The event also continued to put a spotlight on the uproar surrounding the shouting of a racial slur during the BAFTA Awards last week.
Jordan and Lindo were presenters during the BAFTA Awards, which took place at London’s Royal Festival Hall. As they were introducing the visual effects category, a member of the audience shouted the N-word. The two actors paused momentarily before continuing.
Director Ryan Coogler, left, and actor Delroy Lindo presenting the award for actress in a motion picture. The pair addressed the incident at the BAFTAs in their remarks.
(Chris Pizzello / invision/AP)
Later, awards host Alan Cumming addressed the outburst, referencing the nominated film “I Swear,” which is about Scottish campaigner John Davidson, who has Tourette syndrome and shouted the racist slur from the audience. Cumming apologized, while Davidson, an executive producer for the BAFTA-nominated film, left his seat midway through the ceremony. BAFTA later issued an apology to the actors.
Cole delivered a comic prayer referencing the incident: “Lord, if there are any white men out there with Tourette’s, I advise you to tell them to read the room tonight, Lord. It might not go the way they think.”
Actor Rebecca Hall early in the awards show said she wanted to pay tribute to “two kings. Thank you for your grace.”
Lindo later in the ceremony said, “We appreciate all the support we’ve been shown in the aftermath of what happened last weekend. It is an honor to be here among our people this evening … It’s a classic case of something that could have been very negative becoming very positive.”
I’m Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times, host of The Envelope newsletter and the guy answering all of the above to this newsletter’s initial question.
Everyone loves a surprise or two on Oscar nominations morning, and this year gave us the gift of Delroy Lindo, 73, finally earning his first Oscar nomination for his standout performance as bluesman Delta Slim in “Sinners.”
Some people are still smiling about the news. Lindo certainly is.
Lindo and I talked about the lessons he has learned as an actor over the course of a career that has spanned a half-century. He recalled the self-doubts that plagued him when he first played the lead in “A Raisin in the Sun,” the story of a struggling Black family dealing with discrimination in 1950s South Chicago, and how he overcame those fears when he revisited the role three years later.
“This was an absolute period of growth for me as an actor all because I learned the most important thing: preparation, preparation, preparation,” he told me.
But even when you exercise that level of care, you still deal with doubt. Actors will be the first to tell you that they’re needy, neurotic.
To play Delta Slim, Lindo read books on the blues, listened to Son House, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf and immersed himself in the culture of the Mississippi Delta. Musicians helped him hone his harmonica and piano playing. He was ready.
But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t use a little affirmation for a final boost.
Lindo says there were two such “seminal moments” for him while making “Sinners.” The first came when they filmed the scene where Lindo stands as his car passes a chain gang. Delta Slim exhorts the prisoners to “hold your heads.”
“[Director] Ryan [Coogler] was very nervous,” Lindo says. “He didn’t want any accidents.”
Shortly after shooting the scene, the movie’s unit publicist, Anna Fuson, emailed Lindo’s agents, telling them how his work had moved her and the crew.
“That doesn’t happen,” Lindo says, his voice cracking with emotion.
Later they shot Delta Slim’s monologue, in which he recalls the lynching of a fellow musician, ending with Lindo breaking into a guttural humming and drumming, expressing pain that transcends words. That night Zinzi Coogler, Ryan’s wife and a producer on “Sinners,” wrote Lindo telling him how much that scene had meant to her.
“Those two moments gave me a grounding,” Lindo says quietly. “It let me know this work is impacting people. And you can’t put a value on that kind of thing.”
Six months and 16 Oscar nominations ago, Delroy Lindo hopped on a Zoom call with the awards consultants running the campaign for Ryan Coogler’s genre-defying American horror story, “Sinners.” Actors don’t often participate in these meetings. But Lindo had received so much love for his turn as bluesman Delta Slim since “Sinners” premiered in April, he figured, “Why not sit in?” Mostly, he just wanted to ask one simple question: How can we make the most of this moment?
“I don’t know what their answer was, but it seems to have worked,” I tell him over lunch recently.
Lindo starts rapping on the wood table separating us and doesn’t stop until I ask if he’s a man given to superstition.
“Can I tell you where I think it comes from?” he asks. “I’m acutely aware absolutely nothing is promised. There’s no such thing as a sure thing. Anything can happen. So in knocking wood, one is trying to increase one’s chances that the outcome will be what one wants.”
So you’ve been knocking on wood for the last six months?
Now I’m the one who’s laughing, which Lindo appreciates. But he has more to say on the subject.
“You have to understand something,” he continues. “When an actor does a piece of work and it really touches people and has an impact like it did with Delta Slim and ‘Sinners,’ you can’t help but think how it might be broadened. I try to maintain an emotional distance because I have no control over much of it. Awards season.” He shakes his head. “So …” Lindo pounds on the table again. “Knock … on … wood.”
You want an illustration of the unpredictable nature of the acting profession? Lindo and I wouldn’t be at this table talking and rapping and toasting the first Oscar nomination of his long career if one particular cut of “Sinners,” the version Coogler showed him at the Imax headquarters in Playa Vista more than a year ago, had gone out into the world.
Lindo, left, on the set of “Sinners” with co-star Michael B. Jordan and writer-director Ryan Coogler.
(Eli Ade / Warner Bros. Pictures)
If you’ve seen the film, you’ll no doubt remember Delta Slim delivering a monologue in the car riding to the juke joint with Stack (Michael B. Jordan) and Preacher Boy (Miles Caton) where he recalls the lynching of a fellow musician. The scene ends with Lindo breaking into a guttural humming and drumming, expressing pain that transcends words.
When Lindo saw the movie that first time, the monologue had been truncated, and the scene preceding it, where their car passes a chain gang and Delta Slim stands and exhorts the prisoners to “hold your heads,” was gone too.
After the credits finished rolling and the lights came up, Coogler asked Lindo what he thought of the film. Lindo looked at him. “Can we talk, man?” They went outside, and Lindo laid out in his steady, resonant baritone why he thought Coogler needed to reinstate the chain-gang scene, which reveals Delta Slim’s origin story — and surely, since the chain-gang scene is intertwined with the monologue in the car, that should go back into the movie too.
“What Ryan did so brilliantly is he took the time to introduce all of the main characters in their native environments so the audience gets invested in them and what they mean to the community,” Lindo says. “For Delta Slim, those scenes were the fundamental building blocks.”
“The Delta Slim monologue had a lot of ‘Is it in, is it out?’ debate,” “Sinners” film editor Michael P. Shawver says. “But I knew in my heart and soul I was never going let the movie out without that being in it.”
Coogler, it turns out, saw it that way too.
Delroy Lindo.
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
“I couldn’t imagine making a movie about the blues without giving some deeper context on what that music really signifies,” Coogler writes in an email. “It’s easy to get lost in the rhythm and the artistry of it all, but the blues was born from a lot of pain and adversity in a particular time and place. When I wrote the script, I felt like I needed a living, breathing embodiment of that, and Delroy nailed it.”
“We could have filmed that monologue a thousand different times and it would have taken on new life with each take,” Coogler continues. “The gut-punch way he ends it, going from telling the story of a lynching to drumming along and humming … it’s macabre, sorrowful and beautiful all at the same time. It shows you exactly why Delroy’s such a masterful actor. If you ever needed to give someone the world’s fastest lesson in what the blues is about, he gives it to you right there.”
“God bless him,” Lindo says.
“Working for the camera, we’re at the mercy of the editing process,” Lindo notes. He speaks slowly, deliberately, always choosing his words carefully because language is important to him. It’s his currency.
How does he feel about that loss of control?
“It’s scary,” Lindo says. “One had better make one’s peace with that very quickly. If you don’t, you will get your feelings hurt. It’ll be a problem.”
Asked to pinpoint when he came to terms with that, Lindo remembers “Clockers,” the 1995 Spike Lee crime drama in which he played the intimidating drug kingpin Rodney Little. It was his third collaboration with Lee, following “Malcolm X” and “Crooklyn,” and the two enjoyed a mutual respect and rapport. But Lee still cut three of Lindo’s scenes, which Lindo understood — “kind of, sort of.” Lee was looking at the larger story. Those scenes weren’t essential.
“Making one’s peace with it is not the same as accepting it and being happy with it,” Lindo says, raising an index finger, a gesture he often makes when telling you something he considers important. “It’s just the way it is. It’s a fact of life.”
When talking about his career, Lindo, 73, tells me more than once that “it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish.”
The first time he tells me this we are talking about one of his early lead acting turns, starring in the 1983 Yale Repertory Theatre production of “A Raisin in the Sun,” the story of a struggling Black family dealing with discrimination in 1950s South Chicago. Lindo played the frustrated patriarch, Walter Lee, and won some strong reviews. But he felt like he was the “weak link” in the production. In a GQ profile, it was written that Lindo, born in London, couldn’t convince himself that the African American experience was his to interpret.
“Nope,” Lindo says. “I did not say that.” Again, the index finger. “You’re giving me the opportunity to set the record straight.” He pauses and closes his eyes. “Doing that play, I had an inner monologue playing in my head that cast doubt on my ability to play the part successfully. And it continued and it grew. It became a tape and then an album and then a series of albums. It eroded my confidence.”
“You know what it was?” he continues. “It was a self-esteem issue. It was an issue of me saying to myself, ‘You’re not good enough. You want to do one of the great parts in the theater? No. You don’t have it.’ Now, what’s the root of all that?” Lindo laughs, clasps his hands together and raises them. “The roots of that are food for myself and a therapist.”
But there is a happy ending to the story. Lindo was cast once more as Walter Lee, for a production of “A Raisin in the Sun” mounted at the Kennedy Center in 1986. Lloyd Richards again was directing, indicating to Lindo that maybe he wasn’t as bad as he thought he had been. Richards did tell Lindo that he needed to jettison some of the neurotic choices he was making as an actor.
“Those are the words he used, ‘neurotic choices,’” Lindo says, shaking his head. He pauses. “Man, I’m giving you a lot here. But it’s OK. You know why it’s OK?”
Because you’re enjoying our conversation? I venture.
Delroy Lindo.
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
“No,” Lindo says. “I’m not particularly enjoying telling you about my failures. But this was an absolute period of growth for me as an actor all because I learned the most important thing: preparation, preparation, preparation.”
For his reprise of “A Raisin in the Sun,” Lindo called musical multihyphenate Oscar Brown Jr. and asked if he could fly to Chicago and pick his brain about life on the city’s South Side in the 1950s. Lindo walked the streets where “Raisin” playwright Lorraine Hansberry lived, steeping himself in what it meant to exist in that place and time. After that, the tape was no longer playing in his head, even when co-star Esther Rolle’s face fell after she realized that Lindo had been cast as Walter Lee. She thought she’d be headlining with Glynn Turman, but Turman had dropped out.
“Eight days, maybe nine into rehearsals, Esther turned to me — and this is when I knew it was going to be all right — and she said, ‘You’re a nice actor,’” Lindo remembers, smiling.
Preparation, preparation, preparation. For Delta Slim, Lindo read books on the blues, listened to Son House, Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf and immersed himself in the culture of the Mississippi Delta. When it came time to shoot that monologue in the car, he was ready. On the next-to-last take, Lindo improvised, letting music take the place of words. Jordan went with it, turning to Caton in character, saying, “You got that guitar in your hand, don’t you, boy?” Caton begins playing.
“Man, we were all in the work,” Lindo says.
Where did that improvisation come from? I ask.
“It’s the musical manifestation of the pain I’m feeling,” Lindo says. “It’s the only thing I know how to do in that moment.”
It’s the blues.
“It’s the blues, man,” Lindo says. “I’ve heard it said numerous times: That’s where the blues comes from. And as an actor who participated in that moment, communicating that is extraordinary and profoundly gratifying.”
To say the mood at Ryan Coogler’s production company Proximity Media has been euphoric would be an understatement.
You too would be more than euphoric if your film landed in the year’s box office top 10 and set the all-time record for most Oscar nominations.
But “Sinners” wasn’t built in a day. It’s been a slow and steady ascent — call it, well, one success after another — since Coogler founded the company in 2018 with his wife Zinzi (they married in 2016) and USC film school buddy Sev Ohanian. And the director is unstinting in his praise for his partners.
“Zinzi is meticulous and detail-oriented and the one that keeps it all together,” Coogler wrote in an email to The Envelope. “She is humble and observant but is the smartest person I know and knows me extremely well. Sev is exceptional at strategy, and the most experienced producer of the three of us, which is invaluable. … Together, they act as a bridge between the creative and the business, which allows me to stay focused on the film.”
The three have been working together since Coogler’s 2013 feature debut, “Fruitvale Station,” based on the true story of Oscar Grant, a young Black man shot to death by a transit police officer in an Oakland BART station.
Bringing audiences in close proximity to stories and subject matter often overlooked forged the name of the company, which now includes feature film, television, nonfiction, music and podcasting departments.
Past film projects include the Oscar-winning “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Space Jam” and “Creed III.”
“They are on a fast rocket with an upward trajectory for almost any project they bring to the marketplace,” said Andrew Goldman, adjunct professor of film and television at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. ”Every company in town will want a Proximity/Ryan Coogler project. They have cracked a formula of both critical acclaim and box-office successes.”
A recent installment of the podcast “In Proximity” featured Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler getting in the weeds about the production of “Sinners,” including how Jordan distinctly portrayed twins Smoke and Stack.
Moving forward, it looks like Proximity’s sights are set on stories based on another duo: “The X-Files’” Mulder and Scully, the iconic opposites-attract FBI agents who forged a deep personal partnership while investigating strange and paranormal cases over 11 seasons on Fox, beginning in 1993 and stretching until 2018.
Warmly displaying their camaraderie and creative interdependence, Zinzi Coogler and Ohanian spilled more about their company over Zoom, including their early days, people who inspired them and how they’re adapting to the shifting media landscape.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Michael B. Jordan, left, and Miles Caton in “Sinners.”
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
What is the origin story of how Proximity Media formed?
Ohanian: It officially became a company on April 6, 2018, over lunch in San Francisco, but the roots go back to 2008 at USC film school, where I first met Ryan Coogler. We became friends working on student films and reconnected when Ryan and Zinzi were finishing “Black Panther.” Around that time, I had just produced “Searching,” and we started talking seriously about forming a company together.
Zinzi, what made you want to partner with Sev and Ryan formally?
Coogler: After years of working with Ryan unofficially, especially on “Fruitvale Station,” we knew we wanted to make it official. Sev had always impressed me with his creativity and relentless work ethic. When Ryan and I discussed founding a company, Sev was the only person we wanted to approach. Luckily, he said yes — and that’s how Proximity really began.
Did you ever imagine Proximity would grow as it has?
Ohanian: Honestly, no. Back when we were making “Fruitvale Station,” we were just trying to get the movie finished. But looking back, it feels inevitable because we’ve put in years of steady work and built strong relationships in the industry.
Coogler: We couldn’t have foreseen this success. But the foundation of our collaboration — our shared belief in storytelling and craftsmanship — has never changed since those early days.
What projects are you most excited about now?
Ohanian: Last year was a landmark one. We released “Sinners,” had streaming hits like “Ironheart” and “Eyes of Wakanda,” and launched Season 3 of our “In Proximity” podcast. We also have several documentaries and new TV shows in development, plus a long-rumored “X-Files” project that’s close to launching.
Tell us about the atmosphere within the company.
Coogler: There’s a lot of laughter between the three of us — Ryan, Sev, and me. In our early days, someone once asked, “Can I get the real name of your company?” We cracked up at that and recorded the moment. It keeps us humble and reminds us how far we’ve come.
How did you approach producing “Sinners?”
Coogler: It was our first time being sole producers on something Ryan wrote and directed. We saw it as a big moment for Proximity — a chance to support Ryan’s creative vision from start to finish.
Do you have defined roles within Proximity?
Ohanian: Roles shift depending on the project. We each bring different strengths — Ryan as director, me from the indie film side, and Zinzi with her broad experience and steady leadership. We’ve built a team of about 20 people who’ve grown with us, including some who started as assistants and are now producers.
Did other production companies serve as an inspiration?
Coogler: We’ve leaned on amazing mentors — Jim Morris at Pixar, Kevin Feige and Lou D’Esposito at Marvel, and Charles King at Macro. Their guidance shaped how we lead and structure our company.
Looking ahead, how is Proximity adapting to the changing media landscape?
Ohanian: Change has been constant since day one — recessions, strikes, streaming shifts. We stay adaptable through yearly retreats, often at Pixar, to reassess our strategy and think creatively about the future.
How do relationships like the one with Michael B. Jordan influence your work?
Coogler: Michael’s family to us. We’ve been through so much together — from “Fruitvale Station” to “Creed III” and “Sinners.” That trust and history make the work special every single time.
