The Screen Actors Guild Awards, the awards show for actors, is getting a new name.
The awards show, known colloquially as the SAG Awards, will now be known as the Actor Awards, presented by Sag-Aftra, the union representing American film, television and radio actors.
“From the very beginning, our statue has been called 'The Actor' and we are a show all about actors, so this new name is the perfect next step in the evolution of the show,” the show's executive producer said Friday.
The rebranding comes ahead of the 32nd Star Ceremony, which is set for March 1, 2026.
The awards executive producer John Brockett told the BBC that the name change, announced at a board meeting on Friday, gives viewers in more than 190 countries “an immediate understanding of who we are and what we do” – a show about actors celebrating actors.
“Now that our global audience is really growing, people don't always understand what the union is called,” added awards committee chair JoBeth Williams.
“But they recognize the Actor Awards and know they will see their favorite actors when they tune in,” Ms. Williams said.
The Actor Award also gives its winners an edge in the run-up to the Academy Awards. bringing the Oscars race closer in the spotlight every year.
The Oscars, like the Emmys, Grammys and Golden Globes, are better known by nicknames derived from their respective trophies rather than 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 have approximately 160,000 members. The new name for the exhibition now allows the organization to fully recognize the merger and align it with the name of the statuette, the union said.
The name change comes just weeks after Sag-Aftra chose Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin as its new leader.
Astin will succeed “The Nanny” star Fran Drescher, who led the organization through the 2023 Hollywood strikes during her four-year tenure.
