Don’t say we didn’t warn you: “Parasite” won film ensemble at Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, becoming the first foreign language film to nab the honor.
The South Korean film was only the second foreign language film to be nominated in the category after 1998’s “Life Is Beautiful.” The cast — Cho Yeo Jeong, Choi Woo Shik, Chang Hyae Jin, Jung Hyeon Jun, Jung Ziso, Lee Jung Eun, Lee Sun Kyun, Park Myung Hoon, Park So Dam and Song Kang Ho — also joins those of “The Full Monty” (1997), “The Lord of the Rings: The Return on the King” (2003) and last year’s “Black Panther” (2018) as the only ones to take the top prize without any other acting nominations for their respective films. (“Black Panther” also won stunt ensemble last year.)
SEE 2020 SAG Awards: Full list of winners
The big win was foreshadowed early in Sunday’s show when some of the cast members came out on stage to present a clip, receiving a standing ovation from their fellow thespians. The all-Korean cast of “Parasite” is the second Asian cast after “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008) and the first East Asian cast to score the award.
The film was in second in our odds, which was topped by “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.” “The Irishman,” “Bombshell” and “Jojo Rabbit” were the other nominees.
SEE 6 reasons why ‘Parasite’ can absolutely win ensemble at the SAG Awards
Since this is a cast award, the category does not have fantastic correlation with the Best Picture Oscar; only 11 of the 24 ensemble winners have gone on to win the Oscar, but none in the last three years, and the last two Best Picture champs, “The Shape of Water” (2017) and “Green Book” (2018) were snubbed in SAG ensemble. But after “1917’s” Producers Guild of America Award win on Saturday — “1917” was snubbed completely by SAG — this is a huge coup for “Parasite,” a crowd-pleasing underdog that is hard for anyone who sees it not to love, and that could go a long way on a preferential ballot.
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