In a plot twist worthy of “Succession,” none of that show’s stars won the award at the 2024 SAG Awards – instead, Pedro Pascal beat them in an upset.
Pascal, 48, who was nominated for his role in HBO’s bleak apocalyptic epic, “The Last of Us,” took home the award in the category of “best male actor in a drama series” during Saturday night’s ceremony, which streamed live on Netflix.
He beat Billy Crudup, 55 (“The Morning Show), and Brian Cox, 77, Kieran Culkin, 41, and Matthew MacFadyen, 49, who were all nominated for “Succession.”
Culkin and MacFadyen both won Golden Globes and Emmys this year, making them the clear favorites to win the SAG, too.
But, in a surprising turn of events, Pascal swept the award out from under them.
And nobody seemed more shocked than Pascal himself.
During his acceptance speech, he said, “This is wrong for a number of reasons. I’m a little drunk, I thought I could get drunk!” he noted, referring to the fact that he assumed he wouldn’t be delivering a speech.
“Uh, Jeez Louise, I’m making a fool of myself!” he continued. “But thank you so much for this!”
“To the nominees, all of you, I can’t remember any of your names right now,” he said.
He thanked HBO for employing him, commenting that he used to watch it when he was younger.
“I have no skills; I have no other interests, so the least you could do is give me a job,” he noted. He finished his chaotic speech by saying, “I’m going to have a panic attack, and I’m going to leave!”
Pascal starred in “The Last of Us” as Joel, a hardened survivor in a post-apocalyptic version of America who becomes an unlikely father figure to a teen girl (Bella Ramsey).
“We wanted to find someone that the audience had a little bit of buy-in with already, who they could kind of latch onto,” showrunner Craig Mazin told The Post in January 2023.
“…And Pedro has this incredible combination of old-fashioned masculinity and tough-guy exterior, but this wounded soul and pain and vulnerability in the eyes. Normally, you send a script to an actor at that level and three months later, they’re like ‘Oh yeah, somebody else read it and said it was good. We should meet.’ For Pedro, we sent it to him, and the next morning I was on a Zoom with him. He read it and was so into it. I was like, ‘This is awesome.’”
After Pascal’s speech at the 2024 SAG Awards, while talking to “Queer Eye” host Tan France backstage – who did the pre-show and backstage interviews – Pascal said about his acceptance speech, “I don’t remember what I said, I just was very surprised.”
The two men joked that they can “YouTube it” the next day.
France asked Pascal how badly he will “rag” Kieran Culkin later, and Pascal declared, “I’m going to make out with Kieran tonight.”
Pascal and Culkin have enjoyed a friendly rivalry over the 2024 awards season. During his acceptance speech for his Golden Globe on Jan. 7, Culkin said, “Suck it, Pedro!”
A few weeks later, at the Emmys, Pascal came out onstage with his arm in a sling to present an award.
“A lot of people have been asking about my arm; it’s actually my shoulder.” His next words were censored by the broadcast, but he said, “And I think tonight is a perfect time to tell everyone that Kieran Culkin beat the s – t out of me.”
Pascal told France that their friendship dates back to when he was doing a play many years ago, and he ran into Culkin in Manhattan, who was already famous for his 2002 movie “Igby Goes Down.” Culkin complimented Pascal on his play.
“He is the greatest,” Pascal said about Culkin.
“It’s been amazing to see him in that show, to the point of which I even feel guilty about not seeing his speech tonight.”