2025 SAG Awards producers on celebrating L.A. and booking more ‘really exciting’ cast reunions
The Screen Actors Guild Awards have always been about actors celebrating their peers, but Sunday’s 31st annual ceremony will be a twofold celebration of something else as well: Los Angeles.
“One is kind of a love letter to L.A., post-fires,” executive producer Jon Brockett tells Gold Derby. “And then the other part of it is, how does that work within our room, the DNA of the show? And that is, to us, where do actors come to live out their dreams? And that has traditionally long been Los Angeles.”
More from GoldDerby
For the second year in a row, Brockett is producing the show with Silent House Productions’ Mark Bracco and Linda Gierahn for Netflix. The team “regrouped and shifted” a bit after last month’s devastating wildfires. A two-decade-long resident of L.A., Brockett says he realized after the fires “how much I truly love the city, its determination, its resilience, its creative community.” Celebrating L.A. naturally dovetailed with what the team was already leaning toward in terms of highlighting actors’ early roles during the show. The SAG Awards, of course, have always kicked off with the “I am an actor” segment, in which select performers share their acting journeys. On Sunday’s show, there will be several packages and pre-tapes that will “revolve around that kind of nostalgia,” Brockett shares.
“I would always love in people’s speeches when they would often reference, you know, the Burger King commercial where they got their SAG card,” Bracco says. “To be able to lean into that and really celebrate where actors started, and for so many of them, it’s here in L.A. and how the city really helped them make their dreams come true — I think that’s from the nostalgia perspective. It offered a clear theme for us of something that will play out throughout the show of really celebrating how this city really helped so many people make their dreams come true.”
SEE Everything to know about the 2025 SAG Awards
After a tenure on TNT and TBS, the SAG Awards were live-streamed on Netflix’s YouTube page in 2023 before streaming on Netflix for the first time last year. Free of time constraints and commercials, the last two editions featured longer speeches, something producers encourage to continue. “Part of our mandate is we just do not play off a winner speech. We very much think our audience very much wants to hear what our winners have to say,” Brockett says, noting James Hong‘s emotional speech two years ago while accepting Everything Everywhere All at Once‘s ensemble award. “[His speech] was maybe 10 minutes long. I’ve watched it on a loop. It’s riveting. It’s so funny and so sweet. And those are the moments that I think in other shows you might miss because they play them off, but you get this wonderful, sincere, really long deserved moment, especially in that case, for him, for how long his career has been, and we were so thrilled that he was able to kind of have his moment there.”
The SAG Awards have historically not had a host, but that won’t be the case this year. Kristen Bell, who was the show’s first host in 2018, will preside over the proceedings again. She’s also nominated for Best TV Comedy Actress for Netflix’s Nobody Wants This. “We could not be more excited about Kristen Bell hosting the show. We’ve got some really fun things planned for her throughout the show,” Bracco says. “I think we were all such big fans of Nobody Wants This. And just she’s so great in the show, and it’s such a great show. And so we’re just so fortunate that that she said yes.”
Having a host changes the structure, so it was never a question to keep certain staples — “I am an actor,” the nominated ensemble casts presenting a clip — to anchor the show. “For years and years, I always looked forward to [‘I am an actor’],” Gierahn says. “So I’m excited to hear [it] again. I think that’s just a staple that everybody looks forward to.”
“It’s that warm feeling of, ‘I know that’s how the show is going to start.’ And I love those stories. So there are certain things that, to me, always should be a part of the show,” Bracco adds. “And then how can you evolve the show in in other ways? I think that working with Netflix and not necessarily having certain time constraints gives us that opportunity to really embrace some other creative ideas, whether it’s things for Kristen Bell to do or other themes in the show. And I think it is great to have a little more freedom there and the trust from Netflix to really put together what we hope will be an entertaining show.”
One of the highlights of last year’s ceremony were the cast reunions. Cast members of The Devil Wears Prada, Modern Family, and Breaking Bad reunited. The Lord of the Rings stars Elijah Wood and Sean Astin presented together, as did The Fly stars (and former spouses) Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. And yes, there will be more this year. “The few reunions that we have are, I think, are going to be really exciting,” Brockett teases.
“When [the talent team] text us or calls and say, ‘Hey, guess what? We got that. We got it,’ you’re just so excited,” Bracco adds of the reunions. “I give them all the credit when we go to them and say, ‘Hey, what about these people?’ And somehow they’ll make it happen.”
SEE Kristen Bell is your 2025 SAG Awards host
All three are looking forward to the Life Achievement Award, which will go to Jane Fonda. “It’s just been so fun, seeing the old clips of her and different films and shows,” Gierahn says. “It just gets you more excited and just to see her career, and it’s still going. That’s what’s so amazing.”
Brockett believes the two-time Oscar winner “really embodies the spirit” of the award, especially from a SAG-AFTRA perspective. “She really embodies, I think, a sort of true actor and somebody who is also an environmentalist an activist,” he says. “When we watch the package, it’s incredible. The breadth of work between heavy drama, light bawdy comedy. Her range is unbelievable, and it’s amazing to see that. And honestly, the thing that I’m probably looking forward to most is her speech because it’s going to be great.”
And when you’re not racing against the clock, you can make the Jane Fonda career montage as long as you want. “It could be, like, 15 minutes long,” Bracco jokes. “It won’t be because there’s so much.”
The 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards airs live Sunday at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on Netflix.
Best of GoldDerby
Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Solve the daily Crossword
