SAG-AFTRA faces backlash over 2026 Actor Award nominations

The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is under fire after its 2026 Actor Award nominations excluded every foreign-language film and performance.

The Actor Awards, previously known as the SAG Awards, honour the year’s best film and TV performances. Nominees are selected by a committee of 2,000 randomly chosen eligible SAG-AFTRA members, with the full membership of 22,000 voting for the winners.

This year, Paul Thomas Anderson’s dark comedy One Battle After Another led the film categories, while Apple TV+’s satire The Studio dominated the TV nominations. Other major contenders included Josh Safdie’s sports drama Marty Supreme and Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller Sinners.

Critically acclaimed foreign-language films, however, were entirely shut out. Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, South Korea’s No Other Choice, Brazil’s The Secret Agent, the French-Spanish film Sirat, and Iran’s It Was Just an Accident—all previously recognised at the Golden Globes—received no Actor Award nods. Four of the five had been nominated for Best Film as well as Best Non-English Language Film at the Globes.

The exclusion sparked widespread criticism online, with netizens arguing that the union’s selections overlooked global talent and reflected bias toward English-language productions.

“So the global cinema exists memo didn’t reach the SAG voters this year, or maybe they just really love hearing English, who knows?” one quipped on X. “SAG more like American Actors Awards,” a second added.

Many social media users went on to accuse SAG-AFTRA of xenophobia. “That is called XENOPHOBIA,” a third blatantly wrote, “and it is a troubling sign for the entire world, as it reflects rejection of foreigners and their culture.”

“But what can you expect from an awards show that’s sexist and xenophobic, run by rich old white men, right,” a fourth argued while another agreed, “[Not] shocking at all. They hate foreign performances. Xenophobia.”

The 2026 Actor Awards are scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles. A host has not yet been announced.