Why the SAG Awards are now called the Actor Awards - and what to expect from this year's ceremony

With two weeks to go until the Academy Awards, the 32nd Actor Awards on Sunday will be the final pre-Oscars showdown for One Battle After Another and Sinners.Formerly known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG Awards), the newly renamed Actor Awards are one of the most closely watched precursors. Actors make up the largest slice of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and their choices at the Actor Awards often align.The ceremony has been renamed as of 2026 in order to more clearly illustrate the purpose of the awards.Want the official inside scoop on MAFS, unfiltered and unseen? Watch After The Dinner Party here"We wanted to provide a clearer recognition in terms of what the show is about for our domestic and global audiences," showrunner John Brockett and executive producer JoBeth Williams told The Hollywood Reporter"We honour actors in film and television. Laser-focusing the name on those two things became the clearest and most straightforward path for this new chapter of the show."To boot, the name of the statuette handed out to recipients is The Actor, so "evolving the show's name to align with the award itself made obvious sense," SAG-AFTRA said when the change was announced.IN PHOTOS: All the red carpet looks from the 2026 Actor AwardsREAD MORE: Jackie O takes another week off after on-air clash with KyleREAD MORE: 'Can't wait': Delta Goodrem's huge career milestoneThe ceremony, presented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, will be hosted by Kristen Bell.Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another comes in the heavy favorite, having won at the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs and at Saturday's Producers Guild Awards. The film comes in with a record seven nominations and is seen as the most likely winner of the night's top award, best ensemble.The four other nominees for best ensemble are: Sinners, Hamnet, Marty Supreme and Frankenstein. If Ryan Coogler's Sinners upsets One Battle After Another on Sunday night, it would add a late dose of unpredictability to Oscars.But many of the categories already feel up for grabs.Timothée Chalamet, who last year won best male actor from the actors guild for A Complete Unknown, had been seen as the favorite for his performance in Marty Supreme. But the surprise winner at the BAFTAs, Robert Aramayo, showed how hard to pin down the category is. The other nominees are: Michael B. Jordan (Sinners), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) and Jesse Plemons (Bugonia).If Chalamet wins, he'd be the first to win the award in back to back years.Jessie Buckley is the favorite in the best female actor category. The other nominees are: Chase Infiniti (One Battle After Another), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue) and Emma Stone (Bugonia).The supporting awards are especially hard to predict. The best supporting female actor nominees are: Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another), Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners), Ariana Grande (Wicked: For Good), Amy Madigan (Weapons) and Odessa A'zion (Marty Supreme). The male nominees are: Sean Penn (One Battle After Another), Benicio Del Toro (One Battle After Another), Miles Caton (Sinners), Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein) and Paul Mescal (Hamnet).Harrison Ford will receive the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award, which will be presented to him by Woody Harrelson.