Although the full cast of Succession took home Best Ensemble in a Drama Series at the SAG Awards on Saturday, one of the bigger surprises of the night was Kieran Culkin and Sarah Snook not winning for their roles individually. The pair had been sweeping the Golden Globes, Critics Choice, and Emmys this season. Sarah Snook lost to Elizabeth Debicki for her Princess Diana portrayal in The Crown. The fact that Pedro Pascal scored an upset win for his part in The Last of Us, I think comes down to just how much love and goodwill people feel for Pedro. Especially his fellow actors. Still, Pedro felt so certain he would lose that he thought he could go ahead and get drunk early with no consequences. The result was a show-stealing acceptance speech:

Pedro Pascal won the SAG Award for male actor in a drama series thanks to his role on HBO’s “The Last of Us,” but he wasn’t exactly sober when he took the stage to give his acceptance speech. The actor admitted he thought he could get drunk, likely because he didn’t think he would win the SAG Award after “Succession’s” Kieran Culkin won the same category at the Golden Globes and Emmy Awards earlier this year.

“This is wrong for so many reasons,” Pascal told the audience. “I’m a little drunk. I thought I could get drunk. I’m making a fool of myself but thank you so much for this! I’ve been in the union since 1999 so this is an incredible f–king honor. To the nominees, all of you, I can’t remember any of your names right now.”

Pascal started to fight back tears as he thanked his family, only to immediately bring his drunken acceptance speech to an end by saying: “I’m going to have a panic attack and I’m going to leave.”

This year’s other SAG Award nominees for male actor in a drama series were Culkin, Brian Cox (“Succession”), Billy Crudup (“The Morning Show”) and Matthew Macfadyen (“Succession”).

Whether he’s won or not, Pascal has been creating one viral awards show moment after the next this season. He memorably joked at the 2023 Emmy Awards that a recent shoulder injury was because “Kieran Culkan beat the sh-t out of me.” Pascal attended the event in an arm sling.

Culkin started a fake feud with Pascal at the Golden Globes when he won the prize for best actor in a TV drama and said during his acceptance speech: “I was nominated for a Golden Globe like 20 years ago, and when that moment passed, I still remember thinking, I’m never going to be back in this room again. But thanks to ‘Succession,’ I’ve been in here a couple times. Suck it, Pedro!”

Pascal said backstage after his SAG Award win that he was going to “make out” with Culkin as his revenge. “He is the greatest,” Pascal added. The actor also said he did not remember what he said during his acceptance speech.

[From Variety]

Kieran may have started the “fake feud” angle at the Globes, but he and Pedro have been engaging in public displays of admiration since at least May of last year. That’s how long they’ve been working the best actor in a drama campaign circuit. In that time we’ve seen Kieran ask Pedro to be his Daddy, Pedro blame his arm injury on Kieran “beating the sh-t” out of him, and this weekend’s culmination of Pedro declaring he’d like to make out with Kieran. The boys are in love, basically. And they’ve been generous enough to share the romance with us. All that to say, I don’t think Kieran is upset in the least at losing (just one!) award to Pedro. Pedro can do no wrong. Whether he outs his line-learning method as being potentially on the serial killer spectrum (unabomber, zodiac killer; po-tay-to, po-tah-to), or shows up to the SAGs swimming in a half-buttoned Prada dress shirt, he’s always winning. To everyone who put him up on that stage on Saturday: thanks for casting a vote for Pedro.

Photos credit: Christopher Polk/Stewart Cook/Matt Sayles/David Fisher/George Pimentel/Shutterstock for SAG via Netflix press