The Most Viral Moments From the SAG Awards 2026: From Michael J. Fox's Surprise Appearance to Kristen Bell's Risqué Red Carpet Look

SAG-AFTRA's biggest night overflowed with surprise victories and memorable twists.

Under a new moniker, Actor Awards, the ceremony kicked off this year's iteration with head-turning red carpet moments at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles on March 1. One of the night's brightest standouts was Kristen Bell, who went braless in a plunging Georges Hobeika Couture dress, intricately embellished with sparkling crystal motifs and delicate appliqués.

The Nobody Wants This star's ensemble featured a metallic train with sharp pleats that harmonized with her thick diamond necklace and earrings.

The 2026 Actor Award's annual "I Am an Actor Segment" was graced by several stars, including Kate Hudson and Teyana Taylor.

The crowd erupted in cheers when the camera panned to Michael J. Fox, who attended the ceremony amid his Parkinson's battle.

The Back to the Future actor said, "When I left school, I moved from Canada to LA to try to make it as an actor. A teacher of mine told me, 'Fox, you're not going to be cute forever.' I didn't know what to say to that, so I said, 'Maybe just long enough, sir.'"

While sharing his journey in the industry, Fox also gushed about his wife and their family.

"After three years of dumpster diving in LA, I ended up on Family Ties, where I received the greatest gift of my career. I met my wife, the actor Tracy Pollan, who played Ellen, my girlfriend, and she gave me four gifts: our kids Schuyler, Aquinnah, Esmé and Sam. Sometimes I like to remind them, if it weren't for acting, they wouldn't be here."

The Teen Wolf actor, who attended the event with his film producer son, quipped, "By the way, he's not an actor, he's just my date. I'm Michael J. Fox. I'm a dad, and I'm an actor."

Like the previous ceremony, Bell serenaded the Actor Awards' attendees during a hilarious musical number about the nominees' stage names.

She began, "As you know, this year, the show got a little bit of a facelift. Like many people in this room can understand, we nipped the 'sag,' and now it's just the Actor Awards. But thinking about it got me thinking about rebranding, because at one time or another, everyone has thought about."

"A stage name up on the marquees that rolls off the tongue with melodious ease," the Frozen voice actress sang. "A stage name to bring you acclaim, to double your luck and to triple your fame / A stage name that says who you are, that tells the whole world, baby, I'm a star… / But here's the thing, I feel like the people in this room could be doing so much more with their stage names."

A few of her recommendations were TeyTay for Taylor, Jacordy O'Lordy for Jacob Elordi, Teddy Dandaughter for Ted Danson, Indoctrinate Me for Noah Wyle and Jessie Plimes for Jesse Plemons.

"Choose carefully what name goes on your SAG-AFTRA card," she belted out as a list of other alternative stage names rolled on the screen behind her. "It's the name that millions of people might step on on Hollywood Boulevard."

Following her death on January 30, Catherine O'Hara posthumously won the award for the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for her performance in The Studio.

While the crowd gave the late actress a standing ovation, her The Studio costar Seth Rogen walked onstage to receive the award on her behalf.

"I was asked to assume the very sad honor of accepting this award on O'Hara's behalf. I know she would have been honored to receive this award from her fellow performers, who I know she respected so much — she was such big fans of all of yours," Rogen said. "I obviously you know, have been reflecting on the time I was fortunate enough to spend with her, working with her, and something that I've just been marveling at over the last few weeks was really her ability to be generous and kind and gracious, while never ever minimizing her own talents and her own ability to contribute to the work that we were doing."

He added, "She knew she could destroy, and she wanted to destroy every day on set. And I haven't said this to the other actors, because I didn't want them to get ideas, but pretty much, every evening before she had a shooting day on our show, she would email me and Evan [Goldberg], an email that always was pretty similar, and said, 'Hello, I hope you'll consider the following.' And then there would be a completely rewritten version of the scene she was in."

"And literally, 100 percent of the time, it made not just her character better, but it made the scene better and the entire show better as a whole. And she really showed that you can be a genius and be kind, and one of those things does not have to come at the expense of the other in any way, shape or form," Rogen continued.

The Actor Awards doubled as a reunion for The Office female cast members Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Mindy Kaling and Ellie Kemper. They presented the Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series to The Studio at the ceremony.

Upon receiving the SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award, Harrison Ford moved the crowd to tears with his emotional acceptance speech.

"I feel incredibly grateful for this kind attention. But to be clear, I also am quite humbled," he said before joking, "That said, it is a little weird to be receiving a lifetime achievement award at the half point of my career. It's a little weird isn't it? I'm still a working actor!"

The legendary actor told the crowd he was "not an overnight success" before giving a shoutout to the two directors who helped him land his biggest breaks: George Lucas and Steven Spielberg.

"This is a tough business to get into. In my case, it's a tough business to get out of, thank God, because I love what I do," he said.

Ford continued his profoundly moving message, "The stories we tell have a unique capacity to create moments with emotional connection. They bring us together. So while we're all at different stages of our lives and careers in this room, we all share something fundamental: We share the privilege of working in the world of ideas, of empathy, of imagination."

"I'm indeed a lucky guy. Lucky to have found my people. Lucky to have work that challenges me. Lucky to still be doing it. And I don't take that for granted," he added. "I want to say thank you, truly, from the bottom of my heart, to my peers, [and] to my extraordinary, beautiful wife Calista Flockhart and my family who have given me love and courage through all of it."

The Indiana Jones actor concluded his remarks with a subtle quip, "Thank you to SAG-AFTRA for honoring me with this prize. This is very encouraging."

Sarah Paulson introduced the SAG Awards/Actor Awards' In Memoriam Segment during the 2026 ceremony.

"It is a tremendous privilege to work and to share such rich times with so many people," she said. "This year we have lost some true giants, our teachers, our coworkers, our inspirations and our friends… We must remember how lucky we are to have been changed by them."

The award-giving body honored late stars in the video tribute, including O'Hara, James Van Der Beek, Eric Dane, Robert Duvall, Gene Hackman, Val Kilmer, Michelle Trachtenberg, Loni Anderson and Diane Keaton, to name a few.

Jessie Buckley brought home the award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for her role in Hamnet, and the recognition prompted her to express her gratitude for her costar Emily Watson.

"I would like to say a special thank you to my incredible friend and date tonight, Emily Watson. Breaking the Waves made me whisper to myself, 'That's what I want to do,' and to share those scenes with you in Hamnet, I will cherish that for the rest of my life," she said. "Your wild imagination, your brave, untethered womanhood, your ferocious gentleness is a guiding light to me. And the best advice you always give to me is to go back to the well of just being human. Ground zero, babe. You are the realest of the real."

She added in her acceptance speech, "I love and cherish being part of this community. I hope that I can continue to offer something meaningful back."

Sinners actor Michael B. Jordan scored his first solo acting win at the Actor Awards/SAG Awards when he was announced as the winner of the Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role award.

"I don't even know where to begin," he admitted. "I wasn't expecting this at all, and I just want to quickly say that I'm so honored and privileged to be nominated in categories with people and actors and humans that I love, and I love their work and what you contribute to our craft, and this ride has been unbelievable."

While sharing he feels "seen" in SAG-AFTRA, Jordan also honored his mother who made sacrifices to support him in his journey.

"That kid from Newark, New Jersey, is standing here right now. Mom, thank you for driving me back and forth to New York when we didn't have enough money to go through the Holland Tunnel. We were looking for gas money, parking spaces," he said.

Jordan shared, "Just being in this room right now with all these people who saw me grow up in front of the camera and in these rooms, and I feel the love and support that you've always given me and encouraged me to go on and do my best. So I just want to say thank you."