‘We Had a Blessed Time’

The cast of Conclave took home the biggest award of the night at the 2025 SAG Awards.

On Sunday, Feb. 23, the drama won the award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture.

Ralph Fiennes, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto and Isabella Rossellini were the cast members who took the stage at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles to accept the win. Fiennes, 62, accepted the award, joking that he was not “elected” to speak but was “designated to” on behalf of “our conclave, our ensemble.”

He began by thanking producer Tessa Ross and director Edward Berger, as well as the Italian film crew they worked with.

“We had a blessed time with Edward, whose intelligence and perception and insight and care of us has I think brought us the gift of our community of ensemble,” Fiennes said.

He concluded, “We’ve talked a lot and people have spoken so eloquently and movingly about community, I don’t want to add more, but I think we do recognize the supreme importance of it in our work and in the world. We [have] huge admiration to the other ensembles we’ve seen tonight — I think that’s what we’re celebrating is our community.”

Conclave, which also stars Stanley Tucci, Lucian Msamati and more, is now streaming on Peacock. It is adapted from Robert Harris’ hit novel, the papal drama imagines a series of twists in the modern-day Vatican City.  Directed by Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front), the film has been highly praised amid awards season, landing multiple nominations at the BAFTAs, Golden Globes and Academy Awards. 

The category’s other nominees were A Complete Unknown, Anora, Emilia Pérez and Wicked.

A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold, covers iconic folk-rocker Bob Dylan’s revolutionary changes to the music in the 1960s. Timothée Chalamet, who portrays Dylan, as well as costars Edward Norton, who plays Pete Seeger, and Monica Barbaro, who plays Joan Baez, all received SAG nominations for their roles.

Anora follows a brash sex worker played by Mikey Madison who elopes with Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the irresponsible son of a wealthy and powerful Russian oligarch. Directed by Sean Baker, the film has snagged several surprise wins, including best picture at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards and Madison winning best actress at the 2025 BAFTAs.

The musical Emilia Pérez, which stars Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón and Selena Gomez, follows a Mexican cartel leader (Gascón) who hires a lawyer (Saldaña) to help transition into living as a woman named Emilia Pérez.

Wicked features a star-studded cast that includes Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum. Erivo, Grande and Bailey all received SAG nominations for their roles as Elphaba, Galinda/Glinda and Fiyero in the film.

The film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical is based on the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire. Directed by Jon M. Chu, the film has picked up nominations at the BAFTAs, Critics Choice Awards and will soon head to the Academy Awards where it is nominated in 10 categories.