For the first time ever, the Screen Actors Guild Awards will have a host, and the host will be one of America’s favorite talented and “All American” actress Kristen Bell. Unlike other major Hollywood awards shows, the SAG has never featured a host or hostess. This year, the Screen Actors Guild opted to have a non-controversial host in the hopes of creating an atmosphere of equality and respect among the talents of Hollywood.
On December 4, the SAG announced its first ever host will be Kristen Bell. The 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards will be presented on January 21, 2018. The show will air live on TNT and TBS. Here is what we know:
History of the SAG Awards
The Screen Actors Guild presented their first awards in 1995 for film and television of 1994. The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) created the award presentations to honor outstanding film and prime time television. Since its 1995 inception, the SAG awards have been one of Hollywood’s major awards presentations leading up to the Academy Awards and are considered as one of the most important indicators of which films, directors, producers, etc. will win an Oscar or an Emmy. The nominators consist of 2,100 randomly selected Guild members from film and 2,100 randomly selected Guild members from television chosen each year to select winners in film and television. So, the SAG awards are presented by peers to peers each year.
For the past several years the SAG Awards ceremony has taken place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. The ceremony unites people working in Hollywood in a special way. The event is filled with camaraderie and peer appreciation in both film and television. Unlike other major Hollywood award shows, the SAG Awards have never had a host. Maybe this is because of the peer factor.
Kristen Bell
For the first time in its twenty-four years, the SAG Awards will feature a host. Kathy Connell, the Executive Producer of the SAG Awards, announced the news on December 4. Connell stated: ” This has been a year in which assumptions have been challenged, stereotypes have been shattered, and precedents have been broken.” and that the SAG wanted to “capture the cultural mood by casting aside” one of its own traditions.
Kristen Bell is “America’s sweetheart” and has worked her way into our hearts with all-American beauty, good acting and a personal life that can’t be beat. From 2004 through 2007, Bell appeared as Veronica Mars in the teen noir drama television series as the title character. She would go on to star in the hit TV series “Heroes”, the comedy film “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, “Couples Retreat”, “You Again”, and “Bad Moms”. She is the voice of Anna in the animated hit movie franchise “Frozen” and plays Eleanor Shellstrop in the NBC comedy series “The Good Place”. On top of her film and television career, Kristen Bell is married to fellow actor Dax Shepard and they have two daughters.
Why a host now?
With all of the upheaval of sexual harassment allegations in Hollywood, Washington DC, New York City and just about every nook and cranny, SAG made an important decision. The awards program could have continued to do what it has always done: present awards to people in the film and television industry nominated and voted for people in the film and television community with no acknowledgement of the uncomfortable current atmosphere among Hollywood elite and Hollywood workers. The Screen Actors Guild may just have gotten his right. They decided to have a wholesome, well loved and non-controversial hostess emcee the awards ceremony that honors the talent of Hollywood in both film and television by the talent of Hollywood in both film and television. It seems that the Screen Actors Guild is cognizant of what should be done given the current circumstances.
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