Oppenheimer Wins 2024 SAG Award for Motion Picture Ensemble as Star Calls Film 'Scarily Important'

The Oppenheimer cast is continuing their hot streak!

At the 2024 SAG Awards on Saturday, the film's cast won the award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture. The other nominees were American Fiction, Barbie, The Color Purple, and Killers of the Flower Moon.

Accepting the award on the cast's behalf was Kenneth Branagh, who played Danish physicist Niels Bohr in the film.

"Thank you. It's my it's my honor to say a few words briefly on behalf of this incredible cast on stage and to the extended family of Oppenheimer, who can't be here," he began. "So, thank you so much, Chris Nolan and Emma Thomas. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for the respect. Thank you for the invitation to play a genuine part in making this scarily important film. Thank you to Donna Langley and Universal Pictures for believing us, believing in us and in the film. Thank you Chuck Roven, Andy Thompson, and John Papsidera, thank you very much."

"And, of course... thank you SAG-AFTRA. Thank you for this. Thank you for fighting for us. Thank you for every SAG-AFTRA member whose support and whose sacrifice allows us to be standing here better than we were before," he continued. "When we were all last together, it was at the premiere of this film on July 14, last year when the strike was just about to begin. And led by our fearless leader, the great Cillian Murphy, we went from the red carpet and we didn't see the film that night. We happily went in the direction of solidarity with your good selves."

"So this, this is a full circle moment for us and to receive this recognition in a year of spectacular achievement from all of the people in this room, our acting friends, our acting heroes, it means the world to us," he concluded. "We know how lucky we are. And we are grateful and we are humbled and we are proud not just to be in Mr. Nolan's masterpiece, but proud to be in your company. Thank you so much."

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer became one of the year’s biggest box office hits. A biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who invented the nuclear bomb used in World War II, the film’s cast includes Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon and Florence Pugh.

Tied with Barbie for the most nominations received by a film this year, Murphy, Blunt and Downey Jr. all notched individual nods for their performances.

Also up for the night's big award was American Fiction, Barbie, The Color Purple, and Killers of the Flower Moon.

American Fiction, starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae and more, follows struggling novelist Thelonius “Monk” Ellison (Wright).

Frustrated by his lack of commercial success and rejection by publishers for not penning a “Black enough” book, Monk writes a manuscript pandering to stereotypes. When it unexpectedly sells well, he must deal with the fallout and its effects on his career, family and love life.

Wright and Brown, who plays Monk’s newly-out brother Cliff, also earned individual nods for their performances.

Greta Gerwig’s blockbuster Barbie features a star-studded cast consisting of Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling, America Ferrera, Will Ferrell, Kate McKinnon and more. Bringing the iconic Mattel doll and her all-pink world to life, the film explores themes of girlhood, existentialism, feminism and toxic masculinity. 

Robbie and Gosling are nominated for their leading and supporting roles as the titular doll and her boyfriend Ken, while the stunt team was recognized in outstanding performance by a stunt ensemble.

The newest adaptation of Alice Walker’s 1982 novel, The Color Purple tells the powerful story of Celie (played by Fantasia Barrino), a Black woman living in the South during the early 20th century. Executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, the film also stars Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, H.E.R., Halle Bailey and more. 

Reprising her Tony-nominated role as Sofia for the film, Brooks nabbed a nod for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role.  

Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon depicts the real-life events of the Osage murders during the early 20th century. The historical drama features Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Brendan Fraser and breakout star Lily Gladstone, who became the first Native American to win a Golden Globe and receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

Gladstone and De Niro were nominated individually for their leading and supporting roles as Osage woman Mollie Kyle and crime boss William King Hale.

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See PEOPLE’s coverage of the 2024 SAG Awards as it airs live on Netflix from Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in L.A.