Chadwick Boseman wins posthumous SAG Award for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Chadwick Boseman's performance in his final film, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, earned him a posthumous best actor in a lead role statuette during Sunday night's 27th Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Boseman, who died of cancer last August, made history when he became the first actor to ever earn four SAG Award nominations in one year for movies, thanks to his work in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Da 5 Bloods. In February, Boseman was posthumously awarded the best actor in a drama Golden Globe for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.

While accepting the award, his widow, Simone Ledward Boseman, thanked the cast and crew of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, and quoted her husband, saying, "If you see the world unbalanced, be a crusader that pushes heavily on the seesaw of the mind." 


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This year's ceremony was held virtually, with the pre-recorded program lasting just one hour. The night's other winners include Ma Rainey's Black Bottom's Viola Davis, best female actor in a leading role; Judas and the Black Messiah's Daniel Kaluuya, best male actor in a supporting role; and Minari's Yuh-Jung Youn, best female actress in a supporting role.

The Crown won best ensemble for a drama series, Schitt's Creek was named best ensemble for a comedy series, and Netflix's The Trial of the Chicago 7 received the outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture award, becoming the first film from a streaming service to earn the honor.