SAG Awards 2021: Chadwick Boseman wins posthumous for Best Male Actor

Screen Actors Guild Awards 2021 took place on Sunday to acknowledge the best achievements in film and television performances for the year 2020.  

During the ceremony, Boseman earned a posthumous statuette for his role as Levee Green in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Boseman's wife Simone Ledward Boseman accepted the award, who thanked the film's cast and crew for her husband's achievement.

Boseman beat out Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”), Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”), Gary Oldman (“Mank”) and Steven Yeun (“Minari”) for the trophy, which is voted on by roughly 160,000 actors.

In “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” directed by George C. Wolfe, Boseman plays Levee Green, a troubled trumpet player who sets his sights on bigger dreams outside of just being a band member for Ma Rainey (Davis).

The late actor is the second posthumous nominee recognized in the lead male category after Massimo Troisi for 1996's The Postman. This marks his second SAG Award win following the Black Panther cast winning for best cast in 2019.

Boseman,  the star of 'Black Panther', died in August 2020, at the age of 43 after a  lon battle against colon cancer. 'Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom' is Boseman’s final screen performance, one that has won him many prizes throughout this year’s awards season, including a Golden Globe in February.