The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) is under fire after excluding any foreign-language film and performance from the 2026 Actor Award nominations.
The Actor Awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards, honor the best film and TV performances of the year. Nominees are selected by a committee of 2,000 randomly selected eligible SAG-AFTRA members, with the entire membership of 22,000 voting for the winners.
This year the dark comedy by Paul Thomas Anderson One battle after another led the movie categories, while Apple TV+’s satire The Studio dominated the TV nominations. Other top contenders included Josh Safdie’s sports drama Marty Supreme and Ryan Coogler’s vampire thriller Sinners.
However, critically acclaimed foreign language films were completely excluded. Joachim Trier Sentimental valueSouth Korea No other choiceBrazil The secret agentthe French-Spanish film Sirateand that of Iran It was just an accident– all previously recognized at the Golden Globes – received no Actor Award nods. Four of the five were nominated for Best Picture and Best Foreign Language Film at the Globes.
The exclusion sparked widespread criticism online, with netizens claiming the union’s selections overlooked global talent and reflected a bias towards English-language productions.
“So the global cinema memo didn’t reach SAG voters this year, or maybe they just really like to hear English, who knows?” one joked about X. “SAG is more like American Actors Awards,” a second added.
Many social media users subsequently accused SAG-AFTRA of xenophobia. “That’s called XENOPHOBIA,” a third wrote shamelessly, “and it is a disturbing sign for the whole world because it reflects the rejection of foreigners and their culture.”
“But what can you expect from an awards show that is sexist and xenophobic, run by rich old white men anyway,” argued a fourth, while another agreed: “[Not] shocking altogether. They hate foreign performances. Xenophobia.”
The 2026 Actor Awards are scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles. A host has not yet been announced.
