SAG Awards: ‘Veep’ Wins Best Comedy Ensemble as Julia Louis-Dreyfus Breaks Record

Veep won the SAG Award for best performance by an ensemble in a comedy series on Sunday night.

The group beat out the casts of Black-ish, Curb Your Enthusiasm, GLOW and Orange Is the New Black for the honor. 

Matt Walsh, who plays oft-beleaguered press liaison Mike McClintock on the show, spoke for the group in character, jokingly messing up in his acceptance speech.

The ensemble award came after star Julia Louis-Dreyfus won for best female actor in a comedy series. She was not in attendance at the awards, however, as she revealed recently that she completed chemotherapy in her battle against breast cancer. Still, even without being at the show, Louis-Dreyfus broke the record for most SAG Awards won by an individual, with her two prizes Sunday night bringing her total to nine awards, surpassing Julianna Margulies and Alec Baldwin, who were previously tied for the most individual awards with eight apiece.

The SAG Awards tweeted about Louis-Dreyfus breaking the record, which the actress commented on via Twitter, writing “Wow wee. Thank you so much!” Earlier in the evening, Louis-Dreyfus also tweeted that she was watching the awards from home in her pajamas.

.@SAGawards Wow wee. Thank you so much! https://t.co/ucmbMn0QAS

— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) January 22, 2018

I wish I could have been @SAGawards tonight but have to admit it’s pretty fun to watch in my pj’s. So honored to win. So proud to be a union member. So happy for my @VeepHBO bozos for winning ensemble award. Miss being at the table with you all. How was the chicken?

— Julia Louis-Dreyfus (@OfficialJLD) January 22, 2018

The HBO political satire follows Louis-Dreyfus’ Selina Meyer and her team as they navigate Washington, D.C. Sunday’s win marks the show’s first ensemble win at the SAG Awards. 

Backstage, the cast shared words of appreciation for their absent co-star. Timothy Simons, who plays Jonah Ryan on the show, said, “We were all texting earlier today. She has a great sense of humor, which does wonders when you’re going through something like this. She’s incredibly strong and is uniquely able to combat something like this.”

Tony Hale added that “she creates an environment that’s like a family. She makes a good key lime pie. We miss her, we wish she were here.”

The SAG Awards were simulcast live on TNT and TBS from the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, with Kristen Bell serving as the first-ever host of the show, which featured an all-female lineup of presenters. Morgan Freeman received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Keep up with all of the SAG Awards news here.

Jan. 22, 11:24 a.m. This story has been updated to note Louis-Dreyfus breaking the SAG Awards record and to add her tweets.