The Actor® Statuettes Cast for 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®

Los Angeles (Jan. 17, 2017) – The Actor® statuettes — which this year’s 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® honorees will receive for outstanding performances in 2016 — have been cast in solid bronze at the American Fine Arts Foundry in Burbank, California. SAG Award® nominated actor Mykelti Williamson (Fences, Forrest Gump) was there to watch the dramatic process in person, as were SAG Awards Committee Vice Chair Daryl Anderson and SAG Awards Committee Member Woody Schultz.

Each Actor® statuette carries a serial number engraved at its base, with The Actor No. 1 kept on display at SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles. Since 1995, when the first Actor statuettes were presented, 952 statuettes have been awarded.

The Actor was sculpted by Edward Saenz and designed by Jim Heimann and Jim Barrett. Each statuette is produced at the American Fine Arts Foundry under the supervision of Brett Barney and Angel Meza.

Each Actor statuette is individually cast in solid bronze using the lost wax process, then is given a green-black patina finish and mounted on a base of polished black granite by a small team of fine arts professionals. The completed work of art weighs 12 pounds and stands 16 inches tall. The Screen Actors Guild Awards will not know how many of The Actor® statuettes it will need until the awards presenters open the envelopes on Jan. 29. Though the number of categories is known ahead of time, the possibility of multiple recipients sharing awards in the Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series categories makes the total number of statuettes that will be awarded unpredictable. Any surplus Actor statuettes will find a home in the SAG Awards vault until next year.

Five larger-than-life likenesses of The Actor statuette were introduced at the 9th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, each standing 8.5 feet tall not including his plinth. Augmented by two new likenesses, oversized Actors will once again grace the red carpet, the stage, the media rooms and the Post-Awards Gala at the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Scenario Design in Los Angeles constructed the first five painted fiberglass statues under the supervision of Scenario Design President Paul Buckley and Scenic and Sculpting Department Head Daniel Lucas, while the sixth and seventh were constructed by California Art Products Co. under the direction of Andre Adidge.

For more information about The Actor®, please visit: http://sagawards.org/media-pr/press-kit

Voting instructions for the 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were mailed on December 16, 2016 to the entire active membership of SAG-AFTRA, all of whom will vote on all categories. Votes must be cast online or received by noon on Jan. 29 at Integrity Voting Systems, the union’s official teller. Results will be sealed until they are opened onstage during the ceremony.