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The first SAG Awards were so off the radar Jodie Foster didn't know she was nominated until day after she won

"It was kind of a shock, as if someone had made a mistake," the actress says of winning for 1994's "Nell."

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Published on February 21, 2024 10:00AM EST

As the Screen Actors Guild Awards turn 30, the organization is looking back at its...let's call it humble beginnings.

"People would say, 'SAG awards, what SAG awards?' It was so nerve-racking, because we were throwing one of the biggest parties in Hollywood and we didn't know if anybody would come," SAG Awards Committee founding member and former executive producer Kathy Connell says in a new oral history from Netflix's Tudum.

The 1995 ceremony was indeed attended, even if the talent wasn't quite sure what to expect: "Honestly, when I first heard about the SAG Awards, my knee-jerk reaction was, 'Oh, great. Just what we needed, another award show,'" says inaugural Outstanding Male Actor in a Drama Series winner and NYPD Blue star Dennis Franz, who flew to the ceremony from a charity golf tournament with Frasier star Kelsey Grammer. "We had to get on a plane, come to L.A., go to the SAG Awards, and then fly back to finish the golf tournament. I remember laughing with Kelsey on the plane. We were laughing in anticipation, not knowing what to expect."

At least they made it to Stage 12 at Universal Studios, where the ceremony was held (right after they pushed the Batman Forever crew out the door). Jodie Foster, who was nominated for Outstanding Female Actor in a Leading Role for Nell, did not.

Jodie Foster at the 52nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at Beverly Hilton Hotel in 1995.
Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty

"I first heard about my win the next morning. I'd never heard of the nomination, so it was kind of a shock, as if someone had made a mistake," the actress, who was in pre-production ahead of directing Home for the Holidays, tells Tudum.

"Nell was a performance that was life-changing for me personally but wasn't necessarily a critics' favorite. It meant a lot that fellow actors from my very own guild felt moved enough to honor me at [the] first ever event," continues Foster, who did attend the 2nd annual SAG Awards the following year to present. "I wanted to present ASAP to acknowledge how touched I was by the previous year's honor and to be a part of a new tradition."

This weekend the actress will be in the SAG ballroom once again, for her supporting role in Nyad. The 30th Annual SAG Awards airs on Netflix this Saturday, Feb. 24, live at 8 p.m. ET.

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