The Moment Denzel Washington Found Out He Won His First SAG Award Should Not Be Missed

Denzel Washington has accomplished quite a bit throughout his decades-long career, but one milestone he hadn't marked was winning a SAG Award — until now. On Sunday night, he was honored with his very first trophy from the Screen Actors Guild; Denzel won outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role for Fences, and when his name was called, the veteran actor appeared visibly taken aback — so much so that his wife, Pauletta; costar Viola Davis; and her husband, Julius Tennon, had to physically stand him up and send him to the stage.

Denzel confirmed his shock when he approached the podium, telling the crowd that he "didn't have faith" that he would beat industry favorites Ryan Gosling and Casey Affleck in the category. "I said, 'You know that young boy's gonna win, Denzel, you ain't gonna win,'" he said with a laugh. He caught up with reporters after the exciting moment and expressed his genuine surprise at the win. "Casey [Affleck] has been winning everything so I assumed . . . ," Denzel said. "I actually prepared a speech in case we won best ensemble, so I said I better be ready just in case because, I knew I had to speak for the cast." He went on: "As the night was going along, I got a feeling. I said, 'Boy, you better start thinking of some things just in case.'" It was a long time coming (Denzel has been nominated five times previously), but better late than never.