Michaela Coel Receives a SAG Award Nomination After Being Snubbed by the Golden Globes

Michaela Coel was one of the first names announced during the 2021 SAG Award nominations on February 4. Coel was recently snubbed by the Golden Globes when she didn’t receive a single nomination for her performance in I May Destroy You. The multi-hyphenate artist created, wrote, directed, and starred in the HBO limited series about a woman who rebuilds her life after experiencing a sexual assault.

Coel was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries alongside Cate Blanchett (Mrs. America), Nicole Kidman (The Undoing), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit), and Kerry Washington (Little Fires Everywhere).

Twitter is celebrating Coel’s nomination, saying that it’s a victory after she was overlooked by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The SAG Award nominees are chosen from Screen Actors Guild members (a.k.a fellow actors), so this honor is a testament to the respect Coel’s peers have for her. 

“I May Destroy You is masterful artwork by and about a whole, layered, complex, vulnerable, powerful, sexual, funny & brilliant Black woman healing and in charge of her own destiny. Old Hollywood is not a fan,” Grey’s Anatomy showrunner Krista Vernoff tweeted. 

Game of Thrones actor Nathalie Emmanuael wrote, “I May Destroy You was one of the most important made in 2020… and ever. It tackled sexual assault and how it’s handled across different sexualities… sexuality itself… race, friendship, trauma and healing… and did so with nuance, authenticity and humour.”