American actor Mahershala Ali took aim at the divisive policy making of US President Donald Trump in a speech at the Screen Actor's Guild awards in Los Angeles.
![Mahershala Ali accepts the award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a supporting role for <i>Moonlight</i> ...](/web/20170201184216im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/1/e/9/z/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu1dff.png/1485763989232.jpg)
Ali, the 42-year-old, California-born star of the film Moonlight, said when a society got "caught up in the minutiae and the details that make us all different", it was faced with two possible outcomes.
"There's the opportunity to see the texture of that person, the characteristics that make them unique, and then there's an opportunity to go to war about it and say 'that person is different from me', 'I don't like you', 'let's battle'," he said.
![Julia Louis-Dreyfus describes Trump's Muslim ban as a 'blemish' and 'unAmerican' while accepting the SAG award for ...](/web/20170201184216im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/1/f/2/c/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu1dff.png/1485763989232.jpg)
"I'm a Muslim," Ali declared to the audience, noting that his mother was an ordained Christian minister. "She didn't do backflips when I called her to tell her I converted 17 years ago," he added.
"We put things to the side and I am able to see her, she is able to see me, we love each other, the love has grown and that stuff is minutiae, it's not that important," he finished.
Ali was accepting a Screen Actor's Guild award for best supporting actor in a motion picture; his performance in Moonlight had also garnered him a Golden Globe award, a Critic's Choice award and an Oscar nomination.
Mahershala Ali of @moonlightmov #sagawards pic.twitter.com/q9txL6fW8R
— SAG Awards® (@SAGawards) January 30, 2017
Mr Trump was the subject of several speeches, often in jest but with powerful messages behind them, as award recipient Bryan Cranston crudely suggested the 36th president Lyndon Johnson would have whispered to the 45th president: "Just don't piss in the soup that all of us gotta eat."
But it was Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus who was awarded with the bigger applause for her commentary: "I want you all to know that I am the daughter of an immigrant.
"My father fled religious persecution in Nazi-occupied France and I'm an American patriot, and I love this country. And because I love this country I am horrified by its blemishes; and this immigrant ban is a blemish and it is unAmerican."
Although the SAG awards are considered part of "awards season", which ends with the Academy Awards, they focus only on screen performance.
Nevertheless, the leading Oscar contender for best picture – the musical La La Land – managed to make noise at the SAG awards, securing outstanding performance by an actress in a leading role for Emma Stone.
In the television categories, the critically acclaimed Netflix drama The Crown walked away the major winner, earning nods for stars Claire Foy, who played the Queen, and John Lithgow, who played British prime minister Winston Churchill.
The series was also nominated for outstanding ensemble in a television drama but lost to another Netflix title, the critically acclaimed horror mystery Stranger Things.
In the television comedy categories, multi-Emmy winner Louis-Dreyfus won for her performance in the HBO comedy Veep and William H. Macy for his performance in the Warner Bros remake of the British comedy/drama Shameless.
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus describes the Trump travel ban as a “blemish” and "un-American” in her #SAGAwards speech
— CNN (@CNN) January 30, 2017
The 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild awards were staged at the Shrine Exposition Centre in Los Angeles.
List of Television Award Winners
Female actor in a comedy series: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Male actor in a comedy series: William H. Macy, Shameless
Ensemble in a comedy series: Orange Is the New Black
Male actor in a drama series: John Lithgow, The Crown
Female actor in a drama series: Claire Foy, The Crown
Ensemble in a drama series: Stranger Things
Female actor in a television movie or miniseries: Sarah Paulson, The People vs O.J. Simpson
Male actor in a television movie or miniseries: Bryan Cranston, All the Way
Stunt ensemble in a comedy or drama series: Game of Thrones
List of Film Award Winners
Female actor in a leading role: Emma Stone, La La Land
Male actor in a leading role: Denzel Washington, Fences
Female actor in a supporting role: Viola Davis, Fences
Male actor in a supporting role: Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Cast in a motion picture: Hidden Figures
Stunt ensemble in a motion picture: Hacksaw Ridge