A call of nature nearly came between Michael Keaton and his Screen Actors Guild Awards triumph on Sunday night.
The “Dopesick” star prevailed in the category of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series, besting the likes of Murray Bartlett in “The White Lotus” and Ewan McGregor in “Halston.”
But Keaton left presenter Salma Hayek looking puzzled when he initially failed to show up after she announced him as the winner.
“Are you kidding me? I have stage fright,” Hayek quipped to the crowd, as shown in the SAG video clip below. “Come on, Michael!”
After an uncomfortably long pause, Keaton was seen darting across the room to the stage.
“Sorry ― quick trip to the men’s room,” the actor said once he’d reached the podium. “It is packed, by the way.”
From there, Keaton’s speech took a more serious turn.
“I’m so blessed to do what I do, and so fortunate,” he said. “I have a job ... that actually can spawn thought, conversation, actual change. Who gets to have that job? Seriously, how fortunate am I that good can come from something I do just because I wanted to become an actor?”
Later, Keaton gave a shout-out to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who worked as an actor before entering public service and in recent days has been rallying his nation against invading Russian forces. Keaton became visibly emotional as he dedicated his award to his sister, Pamela Douglas, and his nephew, Michael, who died in 2016 after a battle with drug addiction.
Released last fall, “Dopesick” explores the role of the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma in the opioid crisis and is based on Beth Macy’s 2018 book of the same name. Keaton plays Dr. Samuel Finnix, a Virginia physician who becomes addicted to OxyContin after being persuaded to prescribe it to his patients.