SBIFF Virtuosos Awards Honor Eight Breakout Performances

Elvis was in the building last night — in the form of newly anointed movie star Austin Butler — along with The Banshees Of Inisherin’s Kerry Condon, Till star Danielle Deadwyler, Tár’s Nina Hoss, Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan from Everything Everywhere All At Once, Jeremy Pope from The Inspection, and Jeremy Strong from Armageddon Time.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Virtuosos Award, designed to honor breakout performances, serves as proof that, as moderator Dave Karger explained, “as actors, you can have your breakout at any age.” As has been the tradition with this celebrity panel, each actor was introduced with some clips from their honored performance, then they were interviewed individually, followed by a lively group participation round.

First up was Jeremy Strong, who is widely recognizable for his Emmy Award–winning role as Kendall Roy on Succession, but shared his backstory of working as a production assistant for Steven Spielberg and Woody Allen, as well being the personal assistant to Daniel Day-Lewis. Of that last experience, Strong said, “Daniel exemplifies a commitment and courageousness we all aspire to.”