Michael Keaton Tears Up While Dedicating SAG Award for ‘Dopesick’ to Nephew Who Died of Drug Overdose

Michael Keaton gave an emotional speech while accepting a SAG Award for his performance in Hulu’s Dopesick.

The actor, who won the award for his portrayal of Samuel Finnix — a doctor struggling with an addiction to painkillers, tearfully dedicated his win to his sister Pam, and his nephew, Michael, who died in 2016 from an overdose.

“I’m the most fortunate person,” said Keaton, who was late to accept the award because he was in the bathroom, adding that he is “so blessed” to act for a living.

He went on to note “massive inequity in the world,” emphasizing the importance of a production such as Dopesick, which “can spawn thought, conversation, actual change.”

Keaton pointed to the economic, social, financial, and racial inequity in the world, noting, “There’s fair and there’s unfair. There’s not a lot of room in between.”

“In Dopesick, when you talk about addiction, the way to heal the problem is to accept that you have a problem,” he said, adding, “I can feel right now the rolling thunder of eye-rolling coming across — people saying to me things like, ‘Shut up and dribble,’ or, ‘Shut up and act.’ The acting, I’ll quit. The shutting up, not so much.”

The actor also praised Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of his country, noting that he was a former actor who “deserves some credit tonight for fighting the fight.”

Keaton then highlighted the subject matter of Dopesick, which explores the epicenter of the nation’s struggle with opioid addiction, to tear up while dedicating his win to his sister and late nephew.

“I lost my nephew, Michael, to drugs, and it hurts,” Keaton shared through tears. “This is for my sister, Pam. Thanks.”

Watch above, via TBS.