The Actor Awards (formerly the SAG Awards) are Bell’s “opportunity to entertain in front of all these people I admire,” she tells PEOPLE
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():format(jpeg)/kristen-bell-sag-awards-021926-1a20e8352c534d29880c3802e7b9bcb9.jpg "Host Kristen Bell speaks onstage during the 31st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on February 23, 2025 in Los Angeles, California")
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NEED TO KNOW
- Kristen Bell has been announced as the host of the 32nd Actor Awards
- Her favorite “cheat” as a host, the actress tells PEOPLE, is “having a teleprompter”
- This year’s ceremony will be presented on March 1, streaming live on Netflix
Kristen Bell is the host with the most.
Ahead of emceeing the 32nd annual Actor Awards (newly rebranded from the SAG Awards) on March 1, the Nobody Wants This star sits down with PEOPLE to chat about what goes into celebrating the approximately 160,000 members of the SAG-AFTRA union and their picks for the year’s best film and television performances.
“There's not really an award show, in my opinion, that has a warmer room, a bigger sense of comradery,” says Bell, 45, who was the ceremony’s first-ever host back in 2018 and returned again in 2025.
Netflix
“To have the opportunity to entertain in front of all these people I admire and my friends and my fellow entertainers, it's wonderful,” she adds with a grin.
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Nominations for this year’s Actor Awards were announced on Jan. 7, honoring actors from movies including One Battle After Another, Sinners and Marty Supreme, plus TV series including The Pitt, Only Murders in the Building and Adolescence. The 2026 SAG-AFTRA Life Achievement Award will go to Harrison Ford.
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What’s Bell’s favorite thing about serving as an award show host? Her answer is simple: the teleprompter.
“Having a teleprompter is being able to use your notes on a test, that's what it feels like,” quips the Emmy nominee. “It just feels like such a cheat.”
In revealing that to PEOPLE, she adds, “I do want to lift the curtain a little bit and let the people at home know I'm using a teleprompter. These bits have been written and rewritten and hopefully will entertain to their max capacity.”
If only actors on sets could similarly use cue cards to remember their lines. “Which I think we both know some actors do,” Bell jokes.
As for her biggest fear while onstage at the Actor Awards, it’s “only tripping,” she says. “Because I do not like high heels, and that's always the only fear.”
Among Bell's upcoming projects are Violent Night 2 (in theaters Dec. 4) and reprising her voice role as Anna in animated sequel Frozen III (in theaters Nov. 24, 2027).
The 32nd annual Actor Awards will be presented on Sunday, March 1, streaming live on Netflix.