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Papal thriller Conclave won the top prize on Sunday at Hollywood’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, and Timothee Chalamet’s portrayal of Bob Dylan made him the surprise Best Actor winner at the last major honours before next weekend’s Oscars.

The cast of Conclave, which includes Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini, won best movie ensemble at the SAG Awards, a red-carpet ceremony streamed live on Netflix. The film tells the story of the secret manoeuvring at the Vatican during the selection of a fictional pope.

As he accepted the SAG trophy on stage in downtown Los Angeles, Fiennes spoke on behalf of the cast about the need for supportive communities in filmmaking and life. “We do recognize the supreme importance of (community) in our work and the world,” Fiennes said. “That’s what we’re celebrating tonight.”

Conclave was feted as the real-life pope, 88-year-old Pope Francis, who remained in critical condition with double pneumonia. Italian actress Rossellini wished him well during and after the ceremony. “We are very, very worried for our pope,” she told reporters after the SAG event. “We love this pope.”

The Conclave win signalled the movie could take the prestigious Best Picture trophy at the Academy Awards on March 2. Members of the SAG-AFTRA actors union pick the SAG winners, and actors form the largest voting body for the Oscars.

But the race for best picture at the Oscars is unusually murky. While Conclave also captured the top prize at Britain’s BAFTA awards, the big trophies from Hollywood producers and directors went to Anora, a drama about a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch.

Chalamet scored the SAG award for best movie actor for playing a young Dylan as he arrives in New York to try to make it in music in A Complete Unknown.

The outcome was an upset over Adrien Brody, who landed several acting trophies earlier in the season for playing an immigrant and architect in The Brutalist.

The 29-year-old Chalamet said he “poured everything I had” into his portrayal of Dylan. “The truth is, I’m really in pursuit of greatness,” Chalamet said. “I want to be one of the greats.”

Demi Moore was honoured as best movie actor for her role as a fading celebrity seeking a fountain of youth in The Substance. The actor recalled getting her SAG union card in 1978 at age 15. “It changed my life because it gave me meaning, it gave me purpose and it gave me direction,” she said. “I was a kid on my own who had no blueprint for life.”

The supporting movie actor and actress trophies went to Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain and Zoe Saldana for Emilia Perez.

In television honours, the cast of FX’s Shogun, a tale of political machinations in imperial Japan, was named best ensemble in a drama. Only Murders in the Building won Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series for stars including Selena Gomez, Martin Short and Steve Martin.

“Wait, we never win. This is so weird,” a surprised Gomez said. “Marty and Steve aren’t here because, you know, they don’t care,” she added, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Actor and activist Jane Fonda was honoured with a Life Achievement award and talked about the empathy that actors draw upon in their performances. “Empathy is not weak or woke,” she said, “and by the way, woke just means you give a damn about other people.”