Was Brendan Gleeson at the 2025 SAG Awards? What we know as Colin Farrell jokes actor gave him COVID

The 2025 SAG Awards gala was a star-studded affair, featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest names. Colin Farrell was one of the actors who made headlines. His award winning performance captured attention when he joked about getting COVID-19.

During the ceremony, Jamie Lee Curtis playfully blamed Farrell for giving her the virus at the Golden Globes. Farrell, in turn, declared in jest:

"Guilty as charged. But Brendan Gleeson f***ing gave it to me, so I was just spreading the love."

While Colin Farrell jokingly implied that he contracted COVID from Brendan Gleeson, we have no evidence that Gleeson was present at the award ceremony. Brendan Gleeson has not been mentioned in reports and was not listed among the event's official presenters.

This isn’t the first time the two actors have gone through the hardships of COVID-19. Both actors had contracted the virus in 2023, soon after the Golden Globes. The duo had made headlines for kissing each other during the ceremony, which supposedly led to one contracting the virus from the other. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson notably discussed the incident on an episode of The Late Late Show With James Corden. They both ended up missing the next Critics Choice Awards.

At the 2025 SAG Awards, Colin Farrell took home the award for Best Actor in a TV Movie or Limited Series for his work in HBO’s The Penguin. According to Entertainment Weekly, he said in his acceptance speech:

"We're all supporting actors. We all support each other; that's what we do." And sometimes, that support can lead to illness."

A look into Colin Farrell’s career as an actor

Irish actor Colin Farrell's breakout role was in Tigerland (2000), after which he starred in many action thrillers including Minority Report (2002), S.W.A.T. (2003), and Miami Vice (2006).

Despite early commercial success, his career was marred by personal struggles with addiction and controversies, according to Britanica. Farrell later reinvented himself with In Bruges (2008), for which he won a Golden Globe for playing a remorseful hitman.

He also played major roles in offbeat films like The Lobster (2015) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), both by Yorgos Lanthimos. In The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), where he teamed up with the auteur Martin McDonagh and Gleeson, he received widespread acclaim and awards.

Apart from his films, Farrell also done memorable work in television, including in series like True Detective (2015) and The North Water (2021). He also gained prominence as the Penguin in The Batman (2022), a role he reprised in the miniseries, The Penguin (2024).