Idris Elba won the Best Supporting Actor award at Saturday’s SAG Awards for his role in Beasts of No Nation, a Cary Fukunaga-directed drama in which Elba played a commandent in charge of a group of young rebels in war-torn Ghana.

“I want to tell you man, we made a film about real people and real lives,” Elba said in his acceptance speech. “To be awarded for it is very special, because a lot of people were damanged through that. So thank you for giving this film some respect and love.”

Elba has previously spoken about why he was drawn to the film, which he said “has a really beautiful point of view which was fascinating for [him].” “We could make a war movie, but this was about a boy coming of age within a new family,” he told Variety. “How do you humanize someone that’s a dictator to an army of kids? That was a massive challenge to me.”