I’ll give the Screen Actors Guild this: You’ve got to have considerable chutzpah to use that acronym when handing out awards in Hollywood. The SAG Awards (wisely nicknamed the Actors and not the Saggies) were Sunday night and gave US viewers one last chance to gawk at the stars all gussied up before the Oscars. The night’s big winners were The King’s Speech, Modern Family and Boardwalk Empire. The night’s big loser? Anyone who bet against Betty White.
Unlike the Golden Globes, where a small, secretive group of foreign entertainment journalists pick the winners, the SAG Awards are picked by the card-carrying, dues-paying actors themselves. Like the Golden Globes, the world of TV and film mixed once more as the Glee kids rubbed shoulders with the cast of True Grit. No, really, I’m pretty sure Lea Michele and Hailee Steinfeld are touching shoulders here.
Because it’s an award show just for actors and doesn’t have to bother with the little people like directors, writers, cinematographers and editors, the show moved along briskly. Though it still boggles my mind how an award show all about great acting can feature so many actors completely flubbing their teleprompter lines. Also, who invited Josh Duhamel? It’s a show about excellence in acting, not excellence in looking handsome while standing next to Fergie.
On the TV side, Steve Buscemi picked up his first SAG Award for Boardwalk Empire while Alec Baldwin picked up his fifth for 30 Rock as best actor in a drama and comedy, respectively. For the ladies, Julianna Margulies won for The Good Wife while Betty White won for Hot in Cleveland in comedy. Now, I love Betty like the naughty grandma I never had, but she beat out Tina Fey, Sofia Vergara, Jane Lynch and Edie Falco? Wow.
Claire Danes made it a complete set and picked up the Actor for her work in Temple Grandin after previously winning the Emmy, Golden Globe, Miss Congeniality and Most Likely to Break Brian Krakow’s Heart awards for her performance in the HBO movie. If you ask me, she’s the one who turned Devon Gummersall into Lisa, the lesbian man.
The cast of Boardwalk Empire won best drama ensemble while Modern Family took home best comedy ensemble. Both shows, by the way, have prominent gay storylines. Think about that when you’re considering whether to add gay characters to you TV shows or not, Hollywood.
For movies, Christian Bale picked up best supporting actor and co-star Melissa Leo snagged best supporting actress for The Fighter. Bale’s win also provided what I thought for a split-second was another Kanye moment as someone wandered on stage during his acceptance speech. Luckily it was just Bale’s real-life counterpart from the film, Dickie Eklund. And, yes, he let Christian finish.
Colin Firth continued his winning streak as the most charming man in the room, taking home best actor for The King’s Speech. Meanwhile Natalie Portman edged ahead of Annette Bening in the best actress Oscars Deathmatch by picking up the SAG Award. But who cares about that – how did Natalie and her Black Swan co-star Mila “Sweet Lips” Kunis look together? Nice, very nice.
The night’s biggest winner was The King’s Speech, which took home best film ensemble. I was a tad disappointed that Helena Bonham Carter didn’t show up wearing something kookier, but perhaps she is saving it up for the Oscars. Also, there was nothing gay at all about that film. Though, British accents sometimes confuse my gaydar — so, um, there’s that.
And those were all the awards. Since there were so few handed out, let’s hand out some more of our own.
The cast of Glee.
The Kids Are All Right star Annette Bening and husband Warren Beatty.
Rizzoli & Isles star Angie Harmon (p.s. No, I don’t know what’s going on with the reddish brown spot on her hair. See, this is why we need Maura there to investigate any and all reddish brown spots.)
Jane Lynch and wife Lara Embry.
Brittana twosome Heather Morris and Naya Rivera.
Natalie and Mila.
30 Rock star Tina Fey and Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler.
Glee’s Dianna Agron.
Christina Hendricks.
So, did you have any favorite moments? Favorite dresses? And, with these wins, who should now be dusting space off on their shelves for an Oscar?
