More Office, Grey's Honors at SAG
Top Film Ensemble to Sunshine
ABC led all networks with three honors at the 13th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, held last night at the Shrine Auditorium. NBC and HBO took home two statuettes each. Among feature films, Fox Searchlight’s family road-trip comedy Little Miss Sunshine took the prize for best ensemble cast. The ceremony was telecast live on cable channels TBS and TNT.
In the TV categories, ABC’s highly rated medical drama Grey’s Anatomy was singled out for best drama ensemble, while Chandra Wilson, who plays surgeon Miranda Bailey on the series, was named best actress in a drama. Meanwhile, America Ferrera, who earlier this month won a Golden Globe for her performance in the title role in ABC’s freshman series Ugly Betty, was named best actress in a comedy.
NBC’s second-year series The Office was named best comedy ensemble, and Alec Baldwin, another recent Golden Globe honoree for his work as a boorish network executive in NBC’s first-year 30 Rock, took the prize for best actor in a comedy. Best actor in a drama went to Hugh Laurie, the misanthropic physician of the Fox hit House.
HBO took two statuettes for its acclaimed miniseries Elizabeth I. Jeremy Irons was named best actor in a telefilm or miniseries, and in the title role, Helen Mirren was named best actress in telefilm or miniseries.
Mirren went home with two awards on the night—she was also named best actress in a motion picture for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in the British production The Queen. The two royal performances have earned Mirren more than a dozen honors over the past six months, and she is considered a front-runner for an Academy Award for The Queen.
Another presumptive Oscar front-runner, Forest Whitaker, also prevailed at the SAGs. Whitaker, who has earned numerous kudos for his booming performance as former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland, was named best actor in a motion picture.
Little Miss Sunshine prevailed over Babel, Bobby, The Departed and Dreamgirls for the ensemble prize. After the SAG honor and its victory at the Producers Guild Awards on January 20, Sunshine is considered a strong candidate for a best picture Oscar.
A lifetime achievement award was bestowed on Julie Andrews, whose other career honors include two Primetime Emmys, an Oscar, several Golden Globes and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
A list of winners follows:
MOTION PICTURES
Actor
Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Supporting
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Ensemble Cast
Little Miss Sunshine (Fox Searchlight Pictures), Alan Arkin, Abigail Breslin, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Paul Dano, Greg Kinnear
TELEVISION
Actor in a Telefilm or Miniseries
Jeremy Irons, Elizabeth I
Actress in a Telefilm or Miniseries
Helen Mirren, Elizabeth I
Actress in a Drama Series
Chandra Wilson, Grey’s Anatomy
Actor in a Drama Series
Hugh Laurie, House
Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Actress in a Comedy Series
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
Drama Ensemble
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Justin Chambers, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Katherine Heigl, T.R. Knight, Sandra Oh, James Pickens, Jr., Ellen Pompeo, Sara Ramirez, Kate Walsh, Isaiah Washington, Chandra Wilson
Comedy Ensemble
The Office (NBC), Leslie David Baker, Brian Baumgartner, Steve Carell, David Denman, Jenna Fischer, Kate Flannery, Melora Hardin, Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, John Krasinski, Paul Lieberstein, B.J. Novak, Oscar Nunez, Phyllis Smith, Rainn Wilson
Life Achievement Award
Julie Andrews