Earlier this evening, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) presented their annual Actor awards for film and television acting, and the big winner of the night was Tate Taylor’s The Help, which took home three of the five SAG film acting awards it was up for with Octavia Spencer winning in the Female Actor in a Supporting Role category, followed by Viola Davis taking the Female Actor in a Leading Role award, solidifying her lead over her primary awards season competition Meryl Streep. The film itself then went on to take Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, defeating the awards season favorite, Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist.
Then again, French actor Jean DuJardin pulled an upset himself by taking the SAG Award for Male Actor in a Lead Role for his performance in The Artist over the favorited George Clooney, proving that the Oscar acting races aren’t already predecided. (The last seven SAG winners in the Lead Actor category went on to win in the coinciding category at the Oscars.)
Christopher Plummer, the other awards season frontrunner along with Spencer, took home the SAG award for Male Actor in a Supporting Role for Mike Mills’ Beginners.
On the television side, Steve Buscemi won his second SAG Award for his leading role in HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire,” which before that won the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Drama Series. Jessica Lange won the corresponding female actor SAG award for her role on FX’s “American Horror Story.”
Alec Baldwin and Betty White won SAG Awards for their performances in a comedy series for NBC’s “30 Rock” and TV Land’s “Hot in Cleveland,” respectively, while ABC’s “Modern Family” won Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series.
You can read the official SAG press release and full list of winners below:
Screen Actors Guild presented its coveted Actor® statuette for the outstanding motion picture and primetime television performances of 2011 at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® in ceremonies attended by film and televisions leading actors, held Sunday, Jan. 29, at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center. The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® was simulcast live coast-to-coast by TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT). An encore presentation was telecast on TNT at 10 p.m. (ET) / 7 p.m. (PT).
Honored with individual awards were Viola Davis, Jean Dujardin, Christopher Plummer and Octavia Spencer for performances in motion pictures and Alec Baldwin, Steve Buscemi, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Lange, Betty White, and Kate Winslet for performances in television. Screen Actors Guild originated awards for the outstanding performances by a motion picture cast and by television drama and comedy ensembles. The Actor® for a motion picture cast performance went this year to The Help, while the Actors® for television drama and comedy ensemble performances went this year to Boardwalk Empire and Modern Family. Screen Actors Guilds honors for outstanding performances by a stunt ensemble in film and television were awarded to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Game of Thrones. Nearly 100,000 active members of Screen Actors Guild nationwide were eligible to vote for the recipients.
Dick Van Dyke presented Mary Tyler Moore with Screen Actors Guilds highest honor, the 48th Annual Life Achievement Award, following a filmed tribute. Jessica Chastain introduced a film salute to SAG’s regional branches, spotlighting memorable moments created by actors who live and work across the nation. Meryl Streep introduced a filmed In Memoriam tribute to the actors we have lost in the past year.
PEOPLE magazine and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) hosted the Screen Actors Guild Post-Awards Gala for the 16th year. This exclusive event, immediately following the SAG Awards on the back lot of the Shrine Exposition Center, honors the philanthropic causes and good works of the members of the Screen Actors Guild. The gala benefits the SAG Foundation.
The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards is produced by Jeff Margolis Productions in association with Screen Actors Guild Awards®, LLC. For more information about the SAG Awards, SAG, TNT and TBS, visit sagawards.org/about, like SAG Awards at facebook.com/sagawardsofficialpage and follow SAG Awards at twitter.com/sagawards.
The complete list of recipients of the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards® follows.
18th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® RECIPIENTS
THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
JEAN DUJARDIN / George – “THE ARTIST” (The Weinstein Company)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark – THE HELP (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER / Hal – BEGINNERS (Focus Features)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson – THE HELP (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
THE HELP (DreamWorks Pictures / Touchstone Pictures)
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD / Hilly Holbrook
ALLISON JANNEY / Charlotte Phelan
CHRIS LOWELL / Stuart Whitworth
AHNA OREILLY / Elizabeth Leefolt
SISSY SPACEK / Missus Walters
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson
MARY STEENBURGEN / Elaine Stein
EMMA STONE / Skeeter Phelan
CICELY TYSON / Constantine Jefferson
MIKE VOGEL / Johnny Foote
PRIMETIME TELEVISION
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
PAUL GIAMATTI / Ben Bernanke – TOO BIG TO FAIL (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
KATE WINSLET / Mildred Pierce – MILDRED PIERCE (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
STEVE BUSCEMI / Enoch Nucky Thompson – BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
JESSICA LANGE / Constance – AMERICAN HORROR STORY (FX)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
ALEC BALDWIN / Jack Donaghy – 30 ROCK (NBC)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
BETTY WHITE / Elka Ostrovsky – HOT IN CLEVELAND (TV Land)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO)
STEVE BUSCEMI / Enoch Nucky Thompson
DOMINIC CHIANESE / Leander Cephas Whitlock
ROBERT CLOHESSY / Ward Boss Jim Neary
DABNEY COLEMAN / Commodore Louis Kaestner
CHARLIE COX / Owen Sleater
JOSIE & LUCY GALLINA / Emily Schroeder
STEPHEN GRAHAM / Al Capone
JACK HUSTON / Richard Harrow
ANTHONY LACIURA / Eddie Kessler
HEATHER LIND / Katy
KELLY MACDONALD / Margaret Schroeder
RORY & DECLAN McTIGUE / Teddy Schroeder
GRETCHEN MOL / Gillian Darmody
BRADY & CONNOR NOON/ Tommy Darmody
KEVIN OROURKE / Mayor Edward Bader
ALEKSA PALLADINO / Angela Darmody
JACQUELINE PENNEWILL / Lilian
VINCENT PIAZZA / Lucky Luciano
MICHAEL PITT / Jimmy Darmody
MICHAEL SHANNON / Agent Nelson Van Alden
PAUL SPARKS / Mickey Doyle
MICHAEL STUHLBARG / Arnold Rothstein
PETER VAN WAGNER / Isaac Icky Ginsburg
SHEA WHIGHAM / Sheriff Elias Thompson
MICHAEL KENNETH WILLIAMS / Chalky White
ANATOL YUSEF / Meyer Lansky
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
MODERN FAMILY (ABC)
AUBREY ANDERSON-EMMONS / Lily
JULIE BOWEN / Claire
TY BURRELL / Phil
JESSE TYLER FERGUSON / Mitchell
NOLAN GOULD / Luke
SARAH HYLAND / Haley
ED ONEILL / Jay
RICO RODRIGUEZ / Manny
ERIC STONESTREET / Cameron
SOFIA VERGARA / Gloria
ARIEL WINTER / Alex
SAG HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 2 (WARNER BROS. PICTURES)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
GAME OF THRONES (HBO)
LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Screen Actors Guild Awards 48th Annual Life Achievement Award
MARY TYLER MOORE
