Events
Jan 31, 2012

THE (LAST?) SAG AWARDS

The Screen Actors Guild Awards is the only awards show where the actors get to vote for their own, and their obvious investment in the winners makes the show a lot less boring to watch than, say, the Golden Globes.

This year, The Help was honored above all other films, and the ladies of the cast all left with smiles on their faces after taking home their Actors for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis also earned awards for outstanding performances by female actors in the Supporting Role and Leading Role categories.

Davis accepted her award with an emotional speech, in which she encouraged her viewers to “dream big and dream fierce.”

Jean Dujardin was so grateful to win the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for The Artist. “It’s too much,” he said, charming the audience with his sexy French accent.

In television, Boardwalk Empire reigned, winning for the second year Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series, and Steve Buscemi won the Actor for Male Actor in a Drama Series. Modern Family also garnered a repeat win for Ensemble in a Comedy Series, and the cast didn’t seem surprised, since they had a hilarious team-rehearsed acceptance speech. The winning actors in comedy were Alec Baldwin and Betty White, both of whom caused eruptions of laughter in the audience when they took the stage.

The most hilarious moment, however, had to be the Bridesmaids gals Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, and Maya Rudolph. Though their movie didn’t win the ensemble award, they introduced the audience to a Martin Scorsese drinking game (you have to drink every time someone says “Scorsese”), and then they repeated the word enough to make everyone pretty tipsy.

All the SAG actors applauded loudly at the Screen Actors Guild awards when president Ken Howard talked of a merger plan with sister union AFTRA, which means that next year, the awards very well could be called the SAG-AFTRA Awards.

Whatever the case, this year’s show did not disappoint.

Visit SAG for the  full list of winners and information on the planned merger.