‘Miss Sunshine,’ Mirren, Whitaker win SAG awards
HOLLYWOOD – The top honor at the 13th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday night went to the little indie that could. In something of a surprise victory over such favorites as “Babel,” “The Departed” and “Dreamgirls,” the outstanding ensemble in a motion picture award went to the cast of the dark comedy “Little Miss Sunshine.” The movie received several Oscar nominations last week, including best picture, but had been considered a longshot for most awards.
Many performers who won at the recent Golden Globes also won Sunday. Helen Mirren received two SAG awards, one for outstanding female actor in a leading role as the stalwart British monarch Elizabeth II in “The Queen” and another as lead female actor in a TV movie or miniseries as the Virgin Queen in HBO’s “Elizabeth I.”
“Be still my beating heart. It’s been an incredible night for me personally,” Mirren said in accepting for “The Queen.” “I learned to love a person without vanity,” she said of the monarch she portrays.
Forest Whitaker picked up outstanding lead male actor for playing the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in “The Last King of Scotland.” Whitaker, like Mirren, is nominated for an Oscar and has received the lion’s share of critics’ awards.
Jennifer Hudson, who was voted off “American Idol” three years ago, won outstanding female actor in a supporting role for portraying an R&B singer in “Dreamgirls.”
Her cast-mate Eddie Murphy won outstanding male actor in a supporting role for his performance in “Dreamgirls” as a struggling R&B singer.
The award for best female actor in a drama series went to Chandra Wilson, for her performance as the no-nonsense Dr. Miranda Bailey on ABC’s popular medical show “Grey’s Anatomy.” “It’s about those 10 cast members sitting over there and that other one in rehab,” Wilson said, referring to Isaiah Washington, who has been embroiled in a controversy over anti-gay slurs against cast-mate T.R. Knight and is seeking treatment. The show also won for ensemble cast in a drama series.
America Ferrera won for outstanding female actor in a comedy series for her role as Betty Suarez on ABC’s hit “Ugly Betty.”
The British had an early run during Sunday night’s ceremony. Besides Mirren’s double win, her “Elizabeth I” costar Jeremy Irons won outstanding male actor in a TV movie or miniseries.
Their countryman Hugh Laurie won outstanding male actor in a drama series for his role as the acerbic Dr. Gregory House on the Fox medical show “House.”
Outstanding male actor in a comedy series went to Alec Baldwin, who plays a network executive in NBC’s sitcom “30 Rock.”
After a standing ovation, the stars of the legendary CBS sitcom “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” handed out the outstanding ensemble cast in a comedy series award to the cast of NBC’s “The Office.”