Oscar frontrunners Helen Mirren for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in ‘The Queen’ and Forest Whitaker for playing Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in ‘The Last King of Scotland’ won Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG) on Sunday as best lead players.
Soft-spoken Whitaker was overjoyed with the award and said,
It means a lot to get an award from people that you work with and you’re going to work with. I want to thank all of you. Peace and god bless.
The supporting acting categories were won by ‘Dreamgirls’ stars Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy. Like Mirren and Whitaker, Hudson and Murphy had also won Golden Globes two weeks ago and are also seen as the Oscars favorites.
Murphy, who built his career as a fast-talking comic player said,
What a tremendous honor to be recognized by one’s peers. I’ve been acting for some 25 years now and this is a tremendous honor.
SAG awards are considered an accurate predictor of likely Oscar winners. Last year, three of the guild’s four winners — Philip Seymour Hoffman, Reese Witherspoon and Rachel Weisz — went on to win Oscars.
‘Little Miss Sunshine’ received the guild’s award for best performance by an ensemble cast in a motion picture.
Jeremy Irons won the guild’s prize for best actor in a TV series. Among other TV winners were America Ferrera of ‘Ugly Betty’ and Alec Baldwin of ‘30 Rock’ as lead players in comedy series. The award for best TV comedy ensemble went to ‘The Office.’
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ also won for ensemble cast in a drama series.
The 13th annual SAG awards also recognized Julie Andrews for lifetime achievement.
