Whilst we were sleeping last night, the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were held out in L.A., one of a handful of awards ceremonies that have proven useful in the past in the predictions ahead of the Academy Awards, coming this year on 26th February.

Tate Taylor’s The Help had four nominations, and took home three of the top prizes (and since two of its nominations were in the same category, I’d say the film did a pretty good job).

Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer both won in their respective Leading and Support Female Actor categories, and very interestingly, the film beat the likes of The Artist, The Descendants, Bridesmaids, and Midnight in Paris in the Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture category, the top prize of the night.

This could potentially throw the Oscars open, at least a little, with both The Artist and The Descendants until now considered largely the most likely candidates in the Best Picture category – in the last seventeen years, eight of the films that have taken the top prize at the SAGs have gone on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role category, which Spencer won last night, had exactly the same nominees as the Best Supporting Actress category at next month’s Oscars (Bérénice Bejo, Jessica Chastain, Melissa McCarthy, Janet McTeer, and Spencer), so a repeat performance for Spencer could well be likely in a month’s time.

The SAGs are also a celebration of the year’s best television, and I’m glad to say that one of my personal favourite TV shows, Modern Family, took home the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble Cast in a Comedy Series prize, with the critically acclaimed Boardwalk Empire taking the respective prize in the Drama category.

With January all but over, we can now look ahead first to the British Academy Film Awards on 12th February, and then of course the Academy Awards at the end of the month on 26th February. You can be sure that we’ll be bringing you all the winners as they come.

If, like me, you didn’t get a chance to see The Help when it came out last year, you can look forward to its release on DVD/Blu-Ray just a few weeks after the Oscars on 12th March. I’ve heard largely nothing but great things about the film, and can’t wait for it to come out so that I can watch it. You can read our review of the film here. For now, here are the full results for your reading pleasure. And scroll on down to watch the acceptance speech from Davis and Spencer with the whole cast of The Help for the Best Ensemble.

 

FILM

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

  • The Help
  • The Artist
  • Bridesmaids
  • The Descendants
  • Midnight In Paris

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

  • Jean Dujardin – The Artist as George Valentin
  • Demián Bichir – A Better Life as Carlos Galindo
  • George Clooney – The Descendants as Matt King
  • Leonardo DiCaprio – J. Edgar as J. Edgar Hoover
  • Brad Pitt – Moneyball as Billy Beane

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

  • Viola Davis – The Help as Aibileen Clark
  • Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs as Albert Nobbs
  • Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher
  • Tilda Swinton – We Need to Talk About Kevin as Eva Khatchadourian
  • Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

  • Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal
  • Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier
  • Armie Hammer – J. Edgar as Clyde Tolson
  • Jonah Hill – Moneyball as Peter Brand
  • Nick Nolte – Warrior as Paddy Conlon

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

  • Octavia Spencer – The Help as Minny Jackson
  • Bérénice Bejo – The Artist as Peppy Miller
  • Jessica Chastain – The Help as Celia Foote
  • Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids as Megan
  • Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs as Hubert Page

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
  • The Adjustment Bureau
  • Cowboys & Aliens
  • Transformers: Dark of the Moon
  • X-Men: First Class

 

TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

  • Paul Giamatti – Too Big to Fail as Ben Bernanke
  • Laurence Fishburne – Thurgood as Thurgood Marshall
  • Greg Kinnear – The Kennedys as John F. Kennedy
  • Guy Pearce – Mildred Pierce as Monty Beragon
  • James Woods – Too Big to Fail as Richard Fuld

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

  • Kate Winslet – Mildred Pierce as Mildred Pierce
  • Diane Lane – Cinema Verite as Pat Loud
  • Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham
  • Emily Watson – Appropriate Adult as Janet Leach
  • Betty White – Hallmark Hall of Fame: The Lost Valentine as Caroline Thomas

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

  • Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire as Nucky Thompson
  • Patrick J. Adams – Suits as Mike Ross
  • Kyle Chandler – Friday Night Lights as Eric Taylor
  • Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad as Walter White
  • Michael C. Hall – Dexter as Dexter Morgan

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

  • Jessica Lange – American Horror Story as Constance Langdon
  • Kathy Bates – Harry’s Law as Harriet “Harry” Korn
  • Glenn Close – Damages as Patty Hewes
  • Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife as Alicia Florrick
  • Kyra Sedgwick – The Closer as Brenda Leigh Johnson

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

  • Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock as Jack Donaghy
  • Ty Burrell – Modern Family as Phil Dunphy
  • Steve Carell – The Office as Michael Scott
  • Jon Cryer – Two and a Half Men as Alan Harper
  • Eric Stonestreet – Modern Family as Cameron Tucker

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

  • Betty White – Hot in Cleveland as Elka Ostrovsky
  • Julie Bowen – Modern Family as Claire Dunphy
  • Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie as Jackie Peyton
  • Tina Fey – 30 Rock as Liz Lemon
  • Sofía Vergara – Modern Family as Gloria Delgado-Pritchett

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

  • Boardwalk Empire
  • Breaking Bad
  • Dexter
  • Game of Thrones
  • The Good Wife

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

  • Modern Family
  • 30 Rock
  • The Big Bang Theory
  • Glee
  • The Office

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

  • Game of Thrones
  • Dexter
  • Southland
  • Spartacus: Gods of the Arena
  • True Blood

 

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