Star Guild Awards 2014
Catherine Rubeo
Popular musical romance "A Star Is Born" - featuring the powerhouse duo of Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga - leads the field for Sunday's Screen Actors Guild Awards, which are seen as a major predictor of Oscars success.
"A Star Is Born," the latest iteration of the classic Tinseltown story of an aging star and the ingenue he discovers, earned four SAG nominations for Cooper, Gaga, Sam Elliott and best ensemble cast - the top prize.
And superhero juggernaut "Black Panther" could pull a major upset in the best ensemble category - giving its star-studded cast the chance to give the signature "Wakanda Forever" salute from the stage.
But she ultimately put her money on "BlacKkKlansman," which is based on the true story of a black cop who successfully infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan with the help of his white partner, who acts as his surrogate.
She notes it's the only film to earn nominations at all the major awards shows and in the key categories, while acknowledging: "We all must agree that it's a weird year and stats don't matter."
Sure bets and toss-ups
In the individual races, best actress is seen by industry experts as a near-lock for Glenn Close, who has taken home a Golden Globe and a Critics' Choice Award so far for her work in "The Wife."
In the supporting acting categories, Mahershala Ali ("Green Book") is expected to continue his march to the Oscars, but the actress trophy is a toss-up, as early favorite Regina King ("If Beale Street Could Talk") is not nominated.
The awards took place before an audience of more than 900, including guild members, industry executives and press. Julie Socash, President, andRandy Sayer, Business Representative, presided over the awards ceremony. Returning again as producer of this year's MUAHS Awards(#MUAHSawards) wasErick Weiss of Honeysweet Creative.
Thomas Burman, Emmy-winning make-up artist, was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Make-upcelebrating his award-winning career in motion pictures and television for over five decades. He has won seven Emmy Awards, received 31 Emmy nominations, and one Oscar nomination, among many other accolades. His honor was presentedby Vincent Van Dyke, Emmy-winningMake-up and Prosthetic Artist (Star Trek: Picard).
Martin Samuel,Oscar-nominated film and celebrity hair stylistreceived the Lifetime Achievement Award for Hair Styling applauding his career spanning the last 40 years and credited with more than 60 films, including three Oscar nominations. Presenting his award was Michael Apted, English director, producer, writer and actor and past president of the Directors Guild of America.
The Screen Actor's Guild is the union foractors. If you don't have a SAG card in Hollywood, you don't work.These awards are unique, insofar as they honor strictly performers,and because all 160,000 members of the actors' union get to vote on whowill take home the awards.
In 2015, presentersincluded Benedict Cumberbatch, Julia Roberts, Bryan Cranston, CarrieFisher, Matthew McConaughey, Emma Stone, Michael Keaton, Viola Davis,Eddie Redmayne and Adrien Brody, among others.
Presenters in 2014 included Robert De Niro, Jennifer Lawrence, Morgan Freeman, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Oprah Winfrey, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tina Fey, Kevin Spacey, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Matthew McConaughey, Emma Thompson, Amy Adams and Bradley Cooper, among others.
Presenters in 2013 included Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Nicole Kidman, Justin Timberlake, Hugh Jackman, Neil Patrick Harris, Anne Hathaway, Alec Baldwin, Viola Davis, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Carl Reiner, Taye Diggs, Kerry Washington, Naomi Watts, Sigourney Weaver, Amy Poehler and Noah Wyle, among others.
While tickets to the awards show inside the Shrinearen't available to the general public (just to SAG members), ticketsto the fan bleachers outside, on the red carpet, were previously distributed for freeby Audiences Unlimited.(You would send them your mailing address, and they would send your ticketsin the mail.)
In 2011, presenters included Natalie Portman, Justin Timberlake, Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Amy Adams, Jeff Bridges, Helena Bonham Carter, Jon Hamm, Donald Sutherland, Mark Wahlberg, Jason Bateman, Hilary Swank, Jesse Eisenberg, Annette Bening, Alec Baldwin, Jesse Eisenberg, Sofia Vergara, Mila Kunis, Scott Bakula, Taye Diggs, Tina Fey, Cory Monteith, Amy Poehler, Eva Longoria, Dennis Haysbert, Geoffrey Rush, Susan Sarandon and Betty White.
Presenters in 2010 included: Sandra Bullock,George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Alec Baldwin,Justin Timberlake, Kyra Sedgwick, Ray Romano, Felicity Huffman AnnaPaquin, Jane Lynch, Michelle Monaghan & Chris ODonnell.
Presenters in 2009 includedAnthony Hopkins, Katie Holmes, Amy Adams, Ralph Fiennes, Claire Danes,Eric McCormack, Susan Sarandon, William Shatner, Marisa Tomei, JoshBrolin, Christina Applegate, Ernest Borgnine, Amy Poehler, Kyra Sedgwickand Forest Whitaker.
Perhaps because it takes place right before the Oscars(while the Academy is still deciding on who will be the winners), the starsare particularly friendly to the crowds in the bleachers at the SAG Awards.Celebrities as big as Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Noah Wyle and MartinSheen took the time to come over to the bleachers and shake hands withthe public. That's not something you see at many award shows.
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Oscar hopes for "Birdman" got an enormous updraft over the weekend with big wins from the acting and producing guilds, possibly sending the comedy soaring over the perceived Academy Awards front-runner "Boyhood."
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's elegantly crafted backstage romp won best ensemble Sunday night at the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild, a day after it also won the top honor at the Producer Guild Awards. Both guilds are seen as highly predictive of which film will triumph at the Oscars, which will be held Feb. 22.
Richard Linklater's "Boyhood," the acclaimed indie made with the unprecedented real-life time-elapse of 12 years, has long held as the awards seasons favorite. But "Birdman" fills the role of a classic Oscar winner, like "Shakespeare in Love," as a celebration of showbiz. Its fortunes look especially bright considering the last seven Producers Guild Awards winners have also won best picture at the Academy Awards.
"Actors love this movie for showing the courage actors have to kind of go out there and lay it on the line," ''Birdman" star Michael Keaton said backstage at the SAG Awards. He accepted the best ensemble award with his co-stars including Emma Stone, Edward Norton and Zach Galifianakis.
Moore, widely considered the best-actress favorite, won most outstanding actress for "Still Alice," in which she plays an academic with early onset Alzheimer's Disease. Accepting the award, she recalled an early lesson on the soap opera "As the World Turns," in which she played twin sisters, good and evil.
"All of us actors are supporting actors," said Simmons, a veteran character actor. "Each of us is essential, completely crucial to the story because if there's one false moment, the train comes off the rails."
"Boyhood" star Arquette added the latest in a nearly uninterrupted string of supporting actress awards. "This little movie is about human beings and it's about bringing real life onto the screen," she said backstage.
The predictive powers of the SAGs have been more checkered in matching its top award with eventual best-picture Oscar winners. In the last six years, SAG best-ensemble and Academy Award best-picture winners have lined up three times ("Argo," ''The King's Speech" and "Slumdog Millionaire"), while diverging just as often. Last year, the actors chose "American Hustle" over eventual Oscar winner "12 Years a Slave"; in 2011, they picked "The Help" over "The Artist"; and in 2009, "Inglourious Basterds" defeated "The Hurt Locker."
So Sunday's SAG Awards made two things clear: the Oscar race will be a nail-biter that likely pits "Birdman" against "Boyhood"; and the other best source of drama will probably be Keaton and Redmayne vying for best actor.
Sunday's show kicked things off with a pair of wins for the Netflix prison series "Orange Is the New Black," honoring it as best ensemble in a comedy and naming Uzo Aduba most outstanding actress in a comedy series. Abuda won over a number of veteran stars, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Veep") and Edie Falco ("Nurse Jackie").
Two actors who usually reside on the big screen won the SAG awards for performances in a miniseries or TV movie: Mark Ruffalo (for HBO's "A Normal Heart") and Frances McDormand (for HBO's "Olive Kitteredge"). Kevin Spacey ("House of Cards"), William H. Macy ("Shameless") and Viola Davis ("How to Get Away With Murder") also collected awards.
Debbie Reynolds, the "Singin' in the Rain" star, was honored with the SAG lifetime achievement award, which her daughter, Carrie Fisher, presented. The 82-year-old Reynolds embarrassed Fisher with a story, recalling that her bun in the famous musical led her to warn her daughter ahead of playing Princess Leia in "Star Wars."
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