Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker Top SAG Awards
Helen Mirren and Forest Whitaker once again took the top acting prizes at the Screen Actors Guild Awards at the weekend.
Mirren won best actress for her role as Elizabeth II in The Queen, whilst Whitaker was named best actor for his portrayal of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Both are British films.
The road-trip comedy Little Miss Sunshine won the award for best ensemble cast, while the best supporting actor and actress gongs both went to stars of the musical Dreamgirls, Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson.
Accepting her award, Mirren joked the main obstacle for her to overcome with regard to playing Elizabeth II was the monarch’s conservative wardrobe.
“I thought, I can’t play anyone who chooses to wear those clothes. I just can’t do it,” said Mirren, who also won the award for best actress in Elizabeth I, in which she played another famous queen of England.
“But I learned to love the person who chooses to wear those clothes, because I learned to love a person without vanity, but with a great sense of discipline that I understand. With a great sense of duty that I understand. And with a great deal of courage, and that I understand.”
Mirren also picked up the award for best actress in a TV series for playing Elizabeth I. Her co-star, Jeremy Irons, got a gong for his portrayal of the Tudor monarch’s lover, the Earl of Leicester.
Fellow Briton Hugh Laurie was honoured for his role as cantankerous Dr Gregory House in US TV drama House.
Backstage, Mirren said: “It’s been the most incredible year for me, ever. That’s been amazing at this end of my life.”
The Queen and Little Miss Sunshine are both up for best picture at the Academy Awards, which this year will take place on February 25. Also in the running are the dramas The Departed, Babel and Letters From Iwo Jima.
Eddie Murphy told reporters that the cast of Dreamgirls were pleased with their eight Oscar nominations but disappointed to have been missed off the list for best picture.
“We got eight nominations, that was a great thing. We were happy about that,” he said. “I was so happy to be nominated, I wasn’t feeling disappointment about anything. I was caught off guard that we didn’t get nominated for best picture but I’ve just been happy, non-stop happy.”
