Seriously, can anyone stop “The King’s Speech?” At this Sunday’s Screen Actor Guild Awards, the British World War II drama was crowned the night’s biggest winner, picking up the award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. With its win, “The King Speech,” inches closer to winning the Best Picture award later this month at the Oscars and finally has an advantage going into the Oscars over its award season rival, “The Social Network.”
The Facebook themed flick fell further behind in the Oscar race as it came out of the SAG awards without even winning an award. Even though the movie was nominated for three of the five awards that the SAGs give film, neither the cast, Andrew Garfield, nor Jessie Eisenberg could walk away with a coveted “actor” trophy.
The night included a slue of moments that are sure to be remembered. One of the Screen Actor Guild Awards’ most formidable moments came when comedy legend Betty White received the award for Outstanding Female Actor in a Comedy Series in the television category. White, who was just as surprised as I was in regards to her win, accepted her award with a look of absolute shock on her face. It was great to see White win a SAG award, with a portfolio of work that spans decades of time; the Hollywood hall of famer delivered one of the night’s most humble speeches.
Almost slating herself as the Oscar front-runner for Best Actress, Natalie Portman finally had a chance to face her biggest competition, Annette Benning, in the same category. The two talented actresses have been splitting awards left and right between each other and are head to head competitors for the Oscars’ biggest award for a female. Much to Benning’s dismay, Portman walked away victorious at Sunday’s award show, winning the actor trophy and leaving Benning smiling politely and clapping with class.
Another actor that wrapped up their campaign for an Oscar was Collin Firth. Firth arose victorious Sunday night winning the trophy for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor. Beating heavyweights like James Franco and Jessie Eisenberg, Collin Firth’s role as the stammering King George VI proved to be preferred performance among his group of peers.
Following in Firth’s and Portman’s footsteps, “The Fighter’s” Chrisitan Bale and Mellisa Leo both came closer to their Oscar awards by winning their categories as well. Both Bale and Leo are now favorites to win the supporting acting roles at the Oscars later this month.
In the television categories, the Mark Whalberg produced prohibition era HBO drama “Boardwalk Empire,” won the night’s top award for a dramatic show. Steve Buscemi also picked up an acting trophy for his role in the show, adding to his Golden Globe win as well.
A surprising snub came when “The Office’s” Steve Carrell, who announced he was foregoing his role as Micheal Scott, lost the Best Actor in a comedy award to network rival Alec Baldwin.
The family centered comedy, “Modern Family,” won top prize for Best Television Comedy.
As a whole, the Screen Actor Guild Awards basically acted the last hurdle for those looking to win an Oscar and a victory lap for the world of television. However, the night still delivered its fair share of memorable moments and played as the final flame to heat up this year’s Oscar race for Best Picture.
