Screen Actors Guild awards glitter (original) (raw)

4 go to 'Sopranos'; peers honor several Oscar nominees
Edward Wyatt, New York Times
Published 4:00 a.m., Monday, January 28, 2008

There is no show business without a show. And so, in a year when a writers' strike has all but shut much of Hollywood, the Screen Actors Guild Awards took top billing Sunday and drew an inordinate amount of star wattage.

With the Golden Globes running in diminished form this year and the Oscars broadcast still in question, the red carpet before the SAG presentation was jammed right up until the start of the live broadcast, carried on the cable channels TNT and TBS. Several actors lamented that they had not worked in several months.

Once the awards ceremony started, it began to seem as if the old Hollywood still prevailed. The first three awards of the evening went to cast members of "The Sopranos," including James Gandolfini for best male actor in a drama series, his fourth award for the series, and Edie Falco winning her third as best female actor in a drama series. The entire cast then took the stage to receive the award for best ensemble in a drama series.

NBC sitcom "30 Rock" took two awards, with Tina Fey winning for best female actor in a comedy series and Alec Baldwin winning for best male actor in the same genre.

Other TV awards went to actor Kevin Kline for his performance in the film "As You Like It" and actress Queen Latifah for "Life Support."

The award for comedy series cast went to "The Office."

In the first movie award of the night, Javier Bardem won for his role in Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country for Old Men."

The film also won the cast award. On Saturday, "No Country" won top honors at the Directors Guild of America Awards for the Coen brothers; the winner there usually goes on to take home the directing Oscar.

Past Oscar winners Daniel Day-Lewis of "There Will Be Blood" and Julie Christie of "Away From Her" won the lead-acting honors, also giving them a boost to win the same trophies at the Oscars. Day-Lewis dedicated his win to Heath Ledger, who was found dead in his Manhattan loft last week.

Ruby Dee won supporting actress for "American Gangster." She shared fond thoughts of her late husband and frequent acting partner, Ossie Davis, who died in 2005.

The guild presented its life-achievement award to Charles Durning, whose credits include "The Sting," "Tootsie" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

The guild's first-ever prizes for best stunt ensemble went to "The Bourne Ultimatum" for films and "24" for TV before the ceremony began.

The opening of the telecast paid delicate attention to the fact that this was an awards ceremony sponsored by a labor union. In an opening montage, actors addressed the camera directly and talked about how they got started.

Some actors who also serve as writers wore silver and black lapel buttons with the initials WGA, signifying the Writers Guild of America, the union that has been on strike since Nov. 5.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards received a waiver from the Writers Guild and a promise that writers would not picket the show. It was the threat of pickets at the Golden Globes that essentially shut that production, turning it into little more than a press conference.