SAG Awards boost Oscar chances for 2 stars of ‘The Help’
January 29, 2012 10:24PM
Updated: March 1, 2012 8:41AM
The Deep South drama “The Help” won three prizes Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, including best actress for Viola Davis and supporting actress for Octavia Spencer.
“The Help” also claimed the guild’s ensemble award, the equivalent of a best-picture prize.
Davis and Spencer won for playing maids going public with uneasy truths about their employers in 1960s Mississippi.
Jean Dujardin won the lead-actor honor for “The Artist” as a silent-film superstar whose career crumbles when the sound era arrives. Christopher Plummer won for supporting actor as an elderly dad who comes out as gay in “Beginners.”
The wins boost the actors’ prospects for the same honors at the Feb. 26 Academy Awards. All four acting recipients at SAG last year later took home Oscars: Colin Firth for “The King’s Speech,” Natalie Portman for “Black Swan” and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for “The Fighter.”
Plummer would become the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar at age 82, two years older than Jessica Tandy when she won best actress for “Driving Miss Daisy.”
Spencer had a breakout role in “The Help.”
“I’m going to dedicate this to the downtrodden, the under-served, the underprivileged, overtaxed — whether emotionally, physically or financially,” Spencer said.
On the TV side, comedy awards went to “Modern Family” for best ensemble; Alec Baldwin as best actor for “30 Rock”; and Betty White as best actress for “Hot in Cleveland.”
The TV drama show winners were Jessica Lange as best actress for “American Horror Story” and Steve Buscemi as best actor for “Boardwalk Empire,” which also won the ensemble prize.
AP
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