The cast of "The Help" accepts the outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture award at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Jan. 29, 2012, in Los Angeles.
(Credit: Getty) (CBS/AP) "The Help" took home three top honors at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday: best picture, best actress for Viola Davis and supporting actress for Octavia Spencer.
SAG Awards 2012: Complete list of winnersPictures: SAG Awards red carpet 2012Pictures: SAG Awards 2012 show highlightsPictures: SAG Awards 2012 press roomRead more: SAG Awards: A menu fit for a star French actor Jean Dujardin scored the lead actor award for the black-and-white silent film, "The Artist."
Veteran actor Christopher Plummer took home the first acting honor of the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards: outstanding male actor in a supporting role for "Beginners." "I'm so flattered to be on the same bill" as the other actors in the category, Plummer, 82, said while accepting the honor, adding that his co-star Ewan McGregor makes "acting look so easy."
Octavia Spencer scored outstanding female actress in a supporting role for "The Help."
"30 Rock" star Alec Baldwin and Betty White of "Hot in Cleveland" won the best acting in a TV comedy series awards. During her speech, the 90-year-old White said, "I remember you sweetheart," while touching the trophy. The cast of "Modern Family" took home outstanding ensemble in a comedy series, and it was the younger actors who got the chance to accept the award.
Kate Winslet, who wasn't present to accept the award, won outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or miniseries for her role in "Mildred Pierce." Paul Giamatti, also absent, won the TV mini-series/movie actor award for "Too Big to Fail."
The "Bridesmaids" cast caught some laughs for their "Scorsese" drinking game sketch. Every time director Martin Scorsese's name gets mentioned, it's time to take a swig -- and the girls, including Melissa McCarthy (with drink in hand) managed to utter Scorsese quite a few times while on the stage.
Jessica Lange scored the honor for female actor in a TV drama series for "American Horror Story, while "Boardwalk Empire" star Steve Buscemi won the best male actor trophy for TV drama series. He thanked all of his cast members, including the ones who got killed off last season.
"Please stop yelling at me on the street," he said referring to reaction from the show's fans about the season finale. Buscemi returned to the stage with the cast of "Boardwalk Empire" to accept the award for outstanding ensemble in a TV drama series.
French actor Jean Dujardin took home the lead actor trophy for his role in the black-and-white silent film, "The Artist." He talked about how he was a bad student growing up and said, "Thank you for this dream."
The awards kicked off Sunday with a couple of pre-show honors. The "Harry Potter" finale has earned some love from Hollywood's top acting union, winning the award for best big-screen stunt ensemble Sunday. The win for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" was a final triumph for the fantasy franchise that concluded last summer after a run of eight blockbusters. Winning the TV stunt ensemble prize was "Game of Thrones." The stunt awards were announced on the arrivals red carpet before the show began.
Receiving the guild's life-achievement award was Mary Tyler Moore. The prize was presented by Dick Van Dyke, her co-star on the 1960s sitcom "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
"I love that woman," Van Dyke said during his introduction. "Beautiful and bright and talented ... She's given so much of herself to help other people."
The SAG Actor honors are handed out to both television and film actors; winners are chosen by their acting peers.
Going into the evening, the Deep South drama "The Help" led the with four nominations. "The Artist" was second with three nominations.
The winners at the SAG ceremony typically go on to earn Oscars. 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."
The same generally holds true for the weekend's other big Hollywood honors, the Directors Guild of America Awards, where Michel Hazanavicius won the feature-film prize Saturday for "The Artist." The Directors Guild winner has gone on to earn the best-director Oscar 57 times in the 63-year history of the union's awards show.
SAG also presents an award for overall cast performance, a prize that's loosely considered the ceremony's equivalent of a best-picture honor. However, the cast award has a spotty record at predicting what will win best picture at the Oscars.
While "The King's Speech" won both honors a year ago, the SAG cast recipient has gone on to claim the top Oscar only eight times in the 16 years since the guild added the category.
