The New York Times-20080128-Stars Seize Their Chance to Shine at SAG Awards

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Stars Seize Their Chance to Shine at SAG Awards

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There is no show business without a show. And so, in a year when a writers' strike has all but shut down much of Hollywood, the Screen Actors Guild Awards -- as anonymous in most years as Cop No. 3 in a summer blockbuster -- took top billing Sunday and drew an inordinate amount of star wattage.

The Golden Globes ran in diminished form this year and the Oscars broadcast is still in question, making the SAG presentation at the Shrine Auditorium the first and perhaps only chance this year for Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchett, Tommy Lee Jones and George Clooney to walk the red carpet and talk about whose fashions they were wearing and what they have been doing without any new scripts to read.

But once the awards ceremony started, it began to seem like the old Hollywood still prevailed. The first three awards of the evening went to cast members of The Sopranos, with James Gandolfini winning for best male actor in a drama series and Edie Falco taking the award for 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. It is bittersweet because the show is over, but we are happy that we won, Steven R. Schirripa, who played Bobby Baccalieri on the series, told reporters backstage. It was a final moment of recognition for a show that many believed to be the best on television. Only about a half-hour earlier, Mr. Gandolfini had walked down the red carpet all but unnoticed, wearing a beard and a look of weariness at having to put on his Sopranos persona one final time, almost a decade after the series took to the air.

The awards for film, which dominated the second half of the ceremony, seemed like a possible preview of the Oscars -- or perhaps a replacement, depending on whether that awards show makes it to the air next month. The Writers Guild has threatened to picket the awards and has so far refused to grant a waiver to allow union writers to work on the show.

Each of the winning actors Sunday is also nominated for an Oscar in a similar category. Daniel Day-Lewis won for best male actor in a leading role for There Will Be Blood and dedicated his award to Heath Ledger, the star of Brokeback Mountain, who died last week in New York.

Asked backstage about his remarks, Mr. Day-Lewis said he had never met Mr. Ledger but was nevertheless struck hard by his death. I suppose that's all I've been thinking about for the last few days, he said.

Julie Christie won for best female actor for her role in Away From Her, a performance that made her an early favorite for the Oscar. In a nod to the current labor troubles, Ms. Christie noted that it was wonderful to receive an award from one's own union, especially at a time when we're being so forcefully reminded how important unions are.

No Country for Old Men, a bloody modern-day western, won two awards, for best performance by a cast in a motion picture and for best supporting male actor, a prize that went to Javier Bardem for his portrayal of the murderous Anton Chigurh. Accepting the ensemble award on behalf of the cast, Josh Brolin thanked the film's creators, Joel and Ethan Coen, whom he called freaky little people who made a freaky little movie.

Ruby Dee won for best female supporting actress in American Gangster. The ratings-challenged NBC series 30 Rock also 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.

Ms. Fey, who is both an actor and a writer and who has been a highly visible presence on the picket lines, was the first winner to address the writers' strike onstage. I want to thank everyone is SAG for being so supportive of the Writers Guild of America, she said.

The cast of The Office won for best television comedy ensemble. Queen Latifah was named best female actor in a television movie or mini-series for Life Support, and Kevin Kline won in the male version of that category for As You Like It.

Remarks by individual winners aside, the telecast tried to tread delicately around the fact that, in a season of labor strife, this was an awards ceremony sponsored by a labor union.

Some actors who also serve as writers wore silver and black lapel buttons with the initials W.G.A., 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 down that production, turning it into little more than a press conference.

It was not as if Sunday's awards show put a lot of writers back to work, however. Unlike most awards shows, the Screen Actors Guild Awards presentation does not use a master of ceremonies and therefore employed only one writer.

Asked if he would honor picket lines and refuse to attend the Oscars, Mr. Day-Lewis said he would abide by the decision of the Screen Actors Guild. Whatever decision they make is the right one as far as I'm concerned, he said.

Christina Applegate, star of the ABC series Samantha Who?, said in an interview on the red carpet that she was hoping that the actors union would not begin its own strike when its contract is up at the end of June.

Noting that the strike has caused collateral damage to thousands of people in Los Angeles -- seamstresses, caterers, dry cleaners and the like -- she said, I don't think we can hurt them anymore.

[Illustration]PHOTOS: BEST FILM CAST: Josh Brolin, foreground, with Garrett Dillahunt, Woody Harrelson, Tess Harper, Javier Bardem and Tommy Lee Jones, collecting the ensemble award Sunday for No Country for Old Men at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK J. TERRILL/ASSOCIATED PRESS) (pg. E1); FEMALE ACTOR, LEADING ROLE: Julie Christie for Away From Her. (PHOTOGRAPH BY DANNY MOLOSHOK/REUTERS)(pg. E1); MALE ACTOR, LEADING ROLE: Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood. (PHOTOGRAPH BY DANNY MOLOSHOK/REUTERS)(pg. E1); FEMALE ACTOR, SUPPORTING ROLE: Ruby Dee for American Gangster. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK J. TERRILL/ASSOCIATED PRESS)(pg. E1); MALE ACTOR, SUPPORTING ROLE: Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MARK J. TERRILL/ASSOCIATED PRESS)(pg. E1); An image of Heath Ledger, shown Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild Awards during a memorial to the actor, who died last week in New York. (PHOTOGRAPH BY MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS)(pg. E5); Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Ellen Page and Marion Cotillard on the red carpet. (pg. E5)