On January 25th some of the biggest names in Hollywood joined forces to celebrate the 21st Screen Actors Guild awards. Members of the Screen Actors Guild union voted for what they all agreed to be the best in film and television from this past year, fueling the fire of speculation to who will take home an Oscar. After a snub at the Golden Globes, Birdman won for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Diversity was a celebrated theme amongst television winners, with awards going to Viola Davis for How to Get Away With Murder and Uzo Aduba for Orange is the New Black.
The Untitled Magazine has put together a list of the 2015 winners.
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role:
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Eddie Redmayne has won the hearts of Hollywood and viewers alike. He took home the Best Actor Award for his shockingly realistic portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Along with thanking the real-life couple Stephen and Jane, the actor dedicated his award to those who suffer from ALS.
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role:
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash
J.K. Simmons took home the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role award for his role as a brutal music teacher in Whiplash.
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role:
Julianne Moore – Still Alice
Like Simmons, Julianne Moore continued her winning streak after taking home a Golden Globe of the same category for her highly-acclaimed depiction of Dr. Alice Howland, a mother and linguistics professor at Columbia University suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice.
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role:
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
With tears in her eyes Patricia Arquette accepted the award for her performance of a mother watching her son grow up in one of the past year’s most talked about films, Boyhood. Arquette thanked her real-life family. “I can’t tell you what this means to me. I’m a fourth-generation actor. My family has been committed to acting for over a century through feast or famine,” she said.
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture:
Birdman
Fueling Oscar win speculation, the cast of Birdman took the stage for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. The ambitious “dramedy” stars Michael Keaton as a former movie superhero betting his fledgling career on an odd Broadway play. “This is the ultimate team sport, what we are doing for a living. Every time I turned around, I ran into another tremendous actor,” said Keaton.
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Television Series:
Kevin Spacey – House of Cards
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor went to Kevin Spacey for his role of the ruthless politician Francis Underwood of South Carolina in House of Cards. Spacey had things other than Hollywood on his mind, the award-winning actor skipped the awards to watch his Arab students perform in Sharjah.
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Television Series:
Viola Davis – How to Get Away With Murder
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Television Series went to Viola Davis for her role as Annalise Keating, a seductive law professor in How to Get Away With Murder. Davis thanked the ABC show’s creator Shonda Rhimes, adding, “for thinking that a sexualized, messy, mysterious woman could be a 49-year-old dark-skinned African-American woman who looks like me.”
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Television Series:
William H. Macy – Shameless
William H. Macy’s comedy chops were celebrated for his role as a Frank Gallagher deadbeat single father of six in Showtime’s Shameless.
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Television Series:
Uzo Aduba – Orange is the New Black
Crowd favorite Uzo Aduba moved the audience to tears with her emotional acceptance speech for her performance as Crazy Eyes on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black.
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Television Series:
Downton Abbey
Period piece Downton Abbey stars took the stage for their win for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Television Series. They accepted the award relay-style. “Thank you so much to the Screen Actors Guild, SAG-AFTRA, for this — the best bad boy/bad girl award ever,” said Scottish actress Phyllis Logan.
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Television Series:
Orange is the New Black
Highlighting the year’s string of notable nods for women in entertainment industry, Orange is the New Black cast took the stage to collect the award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Television Series.
The Screen Actors Guild also honored Debbie Reynolds with a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild.
