They’ve arrived

High above the glittering Hollywood & Highland shopping mall and its hordes of consumers, actress Maggie Gyllenhaal detailed her fascination with sadomasochism.

Outside the Highlands club on Sunday night, the delicate actress explained how she watched porn films to prepare for her role in “Secretary,” an especially challenging turn as a masochist that earned her a place among the winners of Movieline magazine’s Breakthrough Awards. “At first it was so incredibly intense,” she said of watching a porn actress degraded in various ways. “And then I realized she was totally overwhelmed ... and she was actually feeling something. I think it’s what everyone wants. To be overwhelmed.”

Gyllenhaal’s introspection was especially striking, as elsewhere around the nightclub celebrity worship seemed the prevalent mode.

Actress Laura Harring showed off her “exotic, Sri Lanka” jewelry to a group of adoring female friends. To the plumpest she clucked, “You’re so skinny!” Lili Taylor sank into one of the overstuffed leather couches in the lounge, popping up occasionally to pose with various party sponsors for a photographer.

George Clooney made his way into the party with Sam Rockwell, who was being honored for his role as game show host and self-described CIA assassin Chuck Barris in “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.” Waldo Sanchez tailed them, carrying a tiny film camera and headphones. He explained that after working as Clooney’s “hair designer” on “Confessions,” he became inspired by the actor’s directorial debut. So he started a documentary about it. “It’s kind of an appendage to the film,” Sanchez said.

The Breakthrough Awards are bestowed on actors and filmmakers for career-launching work by Movieline’s editors, who determine the winners after seeing 15-minute clips of each picture. Last year’s awards were the first, held primarily to mark the arrival of actress Naomi Watts, who struggled for years before finding a place in the spotlight in “Mulholland Drive.”

This year’s winners also included actors Derek Luke (“The Antwone Fisher Story”) and Salma Hayek (“Frida”), writer-director Joe Carnahan (“Narc”) and skateboard legend Tony Hawk (honored for his philanthropy and for starting his own film production company).

One of the more heartfelt thanks came from Luke to Denzel Washington, who cast the Sony Pictures Studios gift shop clerk as the star of “The Antwone Fisher Story,” Washington’s own directorial debut. “I came from the ‘hood and I never had any role models,” said Luke, holding back tears. “I’ve never won anything in my life.”