In a Surprise, SAG Chooses Johnny Depp as Best Actor
Johnny Depp, in a genuine upset, was named best lead male movie actor for his comedic turn as the flamboyant Capt. Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” on Sunday night at the 10th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Depp, a no-show at the ceremony, also is nominated for an Oscar, but has been considered a longshot for both awards. Fellow nominees Sean Penn, for “Mystic River,” and Bill Murray, for “Lost in Translation,” have won numerous critics groups awards as well as Golden Globes.
There was no surprise for outstanding female lead actress. Charlize Theron, who is considered the favorite for the Oscar, won for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in “Monster,” for which she gained more than 30 pounds and wore prosthetics.
SAG has proved a fairly reliable predictor of Oscar winners. Of the past 18 SAG winners in leading role categories, 12 have gone on to win Oscars. However, last year only Catherine Zeta-Jones went on to receive an Oscar, for supporting actress in “Chicago.”
Oscar nominee Tim Robbins received the nod for male actor in a supporting role for his performance as a grown-up victim of sexual abuse in “Mystic River.”
Robbins, who also won a Golden Globe, pointed out that many supporting actors have taken a financial hit in recent years because so many movie and television productions are being filmed outside the United States, and urged the membership to work to bring those runaway productions back home.
Renee Zellweger, last year’s winning female actor in a leading role for “Chicago,” was honored for her supporting performance in the Civil War epic “Cold Mountain.” Like Robbins, Zellweger received a Golden Globe, and is nominated for an Oscar in the supporting category.
In television categories, Kiefer Sutherland was named best male actor in a drama series for “24,” Fox’s real-time action thriller. Frances Conroy won in the female category as the mother of mortuary owners in HBO’s “Six Feet Under.”
Meryl Streep was named best female actor in a TV movie or miniseries for multiple roles in HBO’s “Angels in America,” and fellow cast member Al Pacino won the male actor award as the AIDS-ravaged attorney Roy Cohn in the acclaimed adaptation of Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway play.
Megan Mullally was voted best female actor in a comedy series for the second year for NBC’s “Will & Grace,” and Tony Shaloub won in the male category for USA’s “Monk.”
The two-hour SAG Awards ceremony at the Shrine Exposition Hall was telecast on cable’s TNT. Two randomly selected panels, totaling 4,200 members, chose the nominees. SAG’s entire active membership of about 98,000 voted for the winners. A complete list of winners follows:
Theatrical Motion Picture
* Male actor in a leading role: Johnny Depp, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”
* Female actor in a leading role: Charlize Theron, “Monster”
* Male actor in a supporting role: Tim Robbins, “Mystic River”
* Female actor in a supporting role: Renee Zellweger, “Cold Mountain”
* Ensemble of a theatrical motion picture: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
* Lifetime Achievement: Karl Malden
Television
* Male actor in a TV movie or miniseries: Al Pacino, “Angels in America”
* Female actor in a TV movie or miniseries: Meryl Streep, “Angels in America”
* Male actor in a drama series: Kiefer Sutherland, “24”
* Female actor in a drama series: Frances Conroy, “Six Feet Under”
* Male actor in a comedy series: Tony Shaloub, “Monk”
* Female actor in a comedy series: Megan Mullally, “Will & Grace”
* Ensemble of a drama series: “Six Feet Under”
* Ensemble of a comedy series: “Sex and the City”
