SAG Awards: Impressions from the Red Carpet

The SAG Awards sparkled. Women in beautiful dresses, perfectly accessorized; men crisply attired in suits or tuxes; and flash cameras and video everywhere—it was quite a scene. There was drama …

… and romance:

Boldface names made their way down the red carpet: the bolder the name, the faster they moved. Oops, there went Brad Pitt (Benjamin Button). Too late. But Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) did pause for a moment:

He picked up an award later that evening for male actor in a comedy series. Meanwhile, the unofficial award for cutest kids went to the ones playing adman Don Draper’s children in Mad Men. Kiernan Shipka looks sweet …

… but advised me that if she won an award (she did, as part of an ensemble), it would go next to her Tae Kwon Do trophies. Easy there tiger! Meanwhile, her cast-mate and fellow winner Aaron Hart is a handsome little fellow …

… but he hasn’t let success go to his towhead: when I asked what actors he admires, he said he doesn’t want to be an actor when he grows up. He didn’t offer an alternative though, so maybe he’ll reconsider. Other sightings on the red carpet included Maulik Pancholy (30 Rock & Weeds), who won an award as part of the 30 Rock ensemble:

...Charles Carver & Max Carver (Desperate Housewives):

... and several Dexter cast members:

Finally, we swept ourselves off the red carpet and into the depths of the Shrine Auditorium. The awards show began, and proved early on that it would move at a brisk clip. House’s Hugh Laurie had one of the best lines of night, commenting that he “actually had $100 on [fellow nominee] James Spader. This is just not my night.” But, of course, it was his night, and many other winners’ and nominees’ as well. Among the winners was a happy Laura Linney:

SAG politics weren’t completely absent from the festivities, of course. Alec Baldwin and Sally Field both took home statues, despite being targets of a blacklist aimed at nominees who opposed the union’s position on a strike authorization. Field may have had this in mind during her acceptance speech, since she made a point to mention her 45 years as an actor, her stepfather’s and mother’s careers as actors, and, indeed, her stepfather’s service on the SAG board back when Ronald Reagan was president (of the Guild, not of the country).

SAG’s current president, Alan Rosenberg, touched on union politics too—but not SAG politics—saying that “We look forward to the day when all workers have a free choice to join a union.” That’s an allusion to the Employee Free Choice Act—proposed legislation that would make it easier to unionize.

At the end of the ceremony came the big awards, for motion picture cast (Slumdog Millionaire):

... male lead, Sean Penn (Milk), who looked like he wished he were somewhere else:

... and female lead, Meryl Streep (Doubt), who chatted on the phone with someone who was somewhere else:

The evening ended with the obligatory after-party. Notables seen amid the crush included Alec Baldwin, Anthony Hopkins, and SAG National Executive Director Doug Allen.

———————–

Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about SAG, or digital media law generally. Go to the blog itself to subscribe via RSS or email. Or, follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, or subscribe to my Huffington Post articles.

———————–

15th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS® RECIPIENTS

THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

SEAN PENN Harvey Milk "MILK" Focus Features

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

MERYL STREEP Sister Aloysius Beauvier "DOUBT" Miramax Films

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

HEATH LEDGER Joker "THE DARK KNIGHT" Warner Bros. Pictures

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

KATE WINSLET Hanna Schmitz "THE READER" The Weinstein Company

Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture

"SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE" Fox Searchlight Pictures

RUBINA ALI Youngest Latika
TANAY HEMANT CHHEDA Middle Jamal
ASHUTOSH LOBO GAJIWALA Middle Salim
AZHARUDDIN MOHAMMED ISMAIL Youngest Salim
ANIL KAPOOR Prem
IRRFAN KHAN Police Inspector
AYUSH MAHESH KHEDEKAR Youngest Jamal
TANVI GANESH LONKAR Middle Latika
MADHUR MITTAL Oldest Salim
DEV PATEL Older Jamal
FREIDA PINTO Older Latika

PRIMETIME TELEVISION

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

PAUL GIAMATTI John Adams "JOHN ADAMS" HBO

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

LAURA LINNEY Abigail Adams "JOHN ADAMS" HBO

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

HUGH LAURIE Gregory House "HOUSE" FOX

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

SALLY FIELD Nora Walker "BROTHERS & SISTERS" ABC

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

ALEC BALDWIN Jack Donaghy "30 ROCK" NBC

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

TINA FEY Liz Lemon "30 ROCK" NBC

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

"MAD MEN " AMC

BRYAN BATT Salvatore Romano
ALISON BRIE Trudy Campbell
MICHAEL GLADIS Paul Kinsey
JON HAMM Don Draper
CHRISTINA HENDRICKS Joan Holloway
JANUARY JONES Betty Draper
VINCENT KARTHEISER Pete Campbell
MARK MOSES Herman “Duck” Phillips
ELISABETH MOSS Peggy Olson
JOHN SLATTERY Roger Sterling
RICH SOMMER Harry Crane
AARON STATON Ken Cosgrove

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

"30 ROCK" NBC

SCOTT ADSIT Pete Hornberger
ALEC BALDWIN Jack Donaghy
KATRINA BOWDEN Cerie
TINA FEY Liz Lemon
JUDAH FRIEDLANDER Frank Rossitano
JANE KRAKOWSKI Jenna Maroney
JACK McBRAYER Kenneth Parcell
TRACY MORGAN Tracy Jordan
MAULIK PANCHOLY Jonathan
KEITH POWELL Toofer

SAG HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

"THE DARK KNIGHT" (Warner Bros. Pictures)

WADE ALLEN

RICK AVERY
DEAN BAILEY
RICHARD BURDEN
FRANK CALZAVARA
MARK CHADWICK
BRIAN CHRISTENSEN
GEORGE COTTLE
TOBIASZ DASKIEWICZ
JUSTO DIEGUEZ
MARIE FINK
JEAN-PIERRE GOY
MARK HARPER
ADAM HART
JAMES HEISNER
SY HOLLANDS
TERRY JACKSON
PAUL JENNINGS
LUKE KEARNEY
MATT LeFEVOUR
RICK LeFEVOUR
TOM LOWELL
TONY LUCKEN
DANIEL MALDONADO
JON MALDONADO
JAMES MAMMOSER
KEVIN MATHEWS
TOM McCOMAS
TIM McHENRY
NATALIE M. MEYER
RICK MILLER
MARK MOTTRAM
CHRIS NOLTE
ANDY NORMAN
CARL PAOLI
LINDA PERLIN
BRIAN PETERS
SCOTT PHILYAW
BUSTER REEVES
KEN REMER
RICHARD RYAN
JEFF SHANNON
KEVIN SORENSEN
JODI STARNES
TOM STRUTHERS
TODD ROGERS TERRY
JIM WILKEY
RICH WILKIE

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

"HEROES" (NBC)

ROBERT ALONZO
HEATHER ARTHUR
ALLISON CAETANO
CHRIS CARNEL
DANE FARWELL
TIM GILBERT
TROY GILBERT
RYAN JAMES HAPPY
CHRIS HOWELL
HORACE KNIGHT
WILL LEONG
JIM LEWIS
RICK MARCUS
AUSTIN PRIESTER
SIMON RHEE
MARK RICCARDI
PAT ROMANO
SPIKE SILVER
LEE SMITH
ERIK STABENAU
NANCY THURSTON
XUYEN “SAMMY” VALDIVIA
MARK WAGNER
MARCUS YOUNG

Screen Actors Guild Awards 45th Annual Life Achievement Award

James Earl Jones

SAG Awardsgate: Frances Fisher Makes Amends

Last week’s flap over politicization of the SAG Awards seems so, well, last week, what with the marathon SAG Board meeting earlier this week that started on Monday, ground on into the night, and ended 28 hours later as a failed attempt at union democracy, the moderate majority thwarted by an endless filibuster.

In any case, if you still remember the brouhaha, you’ll recall that it revolved around two anonymous emails that were forwarded by Frances Fisher to various people. When I wrote my piece on this incident, I emailed Fisher for comment, but received none as of press time.

Thus, it was almost a blast from the past to finally receive an email from Fisher this morning, responding to my five-day old email by promising that I’d receive yet another email, this one from her publicist. Late in the afternoon, the promised email arrived. Here it is:

Please see the following statement below from Frances Fisher to be released as a statement from her and her publicist, Elizabeth Much.

My intention in forwarding the anonymous emails regarding the SAG Awards was to alert my private email list of opinions and feelings that were circulating. Artistic merit should be the only criteria for award selection. I apologize directly to Josh Brolin, Kevin Spacey, Susan Sarandon, Michael C. Hall, Sally Field, Alec Baldwin, Steve Carell and Tony Shalhoub for any discomfort my actions may have caused. My desire is to serve my Guild in the most professional and upstanding manner that the membership and creative community deserves.

Frances Fisher

————

Subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about SAG, or digital media law generally. Go to the blog itself to subscribe via RSS or email. Or, follow me on Twitter, friend me on Facebook, or subscribe to my Huffington Post articles.

SAG A-List Blacklist

The dark times at SAG just got darker. This time, the culprit is an email being circulated that advocates a No vote on awards for stars who oppose a strike authorization. Among the targets: Alec Baldwin, Josh Brolin, Steve Carell, Sally Field, Michael C. Hall, Susan Sarandon, Tony Shalhoub, and Kevin Spacey. The email urges SAG members not to vote for those stars in the upcoming SAG awards, for which they’ve been nominated.

Meanwhile, in another sign of how SAG politics have divided Hollywood, a rally is set for this Monday, January 12, at the commencement of the SAG national board meeting in LA. The rally, occurring 8:30 a.m. at SAG’s 5757 Wilshire Blvd. headquarters, is organized by location manager and Teamsters member Scott Bigbee, in support of SAG actors who oppose a strike. Bigbee notes that the rally is not organized by the Teamsters union itself, and is hoping that attendees will include members of all Hollywood unions and others who would be affected by a strike.

The author of the blacklist email is unknown, although one prominent SAG board member, Frances Fisher, did forward the email to some SAG members. Fisher apparently forwarded the email without comment, and told another SAG member that she was not taking a position on the email’s proposed tactic. In that case, it is unclear why she forwarded the email. An attempt to reach Fisher via email was unsuccessful as of the time this article was posted.

For its part, SAG itself came out against the email. The Guild’s Awards Show Committee stated that the SAG Awards have “always been and will always remain non-political,” and added that it was “unfortunate that a few people have chosen to attempt to politicize” the awards.

At least one recipient of the email, Julie Garfield, compared it to the 1940’s-50’s blacklist of alleged communists in Hollywood—a blacklist that brought down her father, leading man John Garfield, and, apparently, contributed to his death of a heart attack at age 39. That blacklist involved investigation by Congress’s House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) and wiretaps and surveillance by government agents.

The comparison seems a bit extreme, with all respect to Julie and her family’s heartrending experience, but the point is not lost: for someone (anonymous, no less) to urge a blacklist of fellow actors for taking a legitimate position on a union issue seems inimical to the spirit of the SAG Awards and the principle that unions are supposed to (try to) unite. It’s a sign how divided the Guild is that the pro-strikers’ bare knuckle politics have led to this.

I’ll be speaking more about SAG this Thursday, on the Ninety Nine Seats podcast. You can also subscribe to my blog (jhandel.com) for more about SAG, or digital media law generally. Go to the blog itself to subscribe via RSS or email. You can also follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook, or subscribe to my Huffington Post articles.