Season 18
The Screen Actors Guild Awards (commonly referred to as the SAG Awards) is an American annual entertainment awards ceremony which exclusively honours performers, presenting awards for acting and stunt performing in film and television.
The SAG Awards were established in 1995 and have been held annually ever since. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor".
The SAG Awards were first broadcast in South Africa on M-Net on Monday 28 January, 2008, beginning with the 14th annual awards ceremony. They have been broadcast on DStv's M-Net Movies Premiere (formerly M-Net Movies 1) channel ever since.
The 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, honouring the best achievements in film and television performances for the year 2011, were presented on 29 January, 2012 at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California.
The 2012 awards aired live in South Africa on DStv's M-Net Movies 1 and M-Net Movies 1 HD on Monday 30 January 2012, at 03h00. They were repeated on the same day on both channels at 19h00. The special was two hours long.
2012 Winners
THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir / Carlos Galindo - "A Better Life"
George Clooney / Matt King - "The Descendants"
Leonardo DiCaprio / J. Edgar Hoover - "J. Edgar"
Jean Dujardin / George - "The Artist"
Brad Pitt / Billy Beane - "Moneyball"
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Glenn Close / Albert Nobbs - "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis / Aibileen Clark - "The Help"
Meryl Streep / Margaret Thatcher - "The Iron Lady"
Tilda Swinton / Eva - "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Michelle Williams / Marilyn Monroe - "My Week With Marilyn"
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh / Sir Laurence Olivier - "My Week With Marilyn"
Armie Hammer / Clyde Tolson - "J. Edgar"
Jonah Hill / Peter Brand - "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte / Paddy Conlon - "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer / Hal - "Beginners"
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo / Peppy - "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain / Celia Foote - "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy / Megan - "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer / Hubert Page - "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer / Minny Jackson - "The Help"
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Help
Midnight in Paris
PRIMETIME TELEVISION
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Laurence Fishburne / Thurgood Marshall - "Thurgood" (HBO)
Paul Giamatti / Ben Bernanke - "Too Big to Fail" (HBO)
Greg Kinnear / Jack Kennedy - "The Kennedys" (Reelz Channel)
Guy Pearce / Monty Beragon - "Mildred Pierce" (HBO)
James Woods / Richard Fuld - "Too Big to Fail" (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Diane Lane / Pat Loud - "Cinema Verite" (HBO)
Maggie Smith / Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham - "Downton Abbey" (PBS)
Emily Watson / Janet Leach - "Appropriate Adult" (Sundance Channel)
Betty White / Caroline Thomas - "Hallmark Hall of Fame: The Lost Valentine" (CBS)
Kate Winslet / Mildred Pierce - "Mildred Pierce" (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Patrick J. Adams / Mike Ross - "Suits" (USA Network)
Steve Buscemi / Enoch "Nucky" Thomson - "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO)
Kyle Chandler / Eric Taylor - "Friday Night Lights" (DirecTV)
Bryan Cranston / Walter White - "Breaking Bad" (AMC)
Michael C. Hall / Dexter Morgan - "Dexter" (Showtime)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Kathy Bates / Harriet Korn - "Harry's Law" (NBC)
Glenn Close / Patty Hewes - "Damages" (DirecTV)
Jessica Lange / Constance - "American Horror Story" (FX)
Julianna Margulies / Alicia Florrick - "The Good Wife" (CBS)
Kyra Sedgwick / Dept. Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson - "The Closer" (TNT)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin / Jack Donaghy - "30 Rock" (NBC)
Ty Burrell / Phil Dunphy - "Modern Family" (ABC)
Steve Carell / Michael Scott - "The Office" (NBC)
Jon Cryer / Alan Harper - "Two and a Half Men" (CBS)
Eric Stonestreet / Cameron Tucker - "Modern Family" (ABC)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Julie Bowen / Claire Dunphy - "Modern Family" (ABC)
Edie Falco / Jackie Peyton - "Nurse Jackie" (Showtime)
Tina Fey / Liz Lemon - "30 Rock" (NBC)
Sofia Vergara / Gloria Delgado-Pritchett - "Modern Family" (ABC)
Betty White / Elka Ostrovsky - "Hot in Cleveland" (TV Land)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Dexter (Showtime)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
The Good Wife (CBS)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
30 Rock (NBC)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Glee (FOX)
Modern Family (ABC)
The Office (NBC)
SAG HONOURS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
The Adjustment Bureau
Cowboys & Aliens
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
X-Men: First Class
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
Dexter (Showtime)
Game of Thrones (HBO)
Southland (TNT)
Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (Starz)
True Blood (HBO)
LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Screen Actors Guild Awards 48th Annual Life Achievement Award
Mary Tyler Moore
About the Awards
Lauded by critics for its style, simplicity and genuine warmth, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which made its debut in 1995, has become one of the industry's most prized honours.
The only televised awards shows to exclusively honour performers, it presents 13 awards for acting in film and television in a fast moving two-hour show.
The awards focus on both individual performances as well as on the work of the entire ensemble of a drama series and comedy series, and the cast of a motion picture. These honours are fundamental to the spirit of the Screen Actors Guild Awards because they recognise what all actors know – that acting is a collaborative art.
In that same spirit, the SAG Awards also commends the outstanding performances by film and television stunt ensembles. These accolades are announced from the SAG Awards red carpet during pre-show webcasts, which usually air live in South Africa on E! Entertainment.
Other highlights of the Screen Actors Guild Awards include the Life Achievement Award, presented to an established performer for fostering the highest ideals of the acting profession and tributes to the varied talents within the Guild's membership.
The Screen Actors Guild Awards are also unique in the size of its voting body. Two randomly selected panels of 2,100 SAG members each from across the United States choose the nominees for television and motion pictures. The final ballot then goes out to the full guild membership - approximately 100,000 members - who select the outstanding performances of the year.
The Screen Actors Guild Awards also benefits the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, which provides a meaningful way for SAG members to contribute to the literacy of children in their communities through BookPALS (Performing Artists for Literacy in Schools), its online component, Storyline and the We The Children family-heritage book-writing project.
SAG Foundation programs provide emergency relief to members in economic distress, video and audio preservation of the creative legacy of SAG members, scholarships for performers and their children and emergency funds for members with catastrophic illnesses.
Screen Actors Guild is America's largest labour union representing working actors. Established in 1933, SAG has a rich history in the American labour movement, from standing up to studios to break long-term engagement contracts in the 1940s to fighting for artists' rights amid the digital revolution sweeping the entertainment industry in the 21st century.
With 20 branches nationwide, SAG represents more than 120,000 actors who work in film and digital theatrical motion pictures and television programs, commercials, video games, industrials, Internet and all new media formats.
The Guild exists to enhance actors' working conditions, compensation and benefits and to be a powerful, unified voice on behalf of artists' rights.