It was a great night for Inglourious Basterds at the Screen Actors' Guild Awards last night, with Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken & co. scooping the ensemble award for Best Cast. "This would be perfect for a Tarantino movie. You could kill someone with this!" said Diane Kruger, commenting on the weight of the award. For Walken it was a double win, since his performance as a sadistic Nazi also scooped the Best Supporting Actor award.
Winner of the Best Actor award was Jeff Bridges, who referred to the Guild as "One big family." As a hard drinking, lonely country music star facing a downward spiral at the tail end of his career, he enjoyed the kind of role which he has made a specialty of in theatre. Best Actress, meanwhile, went to Sandra Bullock for her role as the middle aged woman who adopts a poor black child and helps him to becoming a sporting star in The Blind Side, soon to be released in the UK. Bullock expressed surprise and delight at her award, saying that she was glad to feel accepted.
Perhaps the most talked-about award of the night went to Mo'Nique for her breakthrough role in Precious. It's a tough, meaty, often unsympathetic part, as she plays the abusive mother of the unhappy heroine, and she has been credited with giving it an impressive depth.
The SAG gongs are among the most coveted in the industry because they're awarded solely by other actors, so they represent the appreciation of people who really understand the craft. "It's being given the tip of the hat by the guys who do what you do... It's wonderful," said Bridges.
