Screen Actors Guild honours Theron, Depp as Oscars near

LOS ANGELES – Johnny Depp and Charlize Theron took top actor and actress honours on Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild awards, considered an important signpost for the Oscars.

Depp was honoured as the male lead in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl’. Theron won the best female lead actress role for her portrayal of a serial killer in ‘Monster’.’The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ won the award for best cast in a motion picture, the Guild awards’ equivalent to the Oscar for best picture.Depp’s win was the big surprise of the night over strong contenders such as Sean Penn, nominated for ‘Mystic River’, and Bill Murray for ‘Lost in Translation’.Tim Robbins, who won the best supporting actor award for ‘Mystic River’, noted that his longtime partner Susan Sarandon already had an award and he’d like to put them in a dark room and “see what happens”.Renee Zellweger won the best supporting actress award for ‘Cold Mountain’, and later said the awards season has become so hectic she sometimes forgets to savour the win.”Sometimes, it becomes overwhelmingly moving when you have just a brief moment to contemplate what this moment means,” Zellweger said.Veteran actor Karl Malden was given the lifetime achievement award.The 91-year-old actor said he decided to become a character actor after arriving in Hollywood 60 years ago because he noticed the best-looking, most charismatic men got the leading roles.”I decided if I’m going to stick with this, I’m going to have to be the best character actor in the business or I’m out on my fanny,” said Malden, who appeared in such classic movies as ‘On the Waterfront’, and portrayed a veteran cop on the television series ‘The Streets of San Francisco’.With final ballots due from Oscar voters by today, the guild’s movie winners gained a last-minute push for Hollywood’s biggest awards.Though Penn lost, he still has momentum from last month’s Golden Globe win as best dramatic actor, while Depp faces a handicap at the Oscars, which historically leans toward meaty drama such as ‘Mystic River’ over broad comedy like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’.DARK DRAMAS Theron, who has dominated many earlier movie honours, won for her portrayal of executed murderer Aileen Wuornos, a role for which the actress gained 13,5 kilograms and obscured her cover-girl beauty behind false teeth, dark contact lenses and a splotchy complexion.Backstage, Theron said she hoped ‘Monster’ and such dark dramas as ‘Monster’s Ball’, which earned Halle Berry an Oscar two years ago, will lead to more opportunities for actresses to play harsher roles.”I’m saddened by the fact that there aren’t a lot of conflicted female characters out there,” Theron said, noting that male performers such as Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro have had ample opportunities to play darker roles.”There’s so few times that women get to do a ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ the way Elizabeth Taylor did.”Those conflicted women who might not be perfect are a part of our society.I hope that writers will be encouraged to write more of those parts,” she said.- Nampa-Reuters-AP* The Oscars will be screened on M-Net at 20h30 on March 1.Theron won the best female lead actress role for her portrayal of a serial killer in ‘Monster’. ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King’ won the award for best cast in a motion picture, the Guild awards’ equivalent to the Oscar for best picture. Depp’s win was the big surprise of the night over strong contenders such as Sean Penn, nominated for ‘Mystic River’, and Bill Murray for ‘Lost in Translation’. Tim Robbins, who won the best supporting actor award for ‘Mystic River’, noted that his longtime partner Susan Sarandon already had an award and he’d like to put them in a dark room and “see what happens”. Renee Zellweger won the best supporting actress award for ‘Cold Mountain’, and later said the awards season has become so hectic she sometimes forgets to savour the win. “Sometimes, it becomes overwhelmingly moving when you have just a brief moment to contemplate what this moment means,” Zellweger said. Veteran actor Karl Malden was given the lifetime achievement award. The 91-year-old actor said he decided to become a character actor after arriving in Hollywood 60 years ago because he noticed the best-looking, most charismatic men got the leading roles. “I decided if I’m going to stick with this, I’m going to have to be the best character actor in the business or I’m out on my fanny,” said Malden, who appeared in such classic movies as ‘On the Waterfront’, and portrayed a veteran cop on the television series ‘The Streets of San Francisco’. With final ballots due from Oscar voters by today, the guild’s movie winners gained a last-minute push for Hollywood’s biggest awards. Though Penn lost, he still has momentum from last month’s Golden Globe win as best dramatic actor, while Depp faces a handicap at the Oscars, which historically leans toward meaty drama such as ‘Mystic River’ over broad comedy like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. DARK DRAMAS Theron, who has dominated many earlier movie honours, won for her portrayal of executed murderer Aileen Wuornos, a role for which the actress gained 13,5 kilograms and obscured her cover-girl beauty behind false teeth, dark contact lenses and a splotchy complexion. Backstage, Theron said she hoped ‘Monster’ and such dark dramas as ‘Monster’s Ball’, which earned Halle Berry an Oscar two years ago, will lead to more opportunities for actresses to play harsher roles. “I’m saddened by the fact that there aren’t a lot of conflicted female characters out there,” Theron said, noting that male performers such as Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro have had ample opportunities to play darker roles. “There’s so few times that women get to do a ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ the way Elizabeth Taylor did. “Those conflicted women who might not be perfect are a part of our society. I hope that writers will be encouraged to write more of those parts,” she said. – Nampa-Reuters-AP* The Oscars will be screened on M-Net at 20h30 on March 1.