Story highlights
NEW: The cast of "Argo" wins for best cast in a motion picture
NEW: Daniel Day-Lewis and Jennifer Lawrence win lead acting categories
Sunday night marked the 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards
The 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards offered few surprises but lots of congeniality on Sunday night.
Winners took a moment to thank losers, and the ceremony couldn’t have been kinder as the peer group gathered to celebrate the best performances of the past year.
Visit here for a full list of the night’s winners
Here were just a few of the highlights of the evening:
1. Everyone was so nice!
From Julianne Moore reading the names of every single actor in her “Game Change” cast (including the baby!) to Jesse Tyler Ferguson sending the “30 Rock” cast a shout out when his “Modern Family” cast beat them out for best comedy ensemble, the evening was filled with collegiality and grace.
Winners paid tribute to losers and Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Dick Van Dyke declared the room filled with “the greatest generation of actors in the history of acting.”
2. Speaking of Dick Van Dyke …
He definitely came off as one of the sweetest men in show business.
From his loving story before the ceremony of how he met his wife at the SAG Awards to the positively thrilled look he had on his face when he received a standing ovation during the presentation of his Lifetime Achievement Award, it was as if he was channeling one of his most beloved characters, Rob Petrie, from “The Dick Van Dyke” show. Loved it.
3. There were plenty of firsts
Anne Hathaway scored her first SAG win with the outstanding female actor in a supporting role for her turn as Fantine in “Les Miserables” as did Julianne Moore for outstanding female actor in a TV movie / miniseries for “Game Change.”
The cast of “Downton Abbey” won outstanding ensemble cast in a drama series, which was their first nomination and win.
“I’m just so thrilled I have dental,” Hathaway joked.
4. Learning that 14 seems to be a magic number
“I got my SAG card when I was 14,” Hathaway shared. “It felt like the beginning of the world. I have loved every single minute of my life as an actor.”
Turns out Jennifer Lawrence, who won for outstanding female actor in a leading role for “Silver Linings Playbook,” also snagged her card when she was 14 – for a role in an MTV promo for “My Super Sweet 16.”
Hope springs eternal for child actors it seems.
5. The sassy quips
Oh how we loved Bryan Cranston, best male actor in a drama series winner, dropping a line about being endowed with the statue followed by “for tonight, at least, I’m well-endowed. Thank you.”
And Phyllis Logan, speaking for the cast of “Downton Abbey” when they won outstanding ensemble cast in a drama series, crowed, “Shut the front windows!” We didn’t quite get it, but we loved it.
The flu epidemic didn’t spare Hollywood as actor Tommy Lee Jones reportedly missed out of picking up his statue for outstanding male actor in a supporting role for “Lincoln” because he was sick.
The cast of “Argo” won for best cast in a motion picture, and Daniel Day-Lewis scored outstanding performance by a male actor for his role in “Lincoln.”
The SAG Awards, which are decided exclusively by actors, are distinguished from the Globes, which are chosen by a group of about 80 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
The five film SAG awards traditionally set the stage for the Oscars, voted by about 8,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to be handed out four weeks later.
The SAG ceremony at the Shrine Auditorim & Exposition Center in Los Angeles also includes eight primetime television categories, a followup to the Globes and last fall’s Emmys.
The live telecast aired on TNT and TBS.