Blanchett takes early screen Actors Guild award
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-06 11:02

Australians got off to a quick start at the 11th annual Screen Actor's Guild awards on Saturday as Cate Blanchett was named best supporting actress in a movie and Geoffrey Rush was named best actor in TV movie or mini-series.

Australian actress Cate Blanchett arrives during the 11th annual Screen Actors Guild awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, February 5, 2005. [AP]

In an award considered a major step toward the Oscars, Blanchett won for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in "The Aviator" and declared herself totally surprised, saying that had she known she would win, "I wouldn't have worn such a tight dress."

She the dress made it difficult to walk to the stage. added that Australian  winner Geoffrey Rush was named best actor in a miniseries or TV movie for his portrayal of conflicted comedian Peter Sellers in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers."

He said one of the pleasures doing the TV movie was getting a chance to watch all of Sellers' movies.

A who's who of American acting -- from the mobsters of "The Sopranos" to the "Desperate Housewives" of current TV fame -- paraded across a red carpet to enter the Shrine auditorium in downtown Los Angeles for an honors program that has established itself as a major stop on the road to Oscars.

OSCAR FRONT-RUNNERS

Vying for SAG's highest honor -- its outstanding cast in a motion picture award -- were the two front-runners for the Oscars, "The Aviator," Martin Scorsese's biography of billionaire Howard Hughes, and Clint Eastwood's boxing drama, "Million Dollar Baby."

Also nominated were the casts of the wine country comedy "Sideways," African genocide drama "Hotel Rwanda," the Ray Charles screen biography "Ray" and "Finding Neverland," a tale of the family who inspired J.M. Barrie to write "Peter Pan."

Glenn Close was named the outstanding actress in a TV movie or miniseries for her portrayal of Eleanor of Aquitaine in "The Lion in Winter."

She paid tribute to Katharine Hepburn for her "iconic" performance in the film version of "The Lion in Winter," for which Hepburn won an Oscar.

Close said watching Hepburn do a television interview convinced her to become an actress. Blanchett also praised Hepburn.

The winners were chosen by a vote of SAG's 120,000 members. SAG represents actors working in movies, TV, commercials and music videos and bills itself as the largest trade union in the United States.

Tony Shalhoub won the award for best male comic actor in a TV series for his performance as an obsessive-compulsive comedian in "Monk."

ABC's hit "Desperate Housewives" was named best ensemble TV comedy series and Teri Hatcher won best actress in TV comedy series for her performance on that show.

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