Mirren award boosts Oscar hopes

By Arthur Spiegelman

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Helen Mirren won best actress at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday, adding to her hopes of reigning at next month’s Oscars for her performance as the Queen.

Mirren said she felt she was hit by a tsunami.

"I am still reeling from the whole night," she said.

Mirren won both for her lead role in "The Queen" and for best actress in a television mini-series or movie for her work as the original Queen Elizabeth in the HBO drama "Elizabeth I".

The SAGs, which only honour performers, are considered a key indicator of who will win at the Oscars, taking place on February 25.

Forest Whitaker also won best actor for his uncanny portrayal of Uganda’s brutal dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland".

Three of the last four winners of SAG’s award for best ensemble cast performance have gone on to win the Oscar for best picture.

Meanwhile, quirky comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" won the top prize, giving the underdog film about a family of losers a big boost in the Oscars race.

Actors make up the largest single voting group at the Oscars. Last year, their favourite "Crash" scored an upset victory over front-runner "Brokeback Mountain."

The naming of "Little Miss Sunshine" as best ensemble cast performance .....continued below

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"I completely floored by this. It means a great deal to us," said Greg Kinnear, who plays the father in the film. He said no one expected the film to come as far.

But whether it is bound for an Oscar victory is a difficult question. The film also won another major industry award from the Producers Guild but it has tough competition from its rivals in the best picture category, including Martin Scorsese’s "The Departed" ad "Babel."

Comedian Eddie Murphy and newcomer Jennifer Hudson, a former "American Idol" contestant, were named best supporting actor and actress for their performances in "Dreamgirls."

Murphy plays a James Brown-like singer who falls on hard times in the film based on the rise of a Supremes-like group and Hudson plays a singer expelled from the group.

Jeremy Irons won for best actor in a television movie or mini-series for his work in "Elizabeth I."

In television awards, "Grey’s Anatomy" was named best ensemble drama and "The Office" was named best ensemble comedy.

Two "doctors" scored major victories. Chandra Wilson was named best actress in a drama series for her work as a tough-minded doctor nicknamed "The Nazi" in "Grey’s Anatomy" and Hugh Laurie for his work as the brilliant but snappish physician in "House."

Alec Baldwin was named best actor in a comedy series for his work in "30 Rock" and America Ferrera was named best actress in a comedy for her work in "Ugly Betty."

Ferrera, who plays a homely office worker, said she thought television was becoming more realistic in its acceptance of minorities and less than beautiful people as role models.