Screen Actor Guild Award winners: Birdman keeps Oscar hopes alive despite Keaton loss

It’s been an excellent weekend for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman as the dark comedy landed two key awards in its bid to stay in Oscar contention.

Having won the Producer’s Guild Award for Best Feature on Saturday, the Broadway-based satire followed that up by clinching the Best Performance by an Ensemble accolade at last night’s Screen Actor’s Guild Award ceremony.

The cast, which includes Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, Emma Stone and Naomi Watts, all went up to collect the award as their film overcame stiff competition from Oscar frontunner Boyhood as well as The Grand Budapest Hotel and British biopics The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything.

However Keaton’s performance as former superhero star-turned-Broadway maverick Riggan Thomson failed to help him win Best Actor as the gong went to British star Eddie Redmayne for his physically-demanding role as renowned physicist Stephen Hawking in Theory of Everything. Benedict Cumberbatch (Imitation Game), Steve Carell (Foxcatcher) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler) completed the strong lineup of nominees.

Julianne Moore moved a step closer towards ending her Oscar voodoo by landing Best Actress for her performance as an Alzheimer’s sufferer in Still Alice. She held off pressure from Jennifer Aniston (Cake), Reese Witherspoon (Wild) and British duo Felicity Jones (Theory of Everything) and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl).

J.K Simmons‘ excellent role as a bullying music teacher in Whiplash saw him win Best Supporting Actor at the expense of Edward Norton (Birdman), Robert Duvall (The Judge), Ethan Hawke (Boyhood) and Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher).

The Best Supporting Actress category saw Patricia Arquette secure another award victory for her performance in Boyhood at the expense of Keira Knightley (Imitation Game), Emma Stone (Birdman), Meryl Streep (Into the Woods) and Naomi Watts (St Vincent).

Finally, Angelina Jolie’s war drama Unbroken secured the Best Stunt Ensemble award ahead of the likes of Fury and The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

The group of SAG winners can be seen below:

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Julianne Moore – Still Alice

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
J.K. Simmons – Whiplash

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Patricia Arquette – Boyhood

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A CAST IN A MOTION PICTURE
Birdman

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Unbroken

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In the television categories, prison sitcom Orange is the New Black was the big winner of the night as it secured two awards including Best Comedy Ensemble.

The Netflix series overcame The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family and Veep to clinch the coveted gong while Uzo Aduba won Best Comedy Actress for her role as prisoner Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren.

There was also an unlikely win for William H. Macy as he secured Best Comedy Actor for his performance in the American version of Shameless, beating the likes of Ty Burrell and Jim Parsons in the process.

21st Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards - Show

On the drama side, there was shock success for Britain’s Downton Abbey as it landed Best Drama Ensemble ahead of Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones and House of Cards.

However, Cards did claim a win for Kevin Spacey as he was named Best Actor in a Drama for his role as corrupted president Frank Underwood. His victory came in a strong category which included Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk), Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) and True Detective duo Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson.

Viola Davis secured Best Actress in a Drama for her performance in the courtroom series How to Get Away with Murder beating off the likes of Claire Danes (Homeland), Dame Maggie Smith (Downton) and Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife).

Finally, the Television Movie / Mini-Series nominees saw Mark Ruffalo win Best Actor for his role in the AIDs drama The Normal Heart while Frances McDormand nabbed Best Actress for her performance in family drama Olive Ketteridge.

The list of TV winners are below:

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Kevin Spacey – House of Cards

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Viola Davis – How To Get Away With Murder

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
William H. Macy – Shameless

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Uzo Odob, Orange is the New Black

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A DRAMA SERIES
Downton Abbey

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY SERIES
Orange is the New Black

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A TV MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES
Mark Ruffalo – The Normal Heart

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A TV MOVIE OR MINI-SERIES
Frances McDormand – Olive Ketteridge

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A COMEDY / DRAMA SERIES
Game of Thrones

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