Mirren, Whitaker take acting honors, 'Little Miss Sunshine' wins ensemble

LOS ANGELES -- Helen Mirren of "The Queen" and Forest Whitaker of "The Last King of Scotland" won Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday as best lead players, their latest prizes on the road to the Academy Awards.

The road-trip romp "Little Miss Sunshine" won the prize for best film ensemble, the guild's equivalent of a best-picture award.

Solidifying their positions as Oscar favorites, Mirren won for playing British monarch Elizabeth II and Whitaker for starring as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

Eddie Murphy and Jennifer Hudson won supporting-acting honors as soulful singers in "Dreamgirls," reinforcing their status as Oscar front-runners as well.

The ensemble win for "Little Miss Sunshine" could give the film a best picture boost at the Oscars. But academy voters tend to favor heavy drama such as fellow nominees "Babel" and "The Departed."

Helen Mirren held her awards for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role for her work in "The Queen" and for outstanding performance by a female actor in a television movie or miniseries for her work in "Elizabeth I," at the 13th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles.

Mirren's "Elizabeth I" co-star Jeremy Irons won the guild's prize for best actor in a TV movie or miniseries.

Other TV winners were America Ferrera of "Ugly Betty" and Alec Baldwin of "30 Rock" as performers in comedy series, and Chandra Wilson of "Grey's Anatomy" and Hugh Laurie of "House" as performers in dramatic shows. TV ensemble prizes went to "Grey's Anatomy" for drama and "The Office" for comedy.

"This is quite the honor having these people present this to us," Steve Carell, star of "The Office," said of the award's presenters, the cast of the sitcom classic "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," including Moore, Edward Asner and Cloris Leachman.

---

On the Net:

Guild Awards: http://www.sagawards.com