SAG Award Winners 2011

SAG Award Winners: Betty's "Hot," Portman's "Black Swan," Buscemi's "Boardwalk Empire". Betty White played the queen of comedy, thanking the audience for waiting for her long climb up the steps to grab her best actress in a comedy award; Natalie Portman added grace with her best actress trophy for "Black Swan" and Steve Buscemi thanked an early casting director for not giving up on him as he accepted the best actor in a drama series award for his role in "Boardwalk Empire."

Last night's SAG awards show was a more civilized, staid affair than the Golden Globes. With one small-ish exception -- Natalie Portman snagged the SAG for Best Actress.
Most people had her slated to win the SAG, and Portman is her only serious contender for the Oscar. Last night they were up against each other for the first major award -- and Portman won.

The stars of The King's Speech took home the top prize of the night, the best ensemble cast award. Backstage, Helena Bonham Carter had her second award show shoe mishap of the season, which she took in stride. Bonham Carter went on to praise her ensemble cast members.

Following her best supporting actress win for The Fighter, Melissa Leo described awards shows as so emotionally explosive her brain melts and said she can barely keep it together from the moment her name is called until the post-show interviews. Winning best actor for The Fighter was the icing on the birthday cake for Christian Bale, who turned 37 today. The Good Wife actress Julianna Margulies reminisced about her first movie role backstage. On winning the award for female actor in a drama series, she said, "I was so overwhelmed. After winning best ensemble in a comedy series, the cast of Modern Family was all jokes backstage. Ernest Borgnine, who received SAG's Life Achievement Award, brought his wife of 38 years, Tova, onto the podium backstage. Borgnine was blown away by the award. �The King�s Speech� took home two of the top honors Sunday, picking up Best Male Actor for Colin Firth�s performance, and also taking home the Best Ensemble award, the SAG equivalent of Best Movie.

Natalie Portman took home the trophy for Best Female Actress for her performance in �Black Swan�.

Portman also scored an upset when she won Best Actress against the favored Annette Bening for her role in �The Kids Are Alright�.