The buzzword of the night may have been “SAG” but the stars’ spirits were absolutely soaring in the backstage press room at the 12th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. The winning performers ventured from the stage clutching the hard-earned Actor trophies bestowed by their fellow thespians, where they gave Hollywood.com a virtual 401-level course on the ins and outs of their chosen profession.
Philip Seymour Hoffman, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his turn in Capote, on the joys of on actor’s life:
“It doesn’t get any better than when you go to work. You get a job as an actor, first job, and when that happens you think that that’s like it. But when you’re an actor and someone gives you a good job, you’re literally more high than you’ll ever be for the rest of your life. When I got Scent of a Woman when I was 24 years old, the casting director ran out of the office and grabbed me in the hallway and said, ‘You got the part!’ I don’t think I’ve been more joyful since that moment. That’s the truth. Those are the moments. You have a day and work and you actually act well and you can go home and sleep well at night–those are good days. This is gravy. You ask any actor out there, and if they’re being honest they’ll tell you the same thing. If you’re a working actor and you actually have the capability of acting well once in a while, it’s big time.”
Reese Witherspoon, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for her turn in Walk the Line, on her unexpected line of work:
“I just never thought I would ever be an actor. There just wasn’t even a possibility. I never knew any actors and it wasn’t considered a serious profession where I’m from. People who wanted to do it, they’d say [to them] ‘Yeah, okay, what’s your real job?’ And I think about even seven years ago, my mother would say ‘Are you going to make another one of your little movies?’ I’d say “Yes, Mom, that’s my career.’ ‘Well, after you finish college, you’re going to do something else, right?’ [Laughs.] And I didn’t finish college, so now I have no skills. I think I’m here just by the skin of my teeth, and I’m so happy.”
Matt Dillon, part of the cast of Crash, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, on the overall ensemble’s awareness of the bigger scope of the film:
“I only read my lines. [Laughs]. It’s interesting because it’s a big ensemble and it felt very much like a collaboration amongst all of us, but I think I only worked with about six of the actors in the film, the actors in the ensemble, and no one seems to have more than four or five scenes in the film.”
Rachel Weisz, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role, on The Constant Gardener’s ability to effect change in Africa:
“We set up a charity in the name of the film. If anyone’s interested, it’s www.constantgardnertrust.org. And we’ve committed to it for the next five years. We’ve already built a school in a slum outside Nairobi where we filmed, and w.c. [water closet] facilities and shower facilities, fresh water facilities–there’s no running water in the slum. There’s a million people living without sanitation. And we’ve got secondary school in the north, where there are no secondary schools and the kids stop being educated at 11. So what the movie taught me was that if you can do just one thing, or explore things, it’s better than doing nothing. One can’t change the world, but one can do little things, so we’re helping just the communities that we met and it’s going to be something that I’m very devoted to and committed to for the next five years. So we’re doing something.”
Kiefer Sutherland, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, on exploring new facets of his 24 character over the long term of television series:
“My experience as a film actor was trying to really pick diverse characters from one film to another. In trying to create small changes in something like this in a five-year period, it’s taught me to actually focus on minutia and make 25 small changes from season to season. I’ve learned more as an actor trying to do that, and how successful I am is really up to an audience and up to you all, but it’s been an amazing exercise for me, at least, and I feel more in command having been able to kind of think like that as opposed to broad stroke changes–very specific, small ones…It’s something that I focused on a lot this year and I think, as an actor, I have underestimated until this point the effect and the power of small changes.”
Felicity Huffman, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series, on the possibility of reprising her Transamerica role for another film:
“Wouldn’t that be great? ‘Bree: The Musical.’ I think we should call it ‘Tranny Get Your Gun.’ Or ‘Tranny Get Your Son!’ [Laughs.] I mean, it’s a wonderful, rich milieu and she’s a fantastic character who I adore. I would love to see her get together with Graham Greene.”
Dominic Monaghan, part of the cast of Lost, winner for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, on his journey from the hugely popular Lord of the Rings films to the hit television series:
“It’s just work, you know? I like working and I like being a working actor. You go from one project to another and it’s great being involved with things that get recognized, but ultimately, you’re jumping from one stepping stone to another, not that there’s anything more significant. You learn something in each project. I’m having a great time now and at some point in the future, you do something else.”
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Sandra Oh, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series for Grey’s Anatomy, on the fact that three Korean-American actors took home SAG trophies for the first time:
“I’m so excited that on stage basically three Korean-American actors won tonight and that’s quite an advancement, and I’m very proud to be a part of it. I’m not going to get to politic-y about it, but I know that just the fact that I’m here and you guys are here and I look the way I do means something far beyond just myself. So I take that seriously, and I take it seriously that it means a lot to people who I don’t even know. I mean, if I had someone and I was like 10 and when I started acting, someone who I could look up to and who looked like me, I don’t know–it would’ve been just great. But I didn’t have anyone, so hopefully there are kids out there who feel that they’re a part of everything.”
Daniel Dae Kim, part of the cast of Lost, winner for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, on the same topic:
“I couldn’t be prouder of that. I think Sandra [Oh]’s a fantastic actor, regardless of what race you’re talking about and I look forward to the day when actors are just celebrated, regardless of what race they are. And the fact that we’re making headway like that, I’m glad to be a part of it.”
Sean Hayes, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series, on whether his sitcom Will & Grace helped paved the way for the kind of gay-themed fare that is at the forefront of entertainment this year:
“I don’t think Will & Grace was groundbreaking at all. I think it’s just funny. That’s it. There’ve been gay characters in the past, there will be gay characters in the future, just like there were African-American characters in the past and will be in the future. Any minorities have always been around, and it’s kind of funny, this cyclical thing Hollywood goes through, where all of the sudden gay is in the forefront again and it’s like, ‘But it was just five minutes ago, and it will be five minutes from now.’”
S. Epatha Merkerson, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries, on whether her honors for Lackawana Blues means the Industry is more open to actresses of “a certain age”:
“Hollywood is not changing. There may be an indication that it may, because there are so many of us who are going through hormone therapy that we’re going to have to start thinking about it. There are a lot of Baby Boomers who go to the movies, and it’s important that women of our age are represented. And I think that’s why this film had such resonance in the community at large because it is about a woman of a certain age and a woman that I think all of us have had one person in our family who’s like Nanny. So yeah, I hope that this is an indication that Hollywood is ready to give out hormone therapy and deal with women. Men have never had an issue of being a certain age – it’s always been women. I’m not 37 and I’m not a size two and a lot of women are like me….I’m a size three!” [Laughs.]
Terry O’Quinn, part of the cast of Lost, winner for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, on the mysterious meaning of all those “Ca-Caws!” the cast shouted from the stage:
“There was a big black bird on the show last year that Jorge [Garcia] saw flying. In the script it said, ‘Ca-Caw,’ so that’s how we greet each other in the woods. ‘Ca-Caw! Ca-Caw!’ We said that to our crewmates back in Hawaii.”
Sandra Bullock, part of the cast of Crash, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, on what’s she was wearing, and a little more:
“Everyone else got great questions and I get ‘What are you wearing?’ I’m wearing Angel Sanchez, I’m wearing Jimmy Choo shoes. I’m proud to be wearing the outfit…and in the movie. [Laughs] I’m still a little surprised–not that they won, but that I was part of the group that won. It’s pretty amazing…It’s nice because you’re actually here sitting with your team. No one does anything in a vacuum. I think [co-writers] Bobby [Moresco] and Paul [Haggis] made an incredible winner in this film, with actors who you thought you knew, but they blew you away. [Pause.] Wasn’t there another clothing question?”
Paul Giamatti, winner for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role for his turn in Cinderella Man, on the bizarre, star-studded aspect of Hollywood awards shows:
“It is surreal. It’s like those Hirschfield drawings, with all those famous people piled into a room. It is very surreal. The Golden Globes are particularly like that. I mean, every famous person you could imagine is crammed into a room. Same thing here. I talked about the food and, you know, ‘Where’s the bathroom?’ and that kind of thing. We have normal conversations with people. It’s really nice because the whole event is under the umbrella that we’re all just actors.”
Mechad Brooks, part of the cast of Desperate Housewives, winner for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, on his previous SAG Awards experience:
“I went to USC across the street and five years ago, it was my first year in L.A., I was in the stands of the SAG Awards asking Angelina Jolie to marry me, but she did not. It’s a little late now, obviously. But I was doing that and hugging Michael Clarke Duncan and now I’m here holding one of these statues. This is amazing–it’s indescribable. Wooooo-hooooo!”
