‘Fences’ stars Denzel Washington and Viola Davis triumphed at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards on Sunday (29.01.17).
The 62-year-old actor was amazed to scoop his first-ever SAG, the Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role accolade, as he had expected one of his younger fellow nominees, Casey Affleck, Andrew Garfield, Ryan Gosling or Viggo Mortensen, to take home the prize.
Accepting the prize at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, he said: "Thank you very much.
"You know, I am a God-fearing man. I’m supposed to have faith, but I didn’t have faith. God bless you all, all the other actors. I’d say, ‘You know, young boys are going to win, you ain’t going to win.’ So I didn’t even prepare. But I am prepared!"
In her speech, Viola – who picked up the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role award – praised playwright August Wilson, who wrote the play the movie was based on, for helping to tell a tale of an ordinary black family just leading their lives.
She said: "What August did so beautifully is he honoured the average man, who happened to be a man of colour.
"And sometimes we don’t have to shake the world and move the world and create anything that is going to be in the history book.
"The fact that we breathed and lived a life and was a god to our children, just that, means that we have a story and it deserves to be told.
"We deserve to be in the canon of any — in the center of any narrative that’s written out there. And that’s what August did. He elevated my father, my mother, my uncles who had eighth and fifth grade educations, and he just encapsulated them in history."
Following her recent success at the Golden Globe Awards, ‘La La Land’ star Emma Stone picked up the SAG for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role and was so surprised, she forgot her speech.
She said: "Thank you so much for this. Wow, to be an actor, playing an actor and receiving an actor by a guild of actors, it’s pretty exceptional. Thank you
"OK. I forgot everything that I ever have thought in my life."
But the 28-year-old actress quickly recovered and thanked her fellow nominees and her co-star Ryan Gosling.
She said: "The women in this category, really quickly.
"Meryl Streep, Natalie Portman, Emily Blunt, Amy Adams. You are the greatest and your talent and intelligence are mind-blowing.
"Ryan, you are the best. That’s just the truth. Nobody can argue that."
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role went to Mahershala Ali for his role in ‘Moonlight’, while the ensemble prize – which is widely viewed as an indicator of the Best Picture Oscars winner – went to the cast of ‘Hidden Figures’.
Complete list of winners at the 23rd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards:
Movies:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role: Denzel Washington, ‘Fences’
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role: Emma Stone, ‘La La Land’
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role: Mahershala Ali, ‘Moonlight’
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role: Viola Davis, ‘Fences’
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Motion Picture: ‘Hidden Figures’
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture: ‘Hacksaw Ridge’
Television:
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series: William H. Macy, ‘Shameless’
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, ‘Veep’
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series: ‘Orange is the New Black’
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: Bryan Cranston, ‘All the Way’
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series: Sarah Paulson, ‘The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story’
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series: ‘Stranger Things’
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series: John Lithgow, ‘The Crown’
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series: Claire Foy, ‘The Crown’
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series: ‘Game of Thrones’
Life Achievement: Lily Tomlin