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“The Help” cleaned up at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards Sunday night, claiming best ensemble cast, best actress and best supporting actress.
“The Artist” – too, claimed another key prize as Jean Dujardin won for best actor.
Hollywood’s acting guild spread awards across the television and film spectrum and gave “The Help” a boost in the acting categories for the Oscars, which will be handed out Feb. 26.
Octavia Spencer took best supporting actress, but co-star Viola Davis may have been the night’s biggest winner. She was named best movie actress and spoke for the cast of The Help when it collected its best-ensemble award.
“We had such great expectations” coming in to adapt the best-selling book – Davis said.
“The stain of racism and sexism isn’t just for people of color or women” – said the star of the civil rights drama. “It’s all of our burdens. All of us can inspire change.”
Not that “The Artist” would be ignored. “My God, my God, my God” – a tearful Dujardin said onstage. “It’s too much.”
Dujardin credits his success to daydreaming. “My teachers called me ‘John of the moon.’ I realized I never stopped dreaming. Thank you for this dream.”
Modern Family took its second SAG Award for best TV comedy.
30 Rock’s Alec Baldwin won for actor in a comedy series, calling the award proof that “obviously you people love Tina (Fey’s) writing.” Winning for the second straight year, Betty White took best actress in a comedy for Hot in Cleveland.
Jessica Lange, winner of best female actor in a drama series for American Horror Story, seemed surprised by the honor. “To be an actor means everything to me” – she said.

Viola Davis.

The Deep South drama “The Help” won three prizes Sunday at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, including best actress for Viola Davis and supporting actress for Octavia Spencer.
“The Help” also claimed the guild’s ensemble award, the equivalent of a best-picture prize.
Davis and Spencer won for playing maids going public with uneasy truths about their employers in 1960′s Mississippi.
Jean Dujardin won the lead-actor honor for “The Artist” as a silent-film superstar whose career crumbles when the sound era arrives. Christopher Plummer won for supporting actor as an elderly dad who comes out as gay in “Beginners.”
The wins boost the actors’ prospects for the same honors at the Feb. 26 Academy Awards. All four acting recipients at SAG last year later took home Oscars – Colin Firth for “The King’s Speech,” Natalie Portman for “Black Swan” and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for “The Fighter.”
Plummer would become the oldest actor ever to win an Oscar at age 82, two years older than Jessica Tandy when she won best actress for “Driving Miss Daisy.”
Spencer had a breakout role in “The Help.”
“I’m going to dedicate this to the downtrodden, the under-served, the underprivileged, overtaxed — whether emotionally, physically or financially” – Spencer said.
On the TV side, comedy awards went to “Modern Family” for best ensemble; Alec Baldwin as best actor for “30 Rock”; and Betty White as best actress for “Hot in Cleveland.”
The TV drama show winners were Jessica Lange as best actress for “American Horror Story” and Steve Buscemi as best actor for “Boardwalk Empire,” which also won the ensemble prize.

The Screen Actors Guild handed out three of its five film awards Sunday night to performers in the 1960′s civil rights drama “The Help,” injecting a little excitement into the Oscar race.
The cast of the film received the group’s top honor, the SAG ensemble award. Viola Davis was named best lead actress and Octavia Spencer best supporting actress for their roles as black maids in the adaptation of the bestselling novel by Kathryn Stockett.
The triumph of “The Help” was seen as a bit of a setback for “The Artist,” an homage to the black-and-white films of the 1920′s that was also nominated for the ensemble award and has been regarded as the leading best picture contender in the Academy Awards. “The Artist” took home top prizes at the Directors Guild of America awards Saturday night and the Producers Guild awards last weekend.
SAG voters did name “The Artist’s” Jean Dujardin best actor for his turn as silent film star George Valentine, which came as somewhat of a surprise. But with actors making up the largest branch of the Motion Picture Academy, which votes on the Oscars, “The Help” may steal support from the nearly silent French film and other best picture nominees like “The Descendants.”
Backstage at the Shrine Exposition Hall after “The Help’s” big win, cast member Emma Stone may have put it best – “Guys, that’s crazy,” she said in disbelief as she and her fellow actresses were being corralled out of the backstage area. “What does this mean?”
Davis and Spencer added gravitas to the evening with emotional acceptance speeches to accompany their wins, both individually and for the ensemble.
“I want to thank all the people out there who went to support this movie and, after watching it, felt something. You felt compelled to make a change in your lives” – Spencer said after accepting her statuette. “So I’m going to dedicate this to the downtrodden, the underserved, the underprivileged, the overtaxed, whether emotionally, physically or financially.”