9th Annual SAG Awards™ Acceptance Speeches

For Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series


EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND CBS

Peter Boyle Frank Barone
Brad Garrett Robert Barone
Patricia Heaton Debra Barone
Doris Roberts Marie Barone
Ray Romano Raymond Barone
Madylin Sweeten Ally Barone

RAY ROMANO: Thank you. Ahh … we’ll make this quick, there’s movie stars here . [laughter] You know what? I talk enough on the show. Brad, we don’t give — yeah, we don’t give you enough lines. Go ahead.

BRAD GARRETT: But I’m not even union. [laughter] [applause] This is unbelievable.

On behalf of this cast, this is Doris and Peter and Madylin and Patty and Ray, and all of our amazing writers, this is just — this is a big week for me, not only for all of us, but for me personally. I don’t mean to brag but not only this, but I’m going to be auditioning for the lead in the "Sopranos" next week and I’m very excited. [laughter] That’s why I shaved my beard. [applause] Is he laughing? Is he laughing? [laughter] [applause] Okay.

And Melissa Gilbert, wow, it’s nice to see where my dues are going. That was incredible. [laughter] She is so gorgeous. This is why they never let me talk. [laughter]

On behalf of everybody, Les Moonves, CBS, HBO, Worldwide Pants, dysfunction is alive. Thank you SAG, God bless you. Thank you very much. [applause


For Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series


Sean Hayes / WILL & GRACE - Jack McFarland NBC

SEAN HAYES: I am so glad I got this because now I can get this. [laughter] They’re just going to go right through here and it’s going to be just a six-pack in like four days, they said. [laughter] Thank you.

I have to say — I have to say I’m completely shocked. I have nothing prepared. [laughter] And I have to say, I have to say thank you to the other guys in my category. I can’t even believe I’m with you guys. I truly watch every one of those shows, and you guys are freakin’ hilarious. [laughter] And I really think you’re great.

And more so the cast of "Will & Grace," Eric, Debra and Megan. I love you guys so much. And every week you guys really make me happy to be an actor, and really are so special to me in my heart. And I thank the Lord. And they’re so sick of hearing me say this, but we’re all so blessed to be able to do what we do every single day. I mean, it’s not so far along ago that I couldn’t even pay my rent. And now I can pay all your rent. [laughter] So thank you very much. [applause]


For Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series


Megan Mullally / WILL & GRACE - Karen Walker NBC

MEGAN MULLALY: I am so busted. [laughs] I was trying to tell Meryl Streep that I love her, which is so queer, and I literally tripped on the stairs. [laughter] So, that’s what I get. That’s what you get for jumpin’ on the bed. [laughter] Anyway … [laughs] [laughter]

Everybody here, everybody here in this room has — I’ve drawn so much inspiration from all of you, and learned so much, and just the joy that you’ve brought me -- and everyone -- and really, it’s unbelievable.

And the more subtle gifts, even, that you’ve brought, I’d like to try to pay that back to you, or give that back to you now in some infinitesimal way but all I can really say is "thank you." Thank you.


For Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role


Christopher Walken / CATCH ME IF YOU CAN - Frank Abagnale Dreamworks SKG

CHRISTOPHER WALKEN: I need my notes. [laughter] Thanks to the Screen Actors Guild and to all the actors who voted me this. I love all of us. We are family, and I hope we all work together. [laughter] Soon.

Thanks to Dreamworks and Steven Spielberg. Thanks, Leo and Tom and Natalie, Martin, Amy and all the wonderful actors. Thanks, Tony Howard and Reissa Shapiro. My wife Georgeanne [sp]. Thanks, Mara Buxbaum. And Sue Mengers, I hope you’re watching because I thank you always. [applause]

And I’m very proud to have this. Thank you.
[applause]


For Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role


Catherine Zeta-Jones / CHICAGO - Velma Kelly Miramax Fillms

CATHERINE ZETA-JONES: Danny and I have been corresponding for weeks about our costumes tonight and I think we look gorgeous. What an absolute honor! Thank you so, so much Screen Actors Guild and all my extended family actors who nominated me amongst such fantastic talent. I’m so very honored, just for that alone, so this is just spectacular.

I could never, ever think that I would be with such a wonderful array of people in a movie called "Chicago" on film.

Thank you so much to Miramax for just doing it, and to Harvey there and Meryl and to Neil and Craig, to our fantastic Marty Richards, whose got a bad back -- so no dancing tonight, please, Marty. [laughter] To Rob Marshall — thank you so very much for just the inspiration and the joy of going to work every day.

To my wonderful actors that I had the pleasure of just hanging out with for six months and getting bruised and iced frequently with -- Renee, Richard, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Christine — everybody — all of my fantastic cell block girls that are here tonight. If I wasn’t pregnant, we’ll do it all over again, I promise you.

Who else? I’d just like to thank my husband who is my biggest, biggest support mechanism and probably my best, favorite actor in the world. I love you. Thank you very much. [applause]


For Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series


Edie Falco / THE SOPRANOS - Carmela Soprano HBO

EDIE FALCO: Oh goodness, thank you, thank you so much. I — I just locked eyes with Meryl Streep, I just need a moment to collect myself. [laughter] I’m sorry. [laughs] Oh boy. Gosh.

So I look at clips of the other women that I as nominated with and I think of the work over the years of actors that I’ve watched, you watch it alone in your room and you think, "Oh, that’s why I do this," you know, "This is why I want to be good, I want to be on a level with these other women."

I saw some friends while I was out here, and my friends in LA and my friends in New York are really my life, and I’ve had a lot of people say that they get together and watch "Sopranos" in groups. They have meals and "You know, my family gets together and my friends," and you know, "The only time I see my husband is Sunday night at 9:00, we watch the show." [laughter] And I think, if I can be a part of something that makes people want to get together in groups — I don’t know, it’s a great thing, I’m hugely grateful to be a part the show, and I’m so glad people like it.

Thank you for this. [applause]


For Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series


James Gandolfini / THE SOPRANOS — Tony Soprano HBO

JAMES GANDOLFINI: Thank you. Thank you very much. First of all, obviously none of this would be possible without this cast that I’ve worked with for all this time. They’ve taken me through this. I’ve just been lost the entire time, and they basically just dragged me through this kicking and screaming. [laughter] So thank you, and to Edie and Lorraine and everyone. Thank you very much, thank you.

And maybe there’s some stuff lately that’s made me seem slightly ungrateful, but to HBO, I just want to say, I am very grateful for what you’ve done. [laughter] And it’s a wonderful place to work. [applause] And thank you very much.

And again, I have to say — I’ve said this before — to all the actors out there that are working hard and struggling, things can change very quickly. Hang in there, and enjoy what’s happening to you now, because things get pretty weird later on if it works. [laughter]

So, thank you. [applause]


For Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series


SIX FEET UNDER HBO

Lauren Ambrose Claire Fisher
Frances Conroy Ruth Fisher
Rachel Griffiths Brenda Chenowith
Michael C. Hall David Fisher
Peter Krause Nate Fisher
Freddy Rodriguez Federico Diaz
Mathew ST. Patrick Keith Charles

FRANCES CONROY: Oh my God, I’m supposed to be the spokesperson. [laughs]

PETER KRAUSE: I’ll give it to you.

LAUREN AMBROSE: Yeah, give it to her.

CONROY: To me? Well, I don’t know about that. [laughs] To Alan Ball — we thank you for the love that you have shown us at every moment in the writing, in the creation of these characters and how you’ve dealt with us as your actors in this family that we’re a part of.

To Alan Poul, all the producers, thank you for all the nurturing that you’ve given us. We are a close family and we love what we’re doing, and it is an honor to be recognized by our fellow peers. Thank you.

[APPLAUSE]


Life Achievement Award


Clint Eastwood

CLINT EASTWOOD: Sit down. This is heavy. Where’s Schwarzenegger when you need him? [laughter] Anyway, thank you very much for the wonderful, warm reception, and I hope this doesn’t mean that I’m supposed to collect my pension and head on down the road. That’s — ‘cause that ain’t in the game for me.

I got in the Screen Actors Guild back in the early ‘50s. And Walter Pidgeon was the president then, Melissa, so times are — I remember calling parents and saying that I’m in the same union with Walter Pidgeon, Cagney and Cooper and Barbara Stanwyk and Bette Davis — all these fabulous people that I grew up with. And I thought I was — I thought I was hot stuff, until I started knocking on doors and getting the turndowns. So I appreciate everything that all of you have had to go through at some time in your life.

To be a success in the screen trade, I think you’ve got to — you’ve got to either have a lot talent and a little bit of ability or lot of ability, a little bit of talent. Some of — I look at some of those clips and I’m kind of thinking, Damn, you’re lucky! [laughter] So ... and especially that singing in there, I don’t know . [laughter] I’m sure Clark Gable’s rolling over, too, thinking …

But I just want to say that being a member of the Screen Actors Guild for coming up on 50 years has been a great pleasure for me. I think about it, it’s two-thirds of your life you’ve spent in one guild — that’s fantastic. And I’ve enjoyed meeting all the people over the years, and I’ve certainly enjoyed knowing all of you — most of you. And of those I don’t know, I’ll get to know later.

But we’ll all work together because I have no intention of bailing out.

So... talk to you later. Thank you.


For Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture


CHICAGO Miramax Films

Christine Baranski Mary Sunshine
Ekaterina Chtche lkanova Hunyak
Taye Diggs Bandleader
Denise Faye Annie
Colm Feore Harrison
Richard Gere Billy Flynn
Deidre Goodwin June
Mya Harrison Mona
Lucy Liu Kitty Baxter
Queen Latifah Matron Mama Morton
Susan Misner Liz
John C. Reilly Amos Hart
Dominic West Fred Casely
Renée Zellweger Roxie Hart
Catherine Zeta-Jones Velma Kelly

RICHARD GERE: [gesturing to cast to join him] No, no, no, come, come over here. Come, come, come. Come, come, come, come, come, come, come.

I don’t -- crowd in here, don’t do this thing, come on, come on, get in here. [Queen Latifah polishes the statue] [laughter] And I’m going to — I’m not going to — what have you got there?
QUEEN LATIFAH : Sorry, sorry. Sorry, couldn’t help it.

GERE: This is - -look, I’ve been doing this since I was 19 years old. That’s a long time. And it’s like half the people in this room I actually know and have worked with. I’m the old guy. [laughter] I have never, ever had such fun in my life as an actor. I didn’ t know what it meant to really be an actor ‘til I did this. And I think we all feel the same way. [applause]

From day one it was -- we’re a family, we’re just a family doing this -- and it was — I remember that first summer stock job I had in Provincetown, it was the same feeling. Except then I was too shy to talk about it, but now I can. [laughter]

It ... there’s ... we’re all doing this crazy profession, abolutely insane, we play other people, basically because we loathe ourselves, right? That’s the way it is . [laughter] But we are doing this. [laughs] And it’s like you look at your life at whatever point you’re at and you go, well, what am I? I’m an actor . And I’m so deeply proud to be doing this, as a person, for a living, with my family, and this — this family. I’m speaking for all of them, because we say this all the time. We do the junkets and we say this over and over and over again. But it’s absolutely true.

There was such love and affection during this production. We all felt like we were in the Rob Marshall vaudeville and medicine show [laughter] for the entire production. And the one common denominator about it all -- I mean, there was Harvey and there was Meryl, and there was Bill Condon, who wrote it, [applause] and all of our ... and Dion Beebe who made us look so great. And all of that.

But there’s one guy that made this whole thing work, and that’s Rob Marshall. [applause] Never, never have I seen someone so clearly hold the center of a production like that, and bring out the best in everyone, from the guy who swept the floor, from the guys that were singing the songs. So this, my dear friend, belongs to all of us as your family. Thank you so much . All of you. [applause]


For Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role


Daniel Day-Lewis / GANGS OF NEW YORK - Bill "The Butcher" Cutting Miramax Films

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS: Thank you so much for this. Forgive me if I ramble a little bit. When I was starting out, we were led to believe quite clearly that our futures, if we were lucky enough to work, were going to be in the theater. And if we did okay at that, if we were really lucky, we might get to do the classic roles. And that was the rite of passage. That was like the fiery hoop through which you had to leap if you were going to be taken seriously.

And I had the right nose for that. [laughter] And there were a few people who had ambitions on my behalf that wanted to dress it up in a, you know, doublet and hose, and have me strutting around.

But I had a guilty secret. Because I’d seen "A Place in the Sun." I’d seen "From Here to Eternity," "On the Waterfront," "A Streetcar…", "Night of the Hunter." I’d seen all of the spaghetti westerns. I’d been to all-night "Dirty Harry" sessions. [laughter] You know, it was like a group of grungy guys would emerge into the half-dawn, bleary-eyed, trying to kind of be loose-limbed and mean and taciturn.

And I’d seen "French Connection," "Mean Streets," "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull," "The Godfather." And my secret hope, my great hope, which — and at that time from where I came from, there weren’t many actors getting a chance to do this — but I wanted, if possible, to make a contribution to this tradition. And I’m so grateful that I’ve been allowed the chance to do that.

From the moment I first set foot in this country, my colleagues, my fellow actors, have shown me generosity and friendship and great encouragement. I can’t thank you enough for that. I salute, with the greatest respects, my fellow nominees, both men and women, in all categories. It’s been a wonderful thing to be included amongst you this year. It feels like a fine year.

And I would like to salute the supremely gifted and gracious and sweet Leonardo Di Caprio and Cameron Diaz. [applause] My old friend Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, the great John C. Reilly — where is he? [applause] He’s a terrible man because he has this habit of making all the actors around him look like they’re acting. [laughter]

And Harvey Graham, I’m going to say thank you to later on. I’ll thank you for this. But tonight, I would just like to thank the actors that have allowed me this wonderful life. Thank you. Thank you very much.


For Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries


Stockard Channing / THE MATTHEW SHEPARD STORY - Judy Shepard NBC

STOCKARD CHANNING: God, you think for someone who’s on the stage that much, I’d know how to make an entrance and an exit [laughter] but sorry it took me so long to get up here.

Anyway, I don’t know what to day except thank you. There really isn’t anything more to say, but I’m going to say something else anyway, which is that I think acting, in my opinion, is only as good as the people you act with. It’s really that simple. And in this case, I was incredibly fortunate to have an amazing lovely group of people, especially Shane Maier who played my son, Matthew Shepard.

And above all, I have to pay a tribute to a man who is one of my favorite people, one of my favorite actors, and between the two of us, you have honored me and him by saying that we were able to create this marriage of these two people, Judy and Dennis Shepard. And so, I share this award with Sam Waterston. Thank you so much.


For Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role


Renée Zellweger / CHICAGO - Roxie Hart Miramax Films

RENEE ZELLWEGER : Thank you, thank you, thank you. Oh my God! Whew! And a kiss from "Mr. Bond." Jesus. [laughter]

Okay. Whew! [whoops] Okay. Thank you. [laughter] Thank you to my fellow actors in the Screen Actors Guild. When you start out you kind of hope that you’ll get enough work so that you don’t have to schlep the longnecks anymore, but I never imagined that I would stand here tonight in such esteemed company with these ladies that, God, I have admired for so long — hell, my friends who I love and who make me proud. Salma and Julie and, my God, I just .

. . I have a lot of people to thank so I will apologize ahead of time for talking way too long, but I’m going to anyway. [laughter] I have all my friends at Miramax that I have to say to say thank you to, thank you for making film, because every actor should the opportunity to be in something that they love so much.

Thank you to my "Chicago" family, the naughty kids in church over there. [laughter] Wonderful actors. Catherine, congratulations on tonight and the BAFTA and Las Vegas and et cetera, et cetera.

Beautiful Latifah, it’s your moment. I’m so proud of you, you’re wonderful. Richard Gere, not a bad day at work. [laughter] Go and see your smiling face every day.

Marty Richards, Kander and Ebb, thank you for letting me be part of your dream. Neil Meron and Craig Zadan who were there every single day, every step of the way. Denise Faye, Cynthia Enrouba, Joey Pizzi and John De Luca who gave me the steps.

Bill, who’s a brilliant screenwriter, congratulations on your nomination last night. Paul Matt, Randy Rick, Jeff and Elaine for standing by me at the piano. Dale for stitching up the dresses that Colleen Atwood so beautifully created . My fellas Brant, Bri, Kev, and then my girl Jenny who takes such good care of me along with Nancy and Leslie, who make sure that my purse matches my shoes.

And John Carrabino, my rock, I swear to God I would not standing here without you, because y’all — we all know that it takes so much more than just a little luck, it takes somebody to believe and he always believed.

And Rob Marshall — everybody? [applause] My friend who I love so much. Congratulations on DGA Award, you so deserved it. You’re the most generous person that I’ve ever worked with in my life. I’ve never seen a person multitask like you did, take chances on so many people like you did, and help such a great vision come alive the way that you did, because you were so kind. Thank you for that.

Every single one of you in here needs to get on the phone and get a lunch with Rob Marshall next week. [laughter] And to everybody out there who’s digging through the couch cushions for the change for your SAG dues, keep digging because it’s a great life.

Thank you for this. Thank you. [applause]


For Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries


William H. Macy / DOOR TO DOOR - Bill Porter TNT

WILLIAM H. MACY: I’ve been a member for 30 years. It was a big day when I got that card. I love being an actor. I love being with actors.

Thank you, Bill Porter. I want to be more like you. Thank you, TNT, for making this movie. Thank you, Angel Brown and David Rosemont for producing so wonderfully. Thank you, Steven Schachter for being my partner, writing so beautifully, directing so magnificently.

And Felicity Huffman, I’m so very pleased to be married to you. Thank you.

[applause]