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SAG Awards to celebrate performersUnion head Melissa Gilbert discusses honors, challenges
By Todd Leopold
(CNN) -- Screen Actors Guild President Melissa Gilbert has two words for those who see the Screen Actors Guild Awards as merely another indicator of Oscar prospects. "Oscar, schmoscar," she said in a phone interview. If being an Oscar bellwether brings the SAG Awards more attention, great, she said, but let's not forget the real reason for the honors. "There's nothing greater than having the accolades and the support and the applause of one's peers," she said. "Nobody understands what we do better than actors, and to have them say, 'You did great,' means more than anyone else saying it." The ninth annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be broadcast at 8 p.m. Sunday on the TNT cable network. Like CNN.com, TNT is a division of AOL Time Warner. Among the nominees are several performers who already have been honored during this awards season, including Renee Zellweger ("Chicago"), up for female actor in a leading role; Nicole Kidman ("The Hours"), also up for female actor; Chris Cooper ("Adaptation"), nominated for male actor in a supporting role; and the cast of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," nominated for best cast in a theatrical motion picture. The latter already may have received the ultimate award: a TV series. The SAG Awards also honor television performers and shows. This year's nominees include Emmy winners Michael Chiklis ("The Shield") and Jennifer Aniston ("Friends") and the ensembles from "24," "Six Feet Under," "Frasier" and "Everybody Loves Raymond." Clint Eastwood will receive the guild's 39th Life Achievement Award. Union dos -- and don'tsAwards shows are about celebration, but in these tense political times, they sometimes turn into opinionated forums. Allegedly, Grammy Award nominees were warned to refrain from political rhetoric, and that show featured little in the way of commentary on a possible war.
Gilbert said people will be free to say what they want at the SAG Awards. "We do live in a country where we have the gift of freedom of speech," she said, but "I think there's a time and place for everything." Since political speechmaking is not the point of the awards, "It's really sort of inappropriate to talk about anything else," she said. Moreover, the awards show is being broadcast to military personnel all over the world, she added. "Some of them are about to step out and risk their lives," she said. "Whether we agree with the reason they're doing that or not, they're doing it. And they believe in it. And who are we to undermine that?" SAG is facing its own political issues. The organization is working toward a merger with American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, a move that has been debated for years. Gilbert said such a merger must happen. With the entertainment corporation mergers of the past few years, there are fewer companies in charge of entertainment content, she noted, and the unions need to combine to maintain their strength. Moreover, rising health and benefits costs have made the union merger a necessity. "The most dangerous thing for performers right now is the status quo," she said. "If this doesn't happen, there will be no performers' unions -- or there will be several of them, and we'll all be fighting each other for jurisdiction." Honoree Eastwood fulfilling 'an actor's dream'
SAG and other entertainment unions also are grappling with the latest broadcasting trend -- reality shows, which require few writers and actors. Gilbert said she's somewhat concerned but noted that the business is cyclical. "The potential for this to sort of eat itself is happening," she said. "Joe Millionaire" may have been a rousing success, she observed, but "Married by America" has been a flop. "Too much of a good thing is not a good thing," she said. The success of "Chicago" has led to talk of another trend: a rebirth of the musical. But Gilbert noted that the same talk surrounded "Moulin Rouge" last year, and that movie hasn't spawned any imitators. Gilbert just shot a TV pilot in another genre that has struggled, the Western, which happens to be a frequent domain of SAG's Life Achievement honoree, Eastwood. The tribute to the veteran actor and director will be led by Ray Romano. But with Eastwood's varied career, he's a model for what an actor can strive for, said Gilbert. "He's really had a diverse and wonderful career, and nobody can pigeonhole him as any one thing, which is fantastic," she said. "It's an actor's dream -- he produces his own stuff, he doesn't waste any time, he gets the job done ... and he delivers excellent, excellent entertainment." Besides knowing that Eastwood will receive an award, Gilbert makes no predictions. She's going to watch the show unfold like everyone else, accompanied by someone special. "I have the best date in the world, my eldest son, Dakota," she said. "And I'm just excited to watch him watch it more than anything."
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