Depp strikes awards gold as actors gear up for Oscars

JOHNNY DEPP was a surprise lead actor winner at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles for Pirates of the Caribbean, while Charlize Theron took the best-actress honour for the serial-killer drama Monster.

Depp, who did not attend the awards, won for his role as jittery buccaneer Captain Jack Sparrow in the summer blockbuster, beating Sean Penn, who had been considered the favourite for thriller Mystic River.

Tim Robbins won best supporting actor for Mystic River and Renee Zellweger best supporting actress for the Civil War epic Cold Mountain.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, considered a shoo-in for Sunday’s best-picture Oscar, won the guild’s ensemble-acting award, the union’s equivalent of a best-picture honour.

“This film deserves every award it can possibly get. This is the most enormous undertaking, I think, in film history,” said John Rhys-Davies, who played the dwarf Gimli in director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Among the guild’s TV awards, Sex and the City won for comedy-acting ensemble on the same night the series ended its six-year run. With final ballots due from Oscar voters by today, the guild’s movie winners gained a last-minute push for Hollywood’s biggest awards.

Though Penn lost, he still has momentum from last month’s Golden Globe win as best dramatic actor, while Depp is at a disadvantage at the Oscars, which historically leans toward meaty drama such as Mystic River over broad comedy like Pirates of the Caribbean.

Other comedy TV honours went to Megan Mullally for Will and Grace and Tony Shalhoub for Monk.

Kiefer Sutherland of 24 and Frances Conroy of Six Feet Under won for best dramatic actor and actress. Six Feet Under was also honoured for best acting ensemble in a drama.

Angels in America earned Meryl Streep and Al Pacino the acting awards for a TV movie or miniseries.