Black is beautiful at SAGs

01 February 2016 - 02:19 By Reuters

Actors of colour were the big early winners at Saturday's Screen Actors' Guild awards, as Black British actor Idris Elba, Queen Latifah and the cast of Netflix's Orange is the New Black were honoured amid a furore over on-screen diversity in Hollywood. Elba won for his portrayal of a mercenary commander in Netflix's gritty West African war drama Beasts of No Nation. He is not among the Oscar nominations for best supporting actor. Elba also won the award for best actor in a limited series for playing a conflicted police detective in the BBC's dark crime drama, Luther.Netflix's Orange is the New Black, about a group of inmates in a women's prison, won the award for the best comedy series ensemble for the second consecutive year.Queen Latifah won the best actress accolade in a TV miniseries for her portrayal of blues singer Bessie Smith in HBO's Bessie.The awards were in stark contrast to the Oscar nominations, in which no actors of colour feature this year.Television, in an age of bold dramas and streaming platforms that bypass traditional advertisers, more closely reflects ethnic and religious diversity in the US.Orange star Uzo Aduba won as best actress in a comedy series for playing kooky inmate Crazy Eyes, beating contenders such as Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus.Swedish actress Alicia Vikander beat off Kate Winslet as best supporting actress as the wife of a transgender artist in The Danish Girl...

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