The Help won big at last night’s SAG Awards, with Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer taking home statues for leading and supporting actress. The film also won for motion picture cast, beating out The Artist and Bridesmaids among others. Viola gave some inspirational speeches as we’ve come to expect from her. I think she’s got the Oscar on lock down. She got me all choked up yet again when she talked about being inspired as a little girl to become an actress. Here’s part of her acceptance speech for lead actress and I’m including a photo of her posing with Cecily Tyson:

“I was eight years old when I decided to be an actress. I am am so privileged to be gazing on the beautiful face of the woman who inspired me that beautiful day, and that’s Cecily Tyson. When I woke up and realized how difficult it was to be an actor and how rejection was so high – another beautiful face graced the screen when I was in college, and that’s Meryl who always inspires me… What is there but a dream? You can’t trade in a dream for another dream.” She also gave a shout out to the kids in Central Falls, Rhode Island “to dream big, and dream fierce.”

When The Help won for lead cast, Viola again stepped up and brought the room to tears. She said, in part, “It’s been such a joy to just be a part of this cast… I just want to say that the stain of racism and sexism is not just for people of color or women. It’s all of our burden, all of us. I don’t care how orfinary you may feel, we all of us can inspire change.” It was a nice way to end the night.

I loved Viola’s white sleeveless Marchesa dress with the asymmetric gold sequin pattern along the bodice. I thought it was flattering and atypically pretty for Marchesa. Kaiser told me that it looked like Viola was wearing a boob sling, though, and I definitely noticed how bouncy she was. The dress didn’t look as lovely in motion as it did in photos. I thought her gold cuff bracelet was amazing. She told a cute story to Giuliana Rancic on the red carpet about how her daughter, adopted 3 months ago, tried on her jewelry while she was getting ready and kept saying “Nice, momma.”

Octavia Spencer went with a draped gray Tadashi Shoji with a sequin bodice that was similar to a lot of the other dresses she wore this season. She looked very elegant and I’ve enjoyed seeing her style this season. She also gave a rousing acceptance speech that paid homage to the women who came before her, and thanked civil rights activist Medgar Evers as an “unsung hero” of the film. She dedicated her SAG “to the downtrodden, the underserved, underpriviledged, overtaxed whether emotionally, physically or financially.”

Octavia is getting some press for some comments she made backstage about how she needs to lose weight. This makes me sad, because it should really be about her acting ability, not her size. She was asked a question and she answered it in a self deprecating way. She also joked that “If more women ate, they would be a lot happier. Let me tell you, I am a lot grumpier when I don’t eat.” I can definitely relate.

This was Octavia’s date, her friend Josh Hopkins from “Cougar Town,” aka the guy that Courteney Cox probably cheated with. He really gushed about her to Giuliana, and said “To see a friends’ dreams come true, there’s nothing that can make you happier.” That’s sweet!