By Jill Serjeant and Lisa Richwine
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Allison Janney and Sam Rockwell won early honors at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) awards on Sunday in a ceremony that showcased women and their stories amid a sexual misconduct scandal sweeping the United States.
Janney won for her supporting actress role as a demanding mother in the independent ice-skating movie "I, Tonya." Rockwell was named best supporting actor for his performance as a dim-witted police officer in Fox Searchlight's (O:FOXA) dark comedy "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri."
Opening the show, which took place after two days of marches by hundreds of thousands of women throughout the United States, host Kristen Bell noted that women were having a "watershed moment."
"Let's make sure we lead the charge with empathy and diligence because fear and anger never win the race," said Bell, the star of television's "The Good Place."
Accusations of sexual misconduct have forced dozens of powerful men in Hollywood to step down, get fired or be dropped from creative projects.
Women, many of them leading actresses, have responded by breaking their silence through the #MeToo social media movement and the Time's Up campaign for legal support of victims.
"Make no mistake. This is not a moment in time. This is a movement," said Gabrielle Carteris, president of the SAG-AFTRA labor union.
On the red carpet, women swapped the black gowns that marked support for victims of sexual harassment at the Golden Globes two weeks ago for brighter blues, green and metallic hues.
Aziz Ansari, nominated for his Netflix (O:NFLX) comedy series "Master of None," was a no-show on Sunday after making headlines last week after a woman described feeling violated following an awkward date last year. Ansari said he believed their sexual activity was consensual.
William H. Macy beat out Ansari to win the comedy actor statuette for "Shameless."
The top prize, to be presented at the end of the two-hour show for best cast ensemble in a movie, is a race between several films with strong female characters.
"Three Billboards," which is about a furious woman seeking justice for the murder of her daughter, is also nominated for best ensemble. The film's leading actress, Frances McDormand, is nominated in the best actress category.
A24's mother-daughter comedy "Lady Bird" is also competing for best ensemble. Its star, Saoirse Ronan, is nominated for best actress.
Netflix's World War Two racial drama "Mudbound," directed and written by a woman, is also in the mix.
The SAG awards are indicators of likely Oscar success because actors form the largest group of voters in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
SAG also hands out awards for television.
The cast of political satire "Veep" won best ensemble for a television comedy. Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer and was absent from the SAG show, was named best comedy actress.
"She's genuinely been in good spirits when we've seen her, which I think will carry her along ... She is incredibly strong and is uniquely able to combat something like this," Timothy Simons, who plays Jonah Ryan on "Veep," told reporters on Sunday.