'Actor' Statuettes Cast in Bronze for 19th Annual SAG Awards

The Actor statuettes-which this year's 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards honorees will receive for outstanding performances in 2012 in five film and eight primetime television categories-have been cast in solid bronze at the American Fine Arts Foundry in Burbank, California.

The 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony will be simulcast live coast-to-coast on TNT and TBS on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2013, at 8 p.m. (ET)/5 p.m. (PT) from the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles. Prior to the televised ceremony, recipients of the honors for television and film stunt ensembles will be announced from the red carpet during the live pre-show webcasts on tntdrama.com, tbs.com and People.com which begin at 6 p.m. (ET)/3 p.m. (PT). An encore presentation will air immediately following on TNT at 10 p.m. (ET)/7 p.m. (PT).

Each Actor statuette carries a serial number engraved at its base. Numbering began with No. 1. The first statuette cast is on display at SAG-AFTRA headquarters in Los Angeles. 765 statuettes have been awarded since the first Actors were presented in 1995. The Actor weighs 12 pounds and stands 16 inches tall. Each Actor is cast in solid bronze, using the lost wax process. The statuette has a green-black patina finish and stands on a base of polished black granite. The Actor is the work of a team of fine arts professionals. The Actor was sculpted by Edward Saenz and designed by Jim Heimann and Jim Barrett. The statuette is produced at the American Fine Arts Foundry under the supervision of Brett Barney and Angel Meza.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards will not know how many of The Actor statuettes it will need until the awards presenters open the envelopes on Jan. 27. Voting information for the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards was mailed on Dec. 31, 2012 to the entire active membership of SAG-AFTRA, who will vote on all categories, either online or via requested paper ballots. Votes must be received by noon (PT) on Jan. 25 at Integrity Voting Systems, the union's official teller. Results will be sealed until they are opened onstage.

Though the number of categories is known ahead of time, the possibility of multiple recipients sharing awards in the Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Motion Picture, Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series categories makes the total number of statuettes that will be awarded unpredictable. Any surplus Actor statuettes will find a home in the union's vault until next year.

Five 10-foot, 200-pound likenesses of The Actor statuette, that were introduced at the 9th and 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, will grace the red carpet, the stage, the media rooms and Post-Awards Gala at the 19th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards. Scenario Design in Los Angeles constructed the painted fiberglass statues under the supervision of Scenario Design President Paul Buckley and Scenic and Sculpting Department Head Daniel Lucas.