Anne Hathaway, Tommy Lee Jones win SAG awards

Actress Anne Hathaway, from the film "Les Miserables", accepts the award for outstanding female actor in a supporting role at the 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California January 27, 2013. [Photo/Agencies]

Tommy Lee Jones and Anne Hathaway took home prizes at the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards on Sunday, as Hollywood actors picked the best performances of 2012 in film and television on an evening that will likely define some of the top Oscar races next month.

Related: Argo and Les Mis triumph at Golden Globes

Jones, 66, won the best supporting actor trophy for his turn as Thaddeus Stevens, the radical congressman in "Lincoln," beating strong competition from Robert De Niro's gruff father in "Silver Linings Playbook". The category is seen as one of the closest races at the Oscars on February 24.

Hathaway, 30, won her first SAG award for her supporting role as the tragic Fantine in musical "Les Miserables".

"I got my SAG card when I was 14 .. And I have loved every single minute of my life as an actor," said Hathaway, accepting the statuette.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) ceremony is among the most-watched during Hollywood's awards season because actors make up the largest voting bloc in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which presents the Oscars. The SAG honors are chosen by about 100,000 actors working in the United States.

Lincoln," about US President Abraham Lincoln's battle to end slavery, French revolution musical "Les Miserables," and comedy "Silver Linings Playbook," about a bipolar man's unlikely romance, went into Sunday's show with four nominations apiece, including the top prize of best ensemble cast.

The cast of Iranian hostage drama "Argo" and British comedy "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," about a group of seniors who retire to a ramshackle hotel in India, received two nominations each.

Briton Daniel Day-Lewis is seen as a shoo-in for SAG's best actor prize after picking up a slew of awards already for his towering performance as Lincoln. Day-Lewis is also seen as a front-runner for a record third Oscar next month.

All eyes on Sunday are focused on the lead actress category, to be announced toward the end of the two-hour SAG ceremony, where award watchers say Jessica Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence are in a tight race.