SAG Awards 2013: 'Argo' nabs best ensemble prize The cast of "Argo" took home the Screen Actors Guild's top honor Sunday night, solidifying its status as the front-runner in an Oscar race that has been muddled from the beginning. The award for cast in a motion picture is often seen as a bellwether for the Academy Award best picture prize because many SAG members are members of the actors branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- the largest voting bloc of the organization. "Argo," which also took home the top honor from the Producers Guild of America Saturday night, bested the casts of "Lincoln," "Les Misérables," "Silver Linings Playbook and "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel." The film, in which Affleck stars alongside Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin and John Goodman, centers on a CIA agent tasked with the dangerous task of removing fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran. Said Affleck after the cast was nominated for the prize: "This ensemble award reflects the work for more than 120 people with speaking roles. They were multilingual, multinational. Everybody had a sense that this was about something important, something that happened. Virtually every actor brought a story. SAG Awards red carpet: A Ralph Rucci, Rodarte surprise SAG Awards 2013: Watch the Actor statue being made