Julianne Moore and Michael Keaton continued their winning streaks towards the Oscars as they picked up top honours at the final awards show before the big day.
Julianne, who plays a woman diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice, collected best female lead at the Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Birdman star Michael, who portrays a fading actor struggling to stage a Broadway play, won best male lead.
The awards show, held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, California, honoured the best independent films of the year.
Collecting his prize on stage, Michael drew gales of laughter from the star-packed crowd when he said: “I think we’d all be remiss if we didn’t take a moment and thank Narcissus right now. He doesn’t get enough of a shout out in my opinion. That mirror thing is just genius.”
Michael has already won a Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award for his performance and is perceived to be in a close race with English actor Eddie Redmayne for the Oscar tomorrow.
Eddie has also scored a Golden Globe and has won a Bafta and SAG Award for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything.
Birdman won the biggest prize of the night at the Spirit Awards for best feature, as well as best cinematography.
After collecting her best female lead award, Julianne was asked how she felt about the Oscar ceremony.
She replied: “The Oscars are tomorrow? It’s very exciting obviously. I’m very excited to be included. I’ve just been lucky with what has come my way. I’m blown away by my good fortune.”
Julianne is the favourite to win the best actress statue at the Academy Awards after collecting a SAG Award, Golden Globe, Bafta and Critics’ Choice Award.
Boyhood, a family drama filmed over 12 years, provided a best director gong for Richard Linklater and a best supporting female prize for Patricia Arquette, while JK Simmons scored best supporting male for his role as a domineering music teacher in Whiplash.
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