Heath had a 'beautiful spirit'
2008-02-24 12:53
Santa Monica - Australian icon Cate Blanchett paid tribute to Heath Ledger on Saturday after scooping a top prize at the prestigious Independent Spirit Awards.
A heavily pregnant Blanchett, who is tipped to win a second Oscar in three years at Sunday's 80th Academy Awards, was on hand to collect a best supporting actress prize for her gender-defying turn as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There.
"It's kind of cruel to make a pregnant lady waddle this far," Blanchett joked before paying tribute to Ledger, who died in January after accidentally consuming a lethal cocktail of drugs.
Blanchett, 38, described Ledger, who also featured in I'm Not There, as one of the most "beautiful independent spirits of all."
The Spirit Awards honour the year's best independent films and are seen as a laidback antidote to the glamour and glitz of the Oscars.
Saturday's awards were largely dominated by an Oscars contender, however, the popular comedy Juno, which will be vying for honours in several categories at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday.
A low-budget comedy about a teenager grappling with an unplanned pregnancy, Juno was crowned best picture at the Spirit Awards.
The film also earned a best actress award for Canadian youngster Ellen Page, who plays the movie's quick-witted titular character. Page is also nominated for best actress at the Oscars.
The film also earned a best original screenplay Spirit award for Diablo Cody, the one-time stripper who is expected to add an Oscar to her awards-season trophy haul at the Academy Awards on Sunday.
Best director went to Julian Schnabel for the critical hit, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, based on the 1997 memoir by late French journalist Jean-Dominique Bauby. Bauby dictated the book via blinks of an eyelid after suffering a massive stroke that left him paralysed.
Schnabel has also been nominated for an Oscar for the film.