Brokeback Mountain's inexorable climb to Oscar victory has been dealt a major blow after it was beaten to a top film award by racial drama Crash.
The surprise at the Screen Actors Guild Awards saw Crash, about race tension simmering over 36 hours in Los Angeles, take the top honour of " outstanding performance by a cast" - the equivalent of best film.
More than 70 actors feature in the ensemble, including bigname stars Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon and Thandie Newton, who worked for basic pay. Bullock was so committed to the £3.5million film that she paid to fly to the set.
Crash director and co-writer Paul Haggis said the producers, who included Cheadle, frequently ran out of money and had to use his home for rehearsals.
Ang Lee's gay cowboy romance, starring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, had been odds-on favourite to take the top accolade after scooping major awards at
other ceremonies.
Crash's success will shake confidence over Brokeback's route to the Oscars on 5 March as the SAG awards - picked by actors - are widely seen as a foretaste of Academy Award success.
British actress Rachel Weisz, 34, built on her recent Golden Globe success by taking best supporting actress for her role as a pregnant activist in political thriller The Constant Gardener.
Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best actor for his role as writer Truman Capote in Capote and Reese Witherspoon was best actress for playing June Carter Cash in the Johnny Cash biopic Walk the Line.
On TV, Lost took best ensemble performance award for a TV drama and Desperate Housewives took the ensemble prize for a TV comedy series. Kiefer Sutherland was named best actor in a dramatic series for 24.
