Tom Cruise among the stars at Screen Actors Guild Awards rehearsal

By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer Sun Jan 27, 2:03 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (AP) — You’re never too big to rehearse. Tom Cruise was among the stars who stopped by the Shrine Auditorium Saturday to run through lines for Sunday’s Screen Actors Guild Awards — the only show during Hollywood’s strike-subdued awards season that’s sure to have an A-list turnout.

Clad in a black blazer with a matching turtleneck and jeans, Cruise chewed gum and joked with stagehands as he practiced his lines in front of an audience of stand-ins and seat-saving placards.

His rehearsal was broadcast on monitors throughout the theater as workers prepared it for the 1,200 actors and industry heavyweights expected, along with scores of journalists.

Among the expected guests at the union’s 14th annual awards show are Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer, Forest Whitaker and Cate Blanchett.

Even the rehearsal list read like a star-studded party, with Chandra Wilson, Vanessa Williams, Viggo Mortensen, Kate Beckinsale and James Marsden among those taking the stage Saturday.

“Hairspray” star Nikki Blonsky’s mom worked a Blackberry as the actress practiced her lines. Wearing a black tunic over matching leggings and her hair in a bun, Blonsky smiled as she looked out at a front-row seat with her name on it. After her five-minute rehearsal, a stage manager gave her the A-OK sign and she rushed away to give an interview.

Outside, a tent in the theater parking lot was transformed into an elegant setting for the awards-show after party. Thousands of white roses filled giant gold vases lining the curtain-draped walls. Half a dozen workers stood atop tall ladders to trim the ceiling with greenery.

In just a few hours, the crates of champagne flutes in the center of the room would be replaced with actors rubbing elbows with their own.

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On the Net:

http://www.sagawards.org/ (Source: Yahoo! News)

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