Jussie Smollett, Diane Kruger, and Leonardo DiCaprio Celebrate the SAG Foundation’s 30th Anniversary

November 6, 2015

Instyle.com | By Johnathan Borge

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SAG-AFTRA Foundation

The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards may be 85 days away, but the organization’s foundation attracted celebratory spirits Thursday night in Hollywood. To toast the SAG Foundation’s 30th anniversary, hot, of-the-moment stars like Empire’s Jussie Smollett (in Calvin Klein), Diane Kruger, and Leonardo DiCaprio stepped into the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, where an unforgettable list of musicians took the stage for rousing performances.

“I’m obsessed with Calvin Klein,” Smollett told InStyle of his navy creation. “It just fits so well, and it makes you feel like, ‘You know what? I’m good.’” He wasn’t the only dapper gentleman on hand. Darren Criss also stuck to blue in a sharply tailored suit and later performed a jazzy rendition of “No Business Like Show Business.” Abigail Spencer, who took the stage to belt out “Autumn Leaves,” rocked a glossy black Ralph Lauren tuxedo with matching black sandals.

“This is actually a really special song for me” Spencer told InStyle of the Nat King Cole classic. “It’s actually a song that I have sung many times before, and it is haunting. It’s just a beautiful, beautiful song, and I was actually going to be singing a different song until yesterday morning, and I woke up and I was like, ‘I’m supposed to sing ‘Autumn Leaves!’'”

Also in Ralph Lauren, Camilla Belle rocked a strapless black jumpsuit while Darby Stanchfield took the tuxedo-inspired approach in a navy suit with a high-neck embroidered detail. “I like the strong fashion. I liked the sort of masculine, tough thing with the feminine contrast. I like strong, sort of edgy fashion,” she told InStyle. So who’s on her style radar? “One of my fashion muses is Tilda Swinton. “I think she’s got fantastic style… I think she takes really great risks, and she wins every time.”

Fashion aside, the speeches commemorating the Guild’s work drew rounds of applause. Mark Ruffalo presented Leonardo DiCaprio with the foundation’s Actors Inspiration Award for his work as chairman of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. “Leo’s kind of like a brother to me. He is such a special person and he does what he does with so much grace and so much panache and so much ease, that we forget how hard it is to do what he does,” Ruffalo told the audience. “When you act with him, he’s a monster and he is a beast. And it takes real, real courage to do what he does… He’s moved millions of people to take action from things like protecting endangered species to stopping ivory trade in certain parts of the world.”

DiCaprio graciously took the stage to accept his award and delivered moving words that begged for a standing ovation. The Titanic and Shutter Island star explained how he never thought his success was possible growing up without “much of anything” and also thanked his parents for their endless support. “My career has given me a platform and microphones like this one allow me to speak to my community and the world and I will continue to do so. This award, it’s a great honor, and recognition for both my work as an actor and as an activist,” he said. “In pursuit of both of these passions, I intend to do a lot more, but I ask you, my fellow actors and members of this guild, to join in this journey of selflessness, generosity, that’s been our credo as actors, that’s been our calling, and we must continue to speak out and take action about this incredibly important issue so I just thank you for your time and I thank you for this award.”