Julianna Margulies is a “Good Wife” and Best Actress at SAG Awards

When "The Good Wife" star Julianna Margulies arrived in the backstage press area, hefting her newly minted SAG Award—universally acknowledged as the heaviest statuette by all of the night's winners—at the Shrine Auditorium on Sunday, she was admittedly still in shock after winning her second consecutive Actor.

"I'm overwhelmed," she beamed. "Honestly, I was taken aback [to win]. I'm so grateful to have this job, let alone have people recognize it, watch it, and give you awards for it. It's an embarrassment of riches and I feel very lucky."

Asked about the show's glowing critical reception and devout fan following, Margulies said, "This character seems to bleed into different genres of life; the working woman, the mother, the wife, the woman who's been cheated on. I've had women come up to me and start weeping about their cheating husbands, [who say] 'Don't go back to him because I went back to my husband and he did it again.' It's a real honor to be part of a show that's viewed that way."

Today, Margulies has a loyal audience for her hit CBS show and is fondly remembered for her Emmy-winning tenure on "ER," but all actors have to start somewhere. On a night where she was honored by fellow members of her guild, the actress revealed the role that earned her SAG card.

"Ready?" she grinned, pausing for dramatic effect. "Ahem, Steven Seagal's 'Out for Justice.' I played a hooker with a heart of gold, which is what you do in a Steven Seagal movie. I made two thousand dollars, I remember, and I played a Puerto Rican hooker. I've come a long way."

"The Good Wife" airs Tuesday nights on CBS.

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