When you talk about trophies for acting, the whole world will immediately think of three - the Oscar, the Golden Globe and the SAG awards. Aside from the fact that it's because these are truly prestigious awards, everyone finds it easy to remember them because of the statuettes' designs.
Officially named as the Academy Award of Merit, the Oscar is just one of the nine awards given annually by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). No one can miss the image of the naked man who actually represents a knight mightily holding a sword while standing on a film reel with five spokes, which symbolize the five original departments of the Academy - actors, writers, directors, producers, and technicians.
This shiny Art Deco piece is rendered in britannium set on a black metal base. Britannium or Britannia metal was chosen for its silvery and smooth appearance. This element is composed of mostly tin with some amount of antimony and copper. It is quite heavy, weighing 8.5 pounds.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) also presents one of the much-awaited annual recognition events for actors and other film and TV professionals, the Golden Globes. It has become a primer to the Oscars every year since it's staged just a few weeks before the Academy Awards night.
Each of the trophies given here is the popular Golden Globe statuette, which features a globe that has a roll of film wrapped around it and the HFPA logo at the base. Together with the golden cup on which the whole image is set, it's made of 24k gold-plated zinc die-cast. Everything is on a pedestal made of marble. The whole statuette weighs 5.5 pounds and is individually finished by hand. The original design was introduced in 1945 and this modified version was done in 2008 for the 2009 ceremonies. Initially, the Foreign Press handed out awards only to those in the movie industry, but later on included television.
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is also a US-based organization of actors that also presents annual recognition to members who've given outstanding performances for the year. The trophy given is officially called "The Actor." It is a nude male figure that carries the comedy-tragedy masks, which are the most widely recognized symbols of dramatic art forms, particularly theater, film and television. It is the heaviest of the three awards mentioned here. Weighing over 12 pounds, it is cast in solid bronze.
So the next time you see these trophies you'll know why, apart from the prestige they represent, they are truly valuable to anyone who receives them.