Canadian ACTRA Awards Name Christopher Plummer Best Actor

TORONTO - Here’s a good omen for Christopher Plummer heading into the Academy Awards.

our editor recommends

Christopher Plummer 'Beginners' Indie Spirit Awards

Christopher Plummer, Frank Langella to Star in HBO Muhammad Ali Film

Christopher Plummer Recalls 'Awful,' 'Gooey' 'Sound of Music' Role (Video)

The veteran Canadian stage and screen star on Saturday night was named best actor by ACTRA Toronto, a branch of the Canadian performers union, for his star-turn in the Canadian indie movie Barrymore.

Fourteen years after Plummer first performed his quasi-one man show about an aging, booze-addled John Barrymore trying to restart his stage career, Canadian director Erik Canuel shot a film adaptation of the Barrymore stage play that bowed at the Toronto International Film Festival.

VIDEO: Christopher Plummer 'Beginners' Indie Spirit Awards

The ACTRA trophy came as Plummer took the best supporting male award at the Indie Spirit Awards for his portrayal of a gay widower in Beginners.

That’s the same role with which Plummer will challenge Sunday night at the Oscars, where he’s the odds-on favorite to win the best supporting actor category against competition from Max von Sydow, Kenneth Branagh, Jonah Hill and Nick Nolte.

Also Saturday night in Toronto at the ACTRA Awards, Amy Price-Francis won the best actress trophy for her star-turn in King, the Canadian crime drama, while Billy MacLellan won the best voice performance for his work on the CBC radio drama Afghanada.