Color back on red carpet ahead of Screen Actors Guild awards

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Color returned to the red carpet on Sunday for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award on a night expected to celebrate female empowerment in the midst of the sexual misconduct scandal sweeping the United States.

From “I, Tonya” star Allison Janney in metallic silver and “Stranger Things” actress Millie Bobby Brown in metallic pink, to Chrissy Metz from “This is Us” in bright blue, most of the stars swapped the black gowns that marked support for victims of sexual harassment at the Golden Globes two weeks ago for brighter hues.

Nevertheless, the annual ceremony in Los Angeles, celebrating acting achievements in film and television, will be a female-powered affair, with women presenting all 13 of the awards.

The gala dinner will be hosted by a woman - actress Kristen Bell - and films by and about women are expected to fare well.

The ceremony takes place on the second of two days of marches by hundreds of thousands of women throughout the United States.

Accusations of sexual misconduct have forced dozens of powerful men in Hollywood and beyond to step down, be fired or dropped from creative projects.

James Franco and Aziz Ansari were seen as front-runners for SAG awards two weeks ago, but it was not clear whether they will attend Sunday’s ceremony.

Franco, a best actor nominee for A24 studio’s indie cult comedy homage “The Disaster Artist,” has kept a low profile since he said allegations against him by five women were “not accurate.”

Ansari, thought to be a front-runner for his Netflix (NFLX.O) comedy series “Master of None,” made headlines after a woman described feeling violated following an awkward date last year. Ansari said he believed their sexual activity was consensual.

While women did not turn out dressed in black en masse on Sunday, many of the movies and TV shows up for honors have strong female points of view.

Fox Searchlight’s (FOXA.O) dark comedy “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” about a furious woman seeking justice for the murder of her daughter, has a leading four nods, including the top prize of best cast ensemble.

A24’s mother-daughter comedy “Lady Bird” has three shots at a SAG statuette: best ensemble and for actresses Saiorse Ronan and Laurie Metcalf.

Netflix’s World War Two racial drama “Mudbound,” directed and written by a woman, and starring Carey Mulligan and Mary J. Blige, is also in the mix.

The SAG awards are indicators of likely Oscar success because actors form the largest group of voters in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

SAG also hands out awards for television, with “Big Little Lies,” female wrestling drama “Glow,” “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “The Crown” and women’s prison series “Orange is the New Black” all competing.