Los Angeles - Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp and Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon were selected by the US public as their favourite movie stars at a scaled-down People's Choice Awards.
The Hollywood writers strike caused the show's organizers to revamp its format, changing it from a live show complete with Hollywood glamour to a pretaped programme in which the winners received their trophies, which are awarded by fans, wherever they happened to be at the time of the taping.
Witherspoon accepted hers on the set of her new movie while Robin Williams, who won for funniest male star, was taped in Kabul, where he was visiting US troops. Fellow comedian Lewis Black appeared on tape with Williams, who was fighting laryngitis, and accepted the honour on his behalf.
Among the top winners at the show broadcast Tuesday night was Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Not only did Depp win the prize for favorite male movie star for the third year in a row, but Keira Knightley was also named favorite female action star.
The film itself was the third in the franchise to win favourite movie, and it was also honoured as the favourite threequel.
The winners in the categories of favourite leading lady and man were Drew Barrymore and Joaquin Phoenix. Knightley's partner as favourite action star was Matt Damon while Williams shared the funniest star with Ellen DeGeneres for the awards chosen by online opinion poll.
Queen Latifah hosted the broadcast, which was filmed in an empty studio without an audience or stars on the stage but featured expressions of support from its participants for the screenwriters, who have been on strike for two months.
Phoenix did not saw a word in accepting his award but simply appeared on camera with cue cards that began, 'I'm speechless without the writers.'
'All actors know we're nothing without our writers, but we're also nothing without our audience,' his Walk the Line co-star Witherspoon said in her acceptance speech.
The strike is continuing into Hollywood's annual awards season and could endanger next month's Oscar broadcast. It has caused the cancellation of Sunday's Golden Globes show, reducing it to a press conference to announce the winners.
The People's Choice Awards also honour television and music stars. Among those winners were Justin Timerlake and Gwen Stefani as best singers; Patrick Dempsey and Katherine Heigl, both of Grey's Anatomy, as favourite TV stars; and Rascal Flatts as the favourite music group.
In other movie categories, George Clooney and Brad Pitt won for best on-screen match-up in Ocean's Thirteen. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix won for favourite drama, Knocked Up for favourite comedy, Shrek the Third for favourite family movie and The Bourne Ultimatum for favourite action movie.
For television, House won for favourite drama and Two and a Half Men for favourite comedy.
© 2008 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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