In one of the strongest hints at Oscar success of the awards season so far, the Screen Actors Guild has picked Ben Affleck’s Argo as its Best Ensemble Cast.

With actors making up the biggest proportion of the Academy’s voters, the SAG Awards are often seen as reliable indicators of who will end up with Oscars.

In the individual categories, Oscar favourite – and Golden Globe winner – Daniel Day-Lewis was named the Best Actor for his depiction of Lincoln. Jennifer Lawrence repeated her Golden Globe success, being named the Best Actress for Silver Linings Playbook.

Anne Hathaway continued her winning streak in the supporting actress category, for Les Miserables. The Best Supporting Actor prize left the Oscar race a little more open, with Lincoln’s Tommy Lee Jones taking the honour as the firebrand anti-slavery congressman, Thaddeus Stevens. Next month, he’ll face competition from the Golden Globe winner Christoph Waltz, whose role in Django Unchained failed to secure him a nomination at the SAG Awards.

Like the Globes, the Screen Actors Guild also use their annual celebration to honour achievement in television. They gave their ensemble drama cast to the British hit Downton Abbey, which beat off strong competition from the Golden Globe winner Homeland. The CIA drama didn’t go home empty handed though; its star Claire Danes was the best actress in an episodic drama. But her co-star Damian Lewis missed out to Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston in the race to be the best actor in that category.

The episodic comedy awards went to the cast of Modern Family, and the stars of 30 Rock, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin.

The political satire about Sarah Palin, Game Change, repeated its Golden Globes success in the category that combines mini-series and TV movies. It’s star Julianne Moore was the best actress, while the best actor award went to Kevin Costner, for Hatfields and McCoys.

The Guild also recognises stunt performers, giving Skyfall the film award, while its TV prize went to Game of Thrones.

It also honoured Dick Van Dyke with a lifetime achievement award.