Sofia Vergara couldn't stop smiling. Bursting into the PEOPLE/Entertainment Industry Foundation Screen Actors Guild Awards afterparty on Jan. 29 to celebrate Modern Family's win for Best Comedy Ensemble in Television, she proclaimed, "I don't get nervous. I get excited! It's great to be part of this party." While her equally giddy castmates Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen toasted their win, Vergara gathered up her curve-hugging Marchesa gown, confiding, "We're living the dream!"

It was a sentiment often repeated throughout the bustling SAG bash, where winners Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis screamed and clapped with their Help costars; Shailene Woodley of The Descendants excitedly rushed to meet the Glee cast; and Julianna Margulies gushed over Glenn Close and her nominated performance in Albert Nobbs. Moneyball's Jonah Hill showed off his best shocked expression after being fake-slapped by comedian Kristen Wiig while his pal and costar Brad Pitt (with Angelina Jolie) looked on. Guests sipped champagne and cocktails, snacked on miniature fried crab cakes, grilled salmon and sliders from chef Tom Byrne, and enjoyed trips to the L'Oréal Paris makeup station and the Starbucks coffee carts. And surprise guest deejay Connor Cruise-who donated his fee to the SAG Foundation's literacy and emergency relief fund (PEOPLE and the EIF gave $100,000 to the cause)-got stars like Glee's Amber Riley and Lea Michele up on the dance floor. Jessica Lange, who took home Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series, summed up the emotional night: "Shocked, humbled, awed. It's a lovely, lovely evening."

LARRY HACKETT, MANAGING EDITOR

More From This Article

Feeding Hungry Kids
People FIRST

One person can make a big difference. That's a message we hope inspires you to join us in our exciting yearlong initiative, PEOPLE FIRST: Help Feed a Child. For 2012, PEOPLE is partnering with the Louisville, Ky.-based nonprofit Blessings in a Backpack (blessingsin abackpack.org), which provides backpacks full of food every Friday to get hungry schoolchildren through the weekend. Read our extraordinary story of Blessings volunteer Tama Clapper (page 88), a preacher's wife in Gillette, Wyo., who helps 400 kids in her community—and let us, or Blessings, know how you'd like to get involved.