Toronto native Nina Dobrev wins at People’s Choice Awards

The 2012 People’s Choice Awards were handed out in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, and the winners included the cast of Harry Potter, Emma Stone and Toronto native Nina Dobrev.

Dobrev, who stars in The Vampire Diaries, won for favourite TV drama actress.

“Okay, so I was so flustered and nervous when I won the award, that I missed a few major things I wanted to say,” she posted on Twitter. “First off, I didn’t get to thank my mom. So, Thank you mama! AND – to everyone who voted for me, you got me to the PCA’s. Your votes got me this award.”

Emma Stone took the trophies for both favorite movie actress and favourite comedy actress for her roles in civil rights era film The Help and Crazy, Stupid, Love, while Adam Sandler took home the prize for favourite comedic movie actor. Stone, who attended the event with her mother, told the audience to follow their instincts in a cheery acceptance speech.

“I’ve learned that you have to stay true to yourself from all these amazing people that I’ve had the opportunity to work with thus far,” Stone said. “You have to stay true to yourself, and don’t be afraid even though people might say that what you are doing isn’t cool, or isn’t right. I promise you, you will not regret it, if you stay true to who you are and what you love to do, because there is no other reason I’m up here today.”

Former Disney Channel star Demi Lovato, 19, was voted favourite pop artist, beating the likes of Lady Gaga and Beyoncé, while Maroon 5 won best band.

Actress Chloe Moretz, of Hugo, poked fun at her age while accepting the award for favourite movie star under 25.

“I remember watching this with my mom when I was — well, I’m only 14, so — When I was a child, I remember watching it, and I was always just hoping that I would someday be up here winning this award,” Moretz said.

Bridesmaids won best comedy movie, while Water for Elephants — starring Twilight heartthrob Robert Pattinson — won best movie drama.

Sporting a buzz-cut hairdo, Pattinson, who co-starred with Reese Witherspoon in Water for Elephants, said that he is grateful for the film’s accolades.

“I was always saying to everyone that I didn’t even care if anyone saw it” Pattinson said. “But now that people have seen it, and they’re giving awards for it, I’m even more thankful for the whole experience. So thank you guys very much. Thank you.”

Soon-to-be-nonagenarian actress Betty White was greeted with a standing ovation when her Hot in Cleveland costar Jane Leeves told the audience White’s birthday is next week, which the former Golden Girls star dismissed as a minor accomplishment.

“Thank you with all my heart, but you don’t really accomplish anything,” White said. “Ninety just happens. I didn’t do anything — it just happened.”

Another aging star, Morgan Freeman, accepted an award for favourite movie icon.

In his acceptance speech, Freeman said that he looked up the definition for the word “icon,” and found it to mean “representative of something.”

“If I represent something, here’s what I hope it is: To all of you who were kind enough to vote for me, I hope I represent a working actor who is so incredibly proud to be in this business, humbled and honoured to be mentioned in the same company as my fellow nominees, and forever grateful for this honour.,” Freeman said. “Thank you so much.”
    
Television honours went to Glee star Lea Michele and Neil Patrick Harris for How I Met Your Mother, which also won favourite TV comedy show.

But the big winners of the evening were no-shows: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 — the last installment of the hit movie franchise about the British boy wizard — won four awards, including best movie and favourite ensemble cast. And, Katy Perry won five trophies, including best female music artist and favourite song for E.T. The perky pop star pulled out of Wednesday’s live TV ceremony following her split with British comedian Russell Brand two weeks ago.

The People’s Choice is the earliest of Hollywood’s glittering annual awards shows. But unlike the Oscars or the Golden Globes, the People’s Choice is totally fan-driven and provides few clues to the likely winners of the movie industry’s highest honours in February.

The People’s Choice hands out awards in more than 40 categories covering film, music, television. Organizers said on Wednesday that the winners were decided by more than 230 million public votes online, via text and through social media websites.

The popular Twilight vampire romance franchise, which has dominated People’s Choice for the past two years, was not eligible to compete this year because of the timing of the Breaking Dawn: Part 1 release in November.

The 84th Annual Academy Awards will be handed out in a live telecast ceremony in Hollywood on Feb. 26.

For a full list of winners at the 2012 People’s Choice Awards, click here.