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HOLLYWOOD -- Even serial killers deserve a little love. Apparently.
Two years after winning a best-actress Oscar for her portrayal of murderess Aileen Wuornos in Monster, Charlize Theron stood on the same Kodak Theatre stage to accept the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's Vanguard Award for raising awareness of the gay community. (The ceremony airs Saturday on Logo at 9 p.m. ET/PT and Sunday on VH1 at 11 p.m. ET/PT .)
Theron explained the honor: "At the end of the day, (Wuornos) was a human being so desperate to be loved by anyone," Theron said. "And that's something I think all of us can relate to."
All GLAAD president Neil Giuliano would say was, "We're just happy that Charlize is here."
Theron also made headlines last year when she declared she and partner Stuart Townsend would not marry until gay couples had the legal right to marry.
She was, however, far from the only major name to show up. The entire cast of Will & Grace accepted the award for outstanding comedy series. And behind the scenes, they shared details of the series' final season.
The finale is to be shot this week, and Bernadette Peters will appear on the second-to-last show as Karen's sister. "We made one last attempt to get Barbra Streisand to come on the show as Karen's sister, but there was just no love there for us," said show creator Max Mutchnick.
"And then they went after Meryl Streep," Megan Mullally added. "But (Bernadette) is amazing."
Teri Hatcher presented the award to Transamerica for outstanding film in limited release. Not there: The film's star, Hatcher's Desperate Housewives co-star Felicity Huffman. "She has received so many invitations that she chose to stay home tonight with her kids," explained Housewives creator Marc Cherry.
But there was other Huffman chatter. Garry Marshall said he is recruiting her to star in his next film, the drama Georgia Rules, along with Jane Fonda (to play Huffman's mother) and Lindsay Lohan (Huffman's daughter). The film is set to shoot this July.
Others also shared tidbits about their own projects.
Comedian Ant, host of VH1's Celebrity Fit Club, identified three celebs who will be trying to shed pounds when the show begins taping its fourth season April 22: Tina Yothers (Family Ties), singer Carnie Wilson and Vincent Pastore (The Sopranos).
And Alexis Arquette -- there with sisters Patricia and Rosanna presenting the documentary award to TransGeneration, about transgender youth -- talked about filming a new documentary. Alexis, who was born male but is living as a female, will explore the possibility of having sexual-reassignment surgery.
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