Brits grab Globes glory on the virtual red carpet
IT was a Hollywood awards ceremony like no other.
Gone was the endless parade of celebrities posing on the red carpet in elaborate designer dresses.
Also absent were the star- studded audience and the often unsteady walks to the stage to make a rambling acceptance speech.
Instead, Sunday night’s Golden Globes was showbusiness, pandemic-style.
Stars appeared via videolink wearing anything from haute couture to pyjamas, pets were paraded and the winners faced technical glitches.
But as with many ceremonies in recent years, in an evening of stunning success for British talent, The Crown reigned.
Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor were among the big winners, taking home best actress and best actor in a TV drama series for their portrayal of Diana, Princess of Wales and Prince Charles.
Miss Corrin, 25, looked shocked as she beat co- star Olivia Colman, who won last year, to land her first major award.
Looking stunning in a black dress with an oversized white collar inspired by a Pierrot clown, she described Crown costar O’Connor, 30, as ‘my prince charming’ and paid tribute to Princess Diana.
‘Thank you so much to Diana, you have taught me compassion and empathy beyond anything I could ever imagine,’ Miss Corrin said.
The Crown was named best drama series and Gillian Anderson, 52, won best TV supporting actress for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in the Netflix hit.
Sacha Baron Cohen won two Globes – best actor and best musical or comedy film – for his mockumentary Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.
Cohen, 49, was kissed by wife Isla Fisher, who posed with him holding two cut-out paper awards.
He joked in his speech that ‘ Donald Trump is contesting the result’. The film, released one month before last year’s Presidential election, lampooned Trump supporters, including his lawyer Rudy Giuliani who was caught in a compromising scene with an actress posing as Borat’s 15-year-old daughter.
Another British winner, Rosamund Pike, also poked fun at the lawyer. Accepting the award for best actress in a comedy or musical for I Care A Lot, the 42-year-old said: ‘In my movie, I had to swim up from a sinking car. I think I probably would rather do that than be in a room with Rudy Giuliani.’ She posted a video of herself in a huge red dress ahead of the ceremony.
Anya Taylor-Joy, 24, was named best actress in a miniseries for The Queen’s Gambit, in which she played chess champion Beth Harmon. The Netflix production also won best limited series or TV film, beating Steve McQueen’ s acclaimed BBC1 series Small Axe.
A consolation was John Boyega taking best supporting actor for his role as real-life 1980s black police recruit Leroy Logan in Small Axe: Red, White And Blue.
The Star Wars actor, 28, admitted that he wasn’t expecting to win and while he had put on a smart jacket he was also wearing ‘comfortable’ tracksuit bottoms – although that was one better than US actress Jodie Foster, who accepted her best supporting film actress award, for The Mauritanian, in her pyjamas.
Daniel Kaluuya, 32, took best supporting actor in a drama film for his role as Black Panther Fred Hampton in Judas And The Black Messiah. But his moment of glory was plagued by technical issues, with his speech muted.
Completing the night of British success was musician Atticus Ross, who co-wrote the score for the Pixar animation Soul.
The night’s biggest award, best picture, went to Nomadland with Chloe Zhao winning best director – only the second woman to do so.
The Globes, which traditionally kick off Hollywood’s awards season and are seen as a precursor to next month’s Oscars, were hosted by comedians Tina Fey, 50, from New York, and Amy Poehler, 49, from Los Angeles. The event was overshadowed by the controversy surrounding the lack of diversity on the voting body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which has no black members.