Golden Globes 2021: Winners, nominees and standout moments
Sacha Baron Cohen claimed a Golden Globe win from Australia, paying tribute to his wife Isla Fisher as many other A-listers boycotted the awards.
Golden Globes
Don't miss out on the headlines from Golden Globes. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Honorary Aussie Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat sequel beat the fabled musical Hamilton in one of the Golden Globe’s biggest shocks.
Currently based in Sydney, Baron Cohen is married to Australian actress Isla Fisher – who, wearing hot pink, sat next to him during the award show’s virtual telecast.
The Borat Subsequent Moviefilm also knocked out Australian singer-songwriter Sia’s first movie, Music, and the Nicole Kidman vehicle, The Prom, for best comedy or musical film.
In his speech, Baron Cohen took aim at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – the organisation behind the Globes – for its lack of diversity.
“Thank you to the all-white Hollywood Foreign Press,” Baron Cohen said, in a pointed remark.
The Borat star also paid tribute to the breakout star of the film – no, not co-star Maria Bakalova, but Republican politician Rudy Giuliani, who unwittingly starred in the film’s most shocking hidden camera segment.
Baron Cohen also had an adorable message for Fisher, thanking his “incredibly patient wife Isla, who puts up with all my madness” as the pair hugged.
Baron Cohen also took best actor in a musical or comedy film for his role as “Borat”.
In another key category, groundbreaking Nomadland won best film (drama), taking its second gong after best director for Chloe Zhao.
The film stars Frances McDormand and uses real life actors to tell the story of homeless Americans.
Andra Day was earlier awarded best actress in a drama film for her role as singer Billie Holiday in the United States vs. Billie Holiday.
WHY STARS BOYCOTTED GLOBES
Hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler delivered a biting opener at the Golden Globes as the awards were boycotted by a string of Hollywood power players over racism claims.
Stars including director Olivia Wilde criticised the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – which is made up of 37 entertainment journalists who decide the awards – for featuring no black members.
“Truly absurd,” director Wilde posted on Instagram, as the Golden Globes were held in Los Angeles, New York, and via Zoom.
“I support and celebrate all the GG nominees, and their hard work for their craft, but when it comes to this institution, it’s time for the HFPA to commit to some deep, structural evolution. #timesupglobes.”
AUSSIES MISS OUT AS COMICS DELIVER ZINGERS
Meantime, Australia’s biggest Golden Globes hopes were dashed when Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett missed out on best actress in a limited series or made-for-TV film.
Newcomer Anya Taylor-Joy won for her role as a stereotype-challenging chess prodigy in The Queen’s Gambit.
The quirky series also won best limited series.
Broadcasting from separate locations, Fey and Poehler kicked off the Golden Globes by tackling the controversy surrounding it head-on, with their comedic zingers.
The pair referred to the lack of black members in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which was recently revealed in a bombshell report.
The Association nominates and selects Golden Globes winners each year. Fey said they’ll be celebrating “all the amazing TV shows you’ve binged this year – American Office, old Colombos.”
They also noted the Association had 87 “no Black” members and joked that several members may be ghosts.
They had a dig at Australian singer Sia’s controversial autism-themed film Music, which has been nominated, according to Fey, “for Biggest Flopparooni.”
They said it was “more problematic than (the film’s star) Kate Hudson promoting Weight Watchers”.
Meantime, the hybrid online Golden Globes suffered teething problems when the night’s first winner Daniel Kaluuya couldn’t be heard accepting his award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture for Judas and the Black Messiah.
He beat huge names Sacha Baron Cohen, Bill Murray, Leslie Odom Jnr and Jared Leto for the gong that was presented by Laura Dern.
Although his first attempt to speak didn’t work, he was able to give his speech shortly afterwards.
Under fire for having no black voting members, the Foreign Press Association has awarded its first two Golden Globes to black performers, with John Boyega winning best supporting actor in a made-for-television role for Small Axe.
SCHITT’S CREEK GETS A NOD
Veteran actress and singer Catherine O’Hara won the Golden Globe for best comedy actress in a TV series for her iconic turn as Schitt’s Creek matriarch Moira Rose.
“From the first read-through, where no-one had to fake a laugh, to the final day on set where everybody but me had to hold back their tears, it’s an experience I will forever hold dear to my heart,” O’Hara said.
Mark Ruffalo won Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for playing identical twins in I Know This Much is True, beating Hugh Grant, Bryan Cranston, Jeff Daniels and Ethan Hawke.
“I love you guys,” he said in his acceptance speech interrupted by his children hugging him at home.
“This group of actors. these are the people I admire and love and look up to.”
FONDA HONOURED WITH AWARD
Jane Fonda, 83, was recognised for her legendary acting and activism with the Cecil B. DeMille Award.
Co-host Tina Fey said the honour was probably coming at the “midpoint” of the apparently ageless performer’s career.
“I found Jane to be so much more than just a movie star,” Fey said of working with Fonda.
“She was an open, generous hard working actor, with the ass of a 20 year old boy.”
Aaron Sorkin was awarded best motion picture screenplay for the historical drama The Trial of the Chicago 7.
The West Wing creator said the greater honour had been to be nominated alongside Chloe Zhao, Emerald Fennell, Jack Fincher and Florian Zeller.
AWARD FOR BLACK PANTHER STAR
The late performer Chadwick Boseman’s wife Taylor Simone Ledward gave an emotional acceptance speech for his award for best actor in a motion picture for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
Black Panther star Boseman died last August after privately battling cancer.
“He would thank God, he would thank his parents, he would thank his ancestors for their guidance and their sacrifice,” she said with a breaking voice.
“He would say something beautiful, something inspiring, something that would amplify that little voice inside that tells you … you can.
“I don’t have his words but we have to take all the moments to celebrate those we love.”
TV LEGEND HONOURED
Legendary television creator Norman Lear, 98, who was behind boundary-smashing 1970s classics All in the Family, Good Times, The Jeffersons and Maude was honoured with the Carol Burnett Award for outstanding contributions to television.
Co-host Tina Fey said: “Before Norman no-one dared to have sitcoms tackle controversial topics.
“And in doing so, he paved the way for all of us who followed.”
Lear, who continues to produce TV shows, dedicated his award to Burnett, 87, saying “nobody has made me laugh harder, there is nobody I owe more to than Carol Burnett”.
“It knocks me out to be introduced by Amy Poehler and Tina Fey and to accept this award,” he said.
“I could not feel more blessed.”
THE CROWN PICKS UP GONGS
Emma Corrin’s mesmerising debut in The Crown saw her recognised for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series.
She dedicated her award to the late Princess Diana, who she plays in the semi-historical Netflix drama charting the past few decades of the British Royal family.
“Most of all, thank you so much to Diana,” she said.
“You have taught me compassion and empathy beyond any measure that I could ever imagine, and on behalf of everyone who remembers you so fondly and passionately in our hearts, thank you.”
Corrin’s win for The Crown should make producers rethink their decision to cast another actress to play Diana in the next season when Australian actor Elizabeth Debecki is due to replace Corrin as the people’s princess.
Her Globe win completes her fairytale experience on the show, which began when she was originally hired as an audition stand-in to read Diana’s lines with other actors, but captured producer Peter Morgan’s eye and was given the role of a lifetime.
The Crown – which also won best TV drama – continued its winning streak with Josh O’Connor, who plays Prince Charles, beating Al Pacino, Jason Bateman, Bob Odenkirk and Matthew Rhys for best actor in a television drama.
Jason Sudekis beat a heavy-hitting line-up to take best performance in a TV musical or comedy for his heartwarming role as an out-of-place American football coach in London in the Apple comedy Ted Lasso.
He praised co-nominees Don Cheadle, Eugene Levy, Nicholas Hoult and Ramy Youseff.
While Levy missed out for his work on Schitt’s Creek, the Canadian comedy did win best television series, musical or comedy.
British actress Rosamund Pike won best actress in a musical or comedy film for her chilling performance as a conwoman in the dark comedy I Care a Lot.
She said her fellow nominee Maria Bakalova should have been recognised for her bravery for being alone in a room with Rudy Giuliani in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm as she accepted her award.
KIDMAN, URBAN AND KIDS MAKE A CAMEO
The kids of Hollywood were a surprise inclusion of the virtual Globes, with Sunday and Faith Urban, appearing on a couch beside their nominated mother, Nicole Kidman and dad, Keith.
Ethan Hawke, nominated for The Good Lord Bird, clutched his two young children, while Mark Ruffalo’s two sons crashed their dad’s Zoom acceptance speech to give him a hug.
The Golden Globes were a “hybrid” virtual this year due to the pandemic, with fourth time co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler respectively presenting from the Rainbow Room in New York and the traditional Globes venue, The Beverly Hilton.
Join the conversation
Stone’s regret over Swift ‘a**ehole’ remark
Emma Stone has revealed her regret after making a joke about longtime pal Taylor Swift backstage at the Golden Globes.
Read more
Globes host slams Hollywood amid backlash
Jo Koy has called the Golden Globes’ A-list audience a bunch of “marshmallows” in first stand-up gig since his disastrous role as host.
Read more