Golden Globes 2024: Barbie domination, Succession v The Crown, and other possible record-breakers
With a reputation as the more irreverent counterpart to the Oscars, the Golden Globes was always the fun ceremony that kicked off awards season with caustic humour, a recognition for comedy and TV, and a lot more booze and bad behaviour.
After several years of controversy over a lack of diversity and allegations of inappropriate “freebies”, the ceremony was held in private and boycotted by celebs in 2022 and didn’t quite fully bounce back in 2023. The hope now is that it can return to its former status as the second most high-profile show of awards season – and, arguably, the funniest.
The Golden Globes has been reinvented all shiny and new, with a fresh organising body and a membership revamp increasing numbers to a more diverse group of more than 300 people from around the world.
Following the actors’ and writers’ strikes, the timing is perfect. Hollywood is ready for some fun again – and thanks to the marketing phenomenon that was Barbenheimer, there are blockbuster films in the mix. Ahead of the ceremony, here are a few potential record-breakers and interesting facts about the nominees.
Come on Barbie, let’s go win all the awards
It topped $1bn in box office sales around the world and, some might say, was largely responsible for a chunk of Oppenheimer’s success too – with nine nominations, it seems inevitable that Barbie will dominate the Golden Globes this year.
It seems a dead cert for best comedy or musical film, as well as the new award for cinematic and box office achievement (you can’t argue with those stats). Stars Margot Robbie and Ryan “Kenergy” Gosling are also up for acting awards, while Greta Gerwig is in the running for best director.
However, three of its nods are in the same category, for best original song – Dance The Night, I’m Just Ken and What Was I Made For? – meaning it can only win a total of seven awards, as could Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Oppenheimer is nominated for eight and could win all of them, which would break La La Land’s record of seven in 2016.
With the new membership this year, voting is harder to predict – but all that said, Barbie is still probably the one to put your money on for the biggest haul.
Bradley Cooper: Best director and best actor?
Pic: Netflix
In Maestro, Bradley Cooper stars as music legend Leonard Bernstein in an intimate portrait chronicling the conductor and composer’s complicated relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein, played by Carey Mulligan. Cooper directed, co-wrote and co-produced the film.
Cooper’s nods for best actor (drama) and best director become his fifth and sixth in total, but he is yet to take a Golden Globe home.
Fans of the actor might also remember he was up for the same two gongs for A Star Is Born in 2019, but lost out to Alfonso Cuaron (Roma) in the directing category and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) in the acting category.
So could the star’s first win also be part of a double?
He’s certainly a favourite in the acting category, despite facing tough competition from nominees including Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers Of The Flower Moon) and Andrew Scott (All Of Us Strangers).
The directing category sees him up against Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer, as well as Scorsese for Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Emma Stone nominated for film and TV
Pic: Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures
Also up for two gongs is Emma Stone, a now eight-time nominee who won the best actress (musical or comedy) award for her performance in La La Land in 2017.
This year, she’s up for the same prize for her critically acclaimed performance in Poor Things – “utterly filthy and a true original” is Empire’s review, while Stone’s portrayal of Bella Baxter, a young woman having a sexual awakening after being brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist in the film, is described as “entirely astounding” in the Los Angeles Times.
Stone is also nominated for best actress in a TV drama for her role in the black comedy series The Curse.
In the film category, Stone is definitely a best actress favourite for Poor Things – although the sheer power of Robbie’s Barbie may be hard to beat.
The TV category is even tougher, with Bella Ramsey (The Last Of Us) and Sarah Snook (Succession) also among those in the running for best actress.
The double would be a tricky feat to pull off, only previously achieved by Joan Plowright (Stalin and Enchanted April in 1993); Sigourney Weaver (Gorillas In The Mist and Working Girl in 1989); Helen Mirren (Elizabeth I and The Queen in 2007); and Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road and The Reader in 2009).
Steve Martin has never won before
Pic: Disney +
Surprisingly for an awards ceremony that celebrates comedy right up there alongside the serious stuff, Steve Martin has never won a Golden Globe. From 1982 to 1996, he had five film nominations – Pennies From Heaven, All Of Me, Roxanne, Parenthood, Father Of The Bride Part II – but no trophy.
Since 2022, his performance as an amateur sleuth in comedy series Only Murders In The Building, in which he stars alongside Martin Short and Selena Gomez, has landed him a nod every single year.
Could 2024 be eighth time lucky? He’s up against co-star Short, a three-time nominee, as well as other stars including Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) and Jeremy Allen White (The Bear).
Meryl Streep for Number 10?
Pic: Disney +
Having joined the cast of Only Murders In The Building in 2023, Meryl Streep earns her 34th Golden Globe nomination for her performance as an actress who never got her big break. It broke her own record for all-time nods and a win in the best supporting performance category could see her gain her 10th overall.
Unsurprisingly for one of the most decorated stars of all time, she’s a favourite to take home the prize, but faces competition from stars including Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) and Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown).
Succession v The Crown
Pic: HBO/Sky UK
In Golden Globes history, Mad Men and The X-Files tie for most wins in the best drama series category, with three each – but a win for either Succession or The Crown would equal their record.
The Last Of Us, The Morning Show, The Diplomat and 1923 are also in the running, but this seems like Succession’s year once again.
The series leads the TV field with nine nods, and stars Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong are also in the running to win a second acting gong for their performances in the series – Cox previously won in 2020, while Strong won in 2022.
Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Matthew Macfadyen, Alan Ruck, J Smith Cameron and Alexander Skarsgard are also up for awards in the acting categories.
Should The Crown’s Imelda Staunton beat Snook in the best actress category, she would become the series’ fourth actress to take home the prize, following in the regal footsteps of Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, who also played the Queen, and Emma Corrin, who played Princess Diana in her younger years.
Winners will be announced at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, hosted by comedian Jo Koy on Sunday – starting at 1am on Monday UK time.
Angelina Jolie says although she appreciates being an artist, she would prefer for her legacy to be “a good mother” and to be known for her “belief in equality and human rights”.
The Oscar-winning actress stars as Maria Callas in the new Pablo Larrain film about the opera singer’s life.
Pic: StudioCanal
She has called Maria “the hardest” and “most challenging” role she has had in her career and put months of preparation into immersing herself into the world of opera.
Jolie, who recently reached a divorce settlement with actor Brad Pitt, told Sky News: “To be very candid, it was the therapy I didn’t realise I needed. I had no idea how much I was holding in and not letting out.
“So, the challenge wasn’t the technical [side of opera], it was an emotional experience to find my voice, to be in my body, to express. You have to give every single part of yourself.”
The biopic combines the voice of the Maleficent actress with recordings of Maria Callas.
Jolie believes it “would be a crime to not have [Callas’] voice through this because, in many ways, she is very present in this film”.
Who was Maria Callas?
Born in New York in 1923, Maria Callas was the daughter of Greek immigrants who moved back to Athens at the age of 13 with her mother and sister.
After enrolling at the Athens Conservatory, she made her professional debut at 17 and went on to become one of the most famous faces of opera, travelling around the world and performing at Covent Garden in London, The Met in New York and La Scala in Milan.
Callas’s final operatic performance took place at Covent Garden in 1965 when she was 41 but she continued to work conducting master classes at Juilliard School, doing concert tours and starring in the 1969 film Medea.
Written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, Maria focuses on the artist’s final years in the 1970s when she moved to Paris and disappeared from public view.
She died on 16 September 1977 at the age of 53.
Pic: StudioCanal
Jolie on changing motivations as an actor
Maria follows the life of an artist fully consumed by the art she creates and even remarks that “happiness never developed a beautiful melody”.
Reflecting on her own life in the spotlight, Jolie said she noticed her own career motivations change over the years.
“There’s this kind of study of being human that we do when we create, and we communicate with an audience because our work is not in isolation – it’s a connection.
“I think when I was younger, I had different questions about being human and different feelings and now as I’ve gotten older, I understand some things and now I have different questions.
“It’s a matter of life, right? And so maybe that’s interesting that this now is a character really contemplating death and really contemplating the toll of certain things in life that I, of course, couldn’t have understood in my 20s”.
Jolie at the New York Film Festival in September with three of her children (L-R) Pax, Zahara and Maddox. Pic: AP
A family affair
Two of Jolie’s children, Maddox and Pax, took on production assistant roles during the filming of Maria and witnessed their mother perform opera for the first time in public.
She says the film allowed them to create new experiences together and for her children to see her approach to playing a difficult role.
“Everyone in my home, we all give each other space to be who we are and we’re all different.
“I’m the mom, but I’m also an artist and a person and so my family has been very kind and gives me their understanding. They make fun of me, and they support me and just as you’d hope it would be.”
She adds: “When you play somebody who is dealing with so much pain, it’s very important to come home to some kindness.”
Maria is in cinemas now.
Tom Holland’s dad has confirmed his son’s engagement to Zendaya – revealing how the 28-year-old meticulously planned the proposal.
Zendaya, also 28, sparked engagement rumours when she attended last Sunday’s Golden Globes wearing a sparkling diamond on her ring finger.
Neither star has publicly addressed the rumours but Tom’s comedian father, Dominic Holland, has now confirmed the pair are set to wed.
He wrote in a post on his Patreon account: “Tom, as you know by now was very incredibly well prepared. He had purchased a ring.
“He had spoken with her father and gained permission to propose to his daughter.”
“Tom had everything planned out… When, where, how, what to say, what to wear,” he added.
Zendaya arrived at the Golden Globes with a noticeable piece of new jewellery. Pic: Invision/AP
Dominic also noted that while most men worry about being able to afford an engagement ring, he suspects his actor son was “more concerned with the stone, its size and clarity, its housing, which jeweller”.
Tom and Zendaya met on the set of Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2016, when they played the titular hero and his love interest MJ, respectively. Their romance was confirmed in 2021.
In his post, Tom’s father admitted fears over whether being in the spotlight could put a strain on the couple’s relationship.
He wrote: “I do fret that their combined stardom will amplify their spotlight and the commensurate demands on them and yet they continually confound me by handling everything with aplomb.”
“And even though show business is a messy place for relationships and particularly so for famous couples as they crash and burn in public and are too numerous to mention […] yet somehow right at the same time, I am completely confident they will make a successful union.”
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Zendaya rose to fame after landing a role in Disney sitcom Shake It Up, and became a household name after starring in Euphoria.
Holland – who has starred in three Spider-Man films opposite his now-fiancée – made his stage debut in Billy Elliot the Musical in 2008.
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