Olivia Colman made a triumphant return to the Golden Globes – a year after winning a TV award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Night Manager.
Scooping the prize for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at this year's ceremony for her starring role in The Favourite, the British actor charmed the audience with her humble, and entertaining, acceptance speech.
“Cor blimey, thank you so much. I'm not going to cry because my entire table will point and laugh at me as I've been crying all evening," she began.
Paying tribute to director Yorgos Lanthimos and her co-stars, she added: “Yorgos, thank you the most muchly and ma b*****s, Emma and Rachel, thank you, every second of working with you was such a joy and I was so sad that it finished.
“I would like to tell you how much this film meant to me but I can't think of it because I'm too excited," she continued. “I went on a private jet and I ate constantly through the film and it was brilliant and I promise I will keep on enjoying this, because it's amazing.”
Colman's win will undoubtedly fuel speculation that she is one of the strongest contenders at this year's Academy Awards, with many picking her as a favourite (pun intended) for the Best Actress award.
Meanwhile, Bohemian Rhapsody won the Best Motion Picture – Drama award as lead actor Rami Malek also picked up a trophy for his performance. The Queen biopic’s wins came as A Star is Born lost in four of the five categories it had been nominated in – despite being one of the most hotly tipped films this awards season.
Bohemian Rhapsody, in which Malek plays Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, defeated BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, If Beale Street Could Talk, and A Star is Born in the Best Motion Picture – Drama category.
Malek, meanwhile, had been nominated alongside John David Washington (BlacKkKlansman), Lucas Hedges (Boy Erased), Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate), and Bradley Cooper (A Star is Born) for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.
A Star is Born only won one award during the ceremony, when Shallow was crowned Best Original Song in a Motion Picture.
Lady Gaga had been nominated for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama award, which ultimately went to Glenn Close for her role in The Wife.
In addition to his nomination for Best Actor in a Drama, Cooper was up for the Best Director – Motion Picture title. Alfonso Cuarón won the award for his film Roma, which also earned him the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture in a Foreign Language.
Colman, Malek and Bohemian Rhapsody’s victories were part of a series of British wins throughout the night.
Richard Madden scored another one of the high profile wins of the evening when he picked up the Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama award for his performance in Bodyguard.
The BBC thriller, which previously became the most watched show on iPlayer with 41.3 million requests, earned the Scottish actor his first Golden Globe.
Ben Wishaw also scored an award for his performance in A Very British Scandal, picking up the trophy for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television.
Christian Bale, meanwhile, earned the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy trophy for his role as Dick Cheney in Vice.
The British actor shocked many viewers when he spoke in his natural accent while giving his acceptance speech, as many were convinced Bale – a native of Pembrokeshire, Wales – was actually American.
The 76th Golden Globes were hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California.
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Should Win: If Beale Street Could Talk
If Beale Street Could Talk, meanwhile, may not have acquired the same buzz as Barry Jenkins’s directorial debut, Moonlight, but it’d be refreshing to see an awards body recognise how quickly Jenkins is becoming a major force in modern cinema.
Should Win: Lady Gaga, A Star is Born
Although Lady Gaga’s performance as Ally, the nightclub singer turned pop phenomenon, has been praised as revelatory by some, HFPA voters were already wise to her talents: she picked up the award for Best Actress in a Limited-Series or TV Movie back in 2016 for her deliciously theatrical turn as The Countess on American Horror Story.
So there’s surely no doubt that the HFPA will reward her for this undoubtedly mightier performance, which delivers both vulnerability and dignity, making Ally a more grounded version of the classic Hollywood heroine.
Should Win: Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born
Our critic says: Rami Malek’s turn as Freddie Mercury in Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody may have been praised as a spot-on impression by critics, but the film itself got a mixed reception. It was assumed the film wasn’t good enough to compete on the awards circuit, even before taking into account the sexual assault allegations faced by its director, Bryan Singer.
However, HFPA voters can’t seem to resist a film like this, and Bohemian Rhapsody has ended up with several nominations, making it very likely Malek will win in this category. However, as good as Malek’s performance is, he’s not given much material to make his Mercury shine, especially compared to Cooper’s layered performance as tortured country singer Jackson Maine.
Should Win: The Favourite
Our critic says: Green Book is officially this year’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri: a film with a significant groundswell of support, but also facing significant criticism for its depiction of race. A buddy comedy about the unexpected friendship between famous pianist Dr Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) and his driver (Viggo Mortensen), the picture has been praised for delivering a much-needed dose of optimism.
But it has also been accused of oversimplifying issues of race, and implying that racism is now a thing of the past. Still, the HFPA picked Three Billboards over The Shape of Water for Best Drama in 2018, suggesting the controversy may have little effect on Green Book’s chances here. That means ignoring, however, the brilliance of Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, a viciously funny (and, when it needs to be, moving) comedy that rewrites the rules for period films.
Our predictions for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Nominees: Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns, Olivia Colman, The Favourite, Charlize Theron, Tully, Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade, Constance Wu, Crazy Rich Asians
Will Win: Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Should Win: Olivia Colman, The Favourite
Olivia Colman is a national treasure and her work as Queen Anne in The Favourite, toying with the two courtiers vying for her affections (Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz), could very well be her best performance yet. The film’s script – which is also likely to win Best Screenplay at the Globes – is an actor’s dream and a formidable showcase for all three of its stars, thanks to its heady mix of absurdism, grandeur, and tragedy.
She’s surely (yes) the favourite here, and may even have what it takes to beat Gaga to Best Actress at the Academy Awards, although it will be a tight race.
Our predictions for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Nominees: Christian Bale, Vice, Line Manuel Miranda, Mary Poppins Returns, Viggo Mortensen, Green Book, Robert Redford, The Old Man and the Gun, John C Reilly, Stan & Ollie
Will Win: Christian Bale, Vice
Should Win: Robert Redford, The Old Man & the Gun
Our critic says: Awards bodies love a physical transformation, which makes Christian Bale’s unrecognisable turn as Dick Cheney in Vice, a biopic about the former vice president directed by The Big Short’s Adam McKay, a strong favourite in this category. Bale is well-known as a method-acting devotee and he certainly gets to go all in as Cheney, from the prosthetics to the mannerisms to the sense of ruthless ambition.
Yet it’s such a safe choice for the Golden Globes, especially when compared to Robert Redford’s subtler work in The Old Man & the Gun, supposedly his final performance and a charming, elegant curtain call for the screen legend.
Nominees: Amy Adams, Vice, Claire Foy, First Man, Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk, Emma Stone, The Favourite, Rachel Weisz, The Favourite
Will Win: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Should Win: Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk
Our critic says: Although Stone and Weisz, both nominated for their performances in The Favourite, are strong contenders here, no one in this category quite dominated the screen like Regina King in If Beale Street Could Talk, playing a mother determined to fight for her daughter’s right to a life of love and freedom. It’s a performance where so much of the emotion is held beneath the surface, with many of King’s best moments playing out without dialogue.
Our predictions for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
Nominees: Mahershala Ali, Green Book, Timothee Chalamet, Beautiful Boy, Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman, Richard E Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Sam Rockwell, Vice
Will Win: Mahershala Ali, Green Book
Should Win: Richard E Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?
Our critic says: Green Book’s strength lies in its two central performances and, if the film itself wins on the night, it seems inevitable that one of its stars will also be rewarded. Mahershala Ali benefits from a less competitive category than his co-star Viggo Mortensen, who is nominated as lead actor. He also gives the more memorable performance, despite having less screen time, playing a man determined to maintain his dignity in a world that’s structured to strip him of it.
However, even his work can’t top Richard E Grant’s fragile but sparkling turn as raconteur and petty criminal Jack Hock in Can You Ever Forgive Me?, a biopic about literary forger Lee Israel.
Nominees: The Americans, Bodyguard, Homecoming, Killing Eve, Pose
Will Win: Killing Eve
Should win: Killing Eve
Our critic says: Freed from the behemoth that is Game of Thrones, which didn’t have any new episodes in 2018, the Golden Globes has the opportunity to award new and original work. Although Pose was boundary-breaking in its transgender representation, and a thrilling new addition to Ryan Murphy’s television empire, no other show better fits that category than Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Killing Eve, which reinterpreted the spy genre in a masterful, unexpected way.
Nominees: Barry, Good Place, Kidding, Kaminsky Method, Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Will Win: The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Should Win: The Marvelous Mrs Maisel
Our critic says: The Golden Globes haven’t rewarded the same show two years in a row since 2010, when Glee triumphed for a second time. However, last year’s winner, Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, simply doesn’t have a superior contender amongst this year’s nominees.
Its second season has continued to charm critics with its sense of warmth and humour, carrying on the story of a 1950s housewife pursuing a career in standup comedy. The only show that could possibly have threatened Maisel’s chances was Atlanta, 2016’s winner, but the HBO series was bizarrely snubbed in the nominations this year.
Our predictions for Best Motion Picture - Foreign Language
Nominees: Capernaum, Girl, Never Look Away, Roma, Shoplifters
Will Win: Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Should Win: Alfonso Cuarón, Roma
Our critic says: Roma’s glaring omission from the nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama isn’t actually a snub, but part of the HFPA’s rules for the Globes: any film entered in its Foreign-Language category cannot then compete for either Best Motion Picture awards. It is, however, eligible in categories such as directing, acting, writing, and score.
This means the Globes will give a slightly warped representation of the awards race at large, where the top two competitors have already been narrowed down toRoma and A Star is Born. That means the Best Director race comes down to either Cooper or Alfonso Cuarón, although it’s more likely the latter will scoop up the prize, considering Roma's sophisticated construction, taking the intimate story of a maid in Mexico City in the 1970s and weaving it into a wider narrative of the country’s history.
Our predictions for Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series - Drama
Nominees: Catriona Balfe, Outlander, Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale, Sandra Oh, Killing Eve, Julia Roberts, Homecoming, Keri Russell, The Americans
Will Win: Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Should Win: Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Our critic says: Although Sandra Oh will already be gracing the stage as Golden Globes co-host, alongside Andy Samberg, it’s a pretty safe bet that she’ll have to make a quick sprint from backstage to accept this award.
Much like The Favourite, one of Killing Eve’s biggest strengths is the depth of material it gives its stars to work with, as Oh nails the balance between the show’s dry sense of humour and the increasing, ragged desperation of her situation, as a deskbound MI5 worker suddenly tangled up in the machinations of a charismatic assassin.
Nominees: Jason Bateman, Ozark, Stephan James, Homecoming, Richard Madden, Bodyguard, Billy Porter, Pose, Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Will Win: Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Should Win: Matthew Rhys, The Americans
Our critic says: The Americans had its final season last year and it would be quite the mistake not to reward a show that has remained consistently excellent over the course of six season – a relatively rare feat on television. However, the series will have a difficult time competing against Killing Eve, which benefits from the buzz of being a new show, so it’s likely Matthew Rhys will be the only one to walk away with an award for The Americans.
Which is no bad news, since his wearied performance as a former undercover Soviet spy, now attempting to embrace the American life, is very much award worthy.
See all of The Independent's Golden Globes coverage here
