AWARDS

Golden Globe Nominee Reactions Show Humility, Hilarity & More

by Ethan Anderton
December 14, 2010
Source: Awards Daily, 24 Frames

With the nominations for the 2011 Golden Globes now revealed, there's been plenty of interesting buzz, both good and bad, surrounding the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's odd choices this year. From dual nominations for Johnny Depp (including one for a film being viciously panned almost across the board) to the complete ignorance of True Grit, people everywhere have plenty to say. But what about the nominees themselves? Thankfully, many of them have been very grateful, humble and even funny in their reactions to the praise from the HFPA and the nomination itself. So what did some of our favorite talents have to say?

While the honor of being a Golden Globe nominee gives off a fancy vibe, screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, nominated for his work on Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, recalls the last time he was nominated for the award: "I can remember when I found out that I had been nominated for The Full Monty, I was clearing cat sick off the floor. I really must get a more glamorous life one of these days." I guess Hollywood doesn't always have the glitz and glamor every envisions in their head.

While the nominees themselves are honored by the acclaim, the rest of the family may not be so impressed. Halle Berry, nominated for her performance in Frankie & Alice, recounted: "I told [my 3-year-old-daughter] Nahla about [the nomination] and she said, 'That's great. Where are my eggs?'" Personally, I think breakfast is a lot more exciting than the Golden Globes too, so Nahla is my kind of kid. If I had to choose between some limited edition Cap'N Crunch Oops! All Berries and a Golden Globe, you can bet I'll be enjoying some cereal in minutes.

Others were less amusing in their gratitude, but no less forthcoming with their thanks. Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich reacted:

"Toy Story 3 has been an amazing journey for me and everyone at Pixar. These characters are like family to us, and we long thought their story felt unfinished. We owe a great debt of gratitude to everyone at Disney and Pixar, but especially to the audiences around the world who embraced Toy Story 3."

As a viewer who was only 9-years old when the first Toy Story came out in 1995, I'm just as thankful to Mr. Unkrich and the rest of the people at Disney and Pixar for delivering such a beautiful finale for all of Andy's toys. The experience brought tears to my eyes each of the three times I went to theaters to see it, and as hard as it was for me to let go of Buzz, Woody and the gang, it must have been infinitely harder for everoyone at Pixar. But while I'm busy praising Unkrich and the rest of the talented Pixar gang, other nominees are simultaneously grateful and full of kind words for their co-stars who also received a nomination.

Specifically, the two stars of Blue Valentine (which recently received an R-rating after appealing an NC-17 rating from the MPAA) were proud of each other and their director Derek Cianfrance. Ryan Gosling says:

"I am very grateful to the HFPA. I also would like to thank them for acknowledging Michelle Williams for her incredible performance. Without the 12 years of director Derek Cianfrance’s unwavering vision and commitment none of this would have been possible. I share this nomination with both of them."

Meanwhile, Ms. Williams remarked: "This nomination is an honor and I am thrilled to share it with my friend, my co-conspirator, and my favorite dance partner, Ryan Gosling. Thank you so much to The Hollywood Foreign Press, The Weinstein Company and of course to the inestimable Derek Cianfrance, whose vision led and sustained us all."

While Blue Valentine has received plenty of attention and even controversy due to some graphic expressions of love between Gosling and Williams, apparently some man love between some of the other nominees wasn't as contentious (and no, I'm not talking about Brokeback Mountain). Geoffrey Rush, nominated for his work on The King's Speech, commented:

"You don't expect late in your career to actually meet somebody that you form a very strong friendship and bond with. Which certainly happened with me and Colin [Firth] and Tom [Hooper]. It's a rather embarrassing triumvirate of man love."

I think plenty of female fans of Pirates of the Caribbean and Love Actually wouldn't mind getting caught up in a triumvirate of love with those two international talents as well. Other nominees will likely face a different kind of embarrassment and horseplay following their nominations. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu (whose film Biutiful received a nod in the foreign film category) revealed his celebration plans by simply saying: "A lot of tequila will run in our veins tonight." This was something that happened a lot during my college days, but we often didn't need a Golden Globe nomination as an excuse.

Meanwhile, director Darren Aronofsky is already anticipating the fun that the presenters and comedians will have with his nominated film Black Swan. "There will be a lot of ballet jokes. Last night Letterman made fun of the film. I think he said, 'If you don't want to celebrate Christmas, you can go see two Jewish girls make out.'" That in itself would be a tuly great Christmas miracle and could very well solve all the problems with political correctness between the holidays and religion, so maybe he's onto something here. Only time will tell after Black Swan gets a wider release closer to Christmas. After that, we'll all be waiting to see how the Golden Globes play out on Sunday, January 16th, 2011 at 5PM PST/8PM EST on NBC.

Thanks to 24 Frames and Awards Daily for posting most of the reaction quotes that we referenced above.

Tweet

Find more posts: Awards, Editorial, Opinions

4 Comments

New comments are no longer allowed on this post.