The Biggest Snubs And Surprises From The 2023 Golden Globe Awards
The Golden Globes are back, for better or worse. The award show's legacy was undoubtedly changed in 2021, when The Los Angeles Times delivered a scathing investigation into the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. After the bombshell report exposed the elusive awards body's dubious ethics and lack of diversity among its members, NBC refused to televise the 2022 ceremony. Still, the awards unfolded off-screen at their usual spot in the Beverly Hilton's International Ballroom, leaving the winners to be unglamorously announced on Twitter and largely ignored by the entertainment press.
Fast-forward to 2023, and the ceremony returned to the airways — with ratings slightly lower 2021's telecast reported by Forbes. Nevertheless, the ceremony itself clearly wasn't dulled by the past controversies or the year off the air, delivering no shortage of snubs, surprises, and unforgettable Golden Globes moments. Here are some of the highlights from the 2023 Golden Globe Awards.
The Fabelmans' Stocks Soar
After winning the awards for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director for Steven Spielberg, "The Fabelmans" has returned to the front of the pack heading into this year's Academy Awards race. The Universal drama entered the season on a high after earning the coveted audience award at the Toronto International Film Festival, an honor that led recent past winners "Belfast" and "Nomadland" to secure Best Picture nominations (and a win, in the latter's case).
But a lackluster performance at various critics' awards ceremonies and an even more dismal outing at the box office cast doubt on the awards trajectory of Spielberg's semi-autobiographical family drama. After fending off stiff competition from box office juggernauts "Top Gun: Maverick," "Avatar 2: The Way Of Water," and "Elvis," "The Fabelmans" has realigned itself as a formidable contender in the Best Picture race. But it still faces an uphill battle against Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical winner "The Banshees of Inisherin" and its likely runner-up, "Everything Everywhere All At Once."
Jerrod Carmichael's Mixed Results
After the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's various missteps and publicity nightmares over the last few years, who would ever want the daunting task of hosting the 2023 ceremony? Everyone seemed surprised when it was announced that the revered comedian and actor Jerrod Carmichael was stepping up to the plate. The Golden Globe Awards are known for being a raucous, party-driven atmosphere where movie and television stars rub elbows and the champagne seems to be flowing like Niagara Falls. That atmosphere seemed like an odd pairing for Carmichael's more personal and intimate, pause-laden comedic stylings.
Past Golden Globes hosts including Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, and Amy Poehler all shared an acerbic tone and gleefully ribbed the celebrities in the audience. Carmichael continued the tradition with the tentative audience, never skirting away from reading the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to filth for their various misdeeds. His overall performance as host seemed to oscillate over the course of the night, winning the audience over with softball gags about Tom Cruise returning his three Golden Globe trophies. But he seemed to divide the room with his more exacting, controversial jabs about Scientology and Kanye West's antisemitism, not to mention referring to the show's venue as "the hotel that killed Whitney Houston."
Asian Representation
It was a landmark year for representation among Asian performers at the Golden Globes. Michelle Yeoh became the first Malaysian actress to win the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her virtuoso turn in Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's surprise indie hit "Everything Everywhere All at Once." Yeoh cherished the moment in her moving acceptance speech, reflecting on her 40-year journey of trumping adversity en route to the stage. When the producers tried to cut her speech short by playing the loathed play-off music, she said, "Please shut up. I can beat you up."
Yeoh's "Everything Everywhere All At Once" co-star and on-screen husband Ke Huy Quan also broke ground as the first Vietnamese actor to win the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any motion picture. Elsewhere, Filipino actress Dolly De Leon earned a nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a supporting role in any motion picture for her incredible, shocking turn in Ruben Östlund's biting eat-the-rich satire "Triangle of Sadness."
Freshman Series Tradition Half-Upheld
The Golden Globes have a long-held tendency of bestowing the honors for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Television Series – Drama to buzzy, zeitgeist-capturing freshman series. From edgy comedies like "Girls," "Mozart in the Jungle," and Transparent," to dramas like "Mr. Robot" and "The Affair," the Hollywood Foreign Press Association seems incapable of resisting the urge to anoint The Next Big Thing.
The 2023 Golden Globe Awards slate of television nominations offered a bounty of options, with new series securing Best Series nominations, including FX's "The Bear," Apple TV+'s "Severance," Netflix's "Wednesday," and HBO's "House of the Dragon" all securing nominations. This only boded well for the "Game of Thrones" prequel "House of the Dragon," which upset the previous winner, Netflix's "The Crown," and the critically adored final season of AMC's "Better Call Saul" to take the drama series trophy. First-timer's Golden Globes luck also struck in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy for "The Bear" breakout star Jeremy Allen White.
Surprise: Argentina, 1985
The biggest surprise of the night arrived when actor Henry Golding announced the award for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language. Most pundits were predicting Netflix's "All Quiet on the Western Front," the German adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's classic World War I novel of the same name. The visceral war drama has become something of a surprise awards player this season, with an impressive run at critics and industrial guild awards alike.
S. S. Rajamouli's whirlwind, dazzling "RRR" also seemed like a growing challenger as it continued to develop steam in the race and transform into something of a cult classic before our eyes. The Indian genre-busting epic seemed to even gain momentum at the ceremony after the film beat the likes of Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna in the Best Original Song – Motion Picture category, winning for "Naatu Naatu," written Kala Bhairava, M.M. Keeravani, Rahul Sipligunj.
Certainly, no one was expecting Golding to announce the winner was Amazon Studios' tense courtroom drama, "Argentina, 1985." With "RRR" deemed ineligible for best international film Oscar due to India submitting another film (per IndieWire), "Argentina, 1985" could very well pose a serious threat to "All Quiet on the Western Front." The war drama has quickly become Netflix's main awards play given lukewarm receptions for "White Noise" and "Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths" and the unlikelihood that the stop-motion animated "Guillermo del Toro Pinocchio" will crack the Oscar's best picture top ten.
Surprise: Tyler James Williams, Abbott Elementary
While the Hollywood Foreign Press Association finally created separate supporting categories for limited series, anthology series, and motion pictures made for television, they still group comedy and drama series' supporting performances together. This can often result in an amusing mashup of performances that could not resemble each other less in terms of tone. That was the case in 2023's nominees for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Comedy or Drama Series, which found predicted frontrunner John Turturro's sensitive, subtle work on Apple TV+'s "Severance" in the same lineup as Henry Winkler's increasingly bleak turn on HBO's pitch-black comedy "Barry."
Perhaps the sole outright and undeniably comedic performance in the mix was Tyler James Williams for his hilarious turn on ABC's "Abbott Elementary," and he surprised everyone by taking home the trophy. "Abbott" was predicted to take home its wins in Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series for star and creator Quinta Brunson, but Williams' victory was quite a surprise — and a very deserved, welcomed one at that.
Surprise: Julia Garner, Ozark
Like Tyler James Williams, Julia Garner found herself as something of an odd duck in her category for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Comedy or Drama Television Series. The race seemed evenly matched between recently minted "Abbott Elementary" Emmy winner Sheryl Lee Ralph and Elizabeth Debicki for her role as Princess Diana on Netflix's "The Crown" — representative alone of how disparate these performances can be in the same category.
Ralph's co-star Janelle James and former nominee Hannah Einbinder of HBO Max's "Hacks" also had some heat. But three-time Emmy Award winner Garner prevailed for her final season on Netflix's "Ozark." Perhaps the tip in Garner's favor should have been more obvious considering her other nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture made for television for her infamous role as real-life con artist Anna Sorokin in Netflix's hit "Inventing Anna."
Jennifer Coolidge steals the show
The irrefutable belle of the 2022-2023 award show ball is Jennifer Coolidge. She continued her reign at the Golden Globes, serving as both a beguiled announcer of Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical-Comedy or Drama Television Series and, later, as a winner for her iconic performance on "The White Lotus: Sicily." Before announcing Tyler James Williams as the category's winner, she declared, "And the Oscar goes to..."
Apart from host Jerrod Carmichael, Coolidge may have had the most on-stage screen time of anyone in attendance, and we're all the better for it. Her acceptance speech delivered all the bawdy hijinks we have come to expect, but she took things to a refreshingly emotional raw level when she directed her attention to "The White Lotus" creator, director, and writer Mike White in the audience. The show seemed to temporarily transform into an intimate exchange between Coolidge and a teary-eyed White as she thanked him for changing her life following her meteoric rise in notability since the show premiered in 2021. "My neighbors even talk to me now!" she declared in earnest. Based on all the applause and rapt, adoring reaction shots from everyone in the audience, there is a profound universal love for Coolidge She might just be the most beloved star on the planet in this moment.
Snub: Hulu
Hulu had an impressive haul of nominations heading into the Golden Globe ceremony, but the streamer, unfortunately, walked away as the biggest loser of the night. Amanda Seyfried expectedly won Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television for her Emmy-winning role as criminal entrepreneur Elizabeth Holmes, but that was Hulu's sole win.
The Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee limited series "Pam & Tommy" went zero for four, losing in the categories of Best Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television; Best Performance in a Lead Role (Sebastian Stan and Lily James); and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Seth Rogen). Hulu's other series, "Only Murders in the Building," also lost each of its four nominations, with the series and stars Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez all losing their respective categories.
Snub: The Crown
Netflix's crown jewel "The Crown" failed to rule the Golden Globe Awards. The royal drama series went home empty-handed despite winning Best Television Series – Drama for its previous season, along with three acting wins for former stars Emma Corrin, Josh O'Connor, and Gillian Anderson.
The fifth season of "The Crown" received significantly less glowing reviews than earlier seasons as it tackled the royal family's stormy 1990s, focusing on Prince Charles and Princess Diana's volatile marriage and their dysfunctional relationship with Queen Elizabeth. Perhaps the dramatic change in the cast between Seasons 4 and 5 lost some viewers. Maybe the ever-growing feeling of Diana story fatigue following an onslaught of content centered on the late Princess of Wales — from the ill-fated Broadway musical "Diana" to Pablo Larraín's unconventional biopic "Spencer."
Regardless, "The Crown" lost all its chances to win the gold, including Best Television Series – Drama, Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama for Imelda Staunton, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical-Comedy or Drama Television Series for Elizabeth Debicki, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical-Comedy or Drama Television Series for Jonathan Pryce.