Stars will be out in force on Sunday to kick off this year’s awards season with the 76th Golden Globes, a ceremony that typically acts as a more raucous alternative to the Oscars.
But there will be one noticeable A-list absentee. In 2017, Meryl Streep’s powerful onstage criticism of Donald Trump’s rhetoric helped set the tone for a tense relationship between the president and Hollywood, but 2019 co-host Sandra Oh has promised that this year will be different.
“I’m not interested in [talking about Trump] at all,” the Killing Eve star told the Hollywood Reporter. “What I’m interested in is pointing to actual real change. I want to focus on that because people can pooh-pooh Hollywood all they want – and there is a lot to pooh-pooh, sure – but we also make culture. How many gazillions of people have seen Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians? That changes things.”
While last year’s event was dominated by conversation surrounding the #MeToo movement, this year’s promises to focus on inclusion, with the most diverse selection of films to date. Out of the 10 nominees for best picture, voted for by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), four are from directors of colour, a new record for the Globes.
In the drama category, Spike Lee’s 70s-set BlacKkKlansman is nominated alongside Barry Jenkins’s romance If Beale Street Could Talk and Ryan Coogler’s Marvel adventure Black Panther while Jon M Chu’s Crazy Rich Asians is included in the comedy category.
Yet it’s likely that Sunday will belong to A Star is Born, Bradley Cooper’s hit remake of the tragic musical. The film, which has made almost $400m worldwide to date, is predicted to win for best drama, best actor in a drama for Cooper and also pick up two awards for its star, Lady Gaga, who could take home best actress in a drama and best song. The film picked up four nods at this year’s Screen Actors Guild awards and is also expected to be one of the frontrunners when Oscar nominations are announced later this month.
It could be a good night for British talent with Olivia Colman and Rachel Weisz tipped to win for roles in the misanthropic period comedy The Favourite, and BBC’s fact-based drama A Very British Scandal nominated for three TV awards, including best actor in a miniseries for Hugh Grant. Alongside the long list of nominees, star presenters on the night will include Idris Elba, Harrison Ford, Chadwick Boseman, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ben Stiller and Halle Berry.
After Streep’s much-discussed speech in 2017 as the recipient of the Cecil B DeMille award for career achievement, last year’s winner, Oprah Winfrey, also made headlines with a rousing appearance that prompted talk of a presidential run. This year will see Jeff Bridges taking the stage to mark six decades on screen.
“We put a lot of thought behind who we pick,” Anke Hofmann, the vice-president of the HFPA, told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s not a random choice. We always give it to someone who deserves it professionally, and there’s no question that Jeff Bridges deserves it. But we also look at the heart. Jeff Bridges is very much engaged in ending hunger for children and helping the environment, and that matters to us.”
While the Globes has often been a predictor for the Oscars, last year’s ceremony saw Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Lady Bird win the dramatic and comedic categories before The Shape of Water was named best picture by the Academy. This year’s Oscars will take place on 24 February, with both nominations and a host yet to be announced.
