Brits conquer the Globes
A quartet of British stars have another trophy for the cabinet this morning after triumphing at the 74th Golden Globes in Hollywood last night.
Claire Foy, Tom Hiddleston, Olivia Colman and Hugh Laurie each came out victorious on a night when UK dramas The Crown and The Night Manager went head-to-head with some of the best US dramas of recent years.
With a reputation as the wild and eccentric sibling of the more straight-laced Emmys, the Globes has a reputation for bucking the trend with its winners – look no further than recent prizes for Lady Gaga (for American Horror Story: Hotel), Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Jane the Virgin.
Nevertheless, all eyes this year were on Game of Thrones – arguably coming off the back of its strongest ever season – and The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story scooping prizes across the board, as they had done at the Emmys last September.
But perhaps it should come as no surprise that a ceremony presided over by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) once again took a different path and instead showered awards on international series and their stars.
Netflix’s royal epic The Crown – the SVoD firm’s first UK original – took home the biggest prize of the evening, winning Best Drama against competition from Netflix stablemate Stranger Things, HBO duo Game of Thrones and Westworld and the fall’s standout network series, This Is Us (NBC).
Claire Foy, who plays Queen Elizabeth in the Peter Morgan-penned drama, was also named Best Actress ahead of Winona Ryder (Stranger Things), Evan Rachel Wood (Westworld), Catriona Balfe (Outlander) and Keri Russell (The Americans).
In the Limited Series/TV Movie category, The People v OJ Simpson came in ahead of The Night Of, The Night Manager, American Crime and The Dresser.
Sarah Paulson was also named Best Actress in a Limited Series for her portrayal of prosecutor Marcia Clark in the same show, beating competition from Felicity Huffman (American Crime), Riley Keough (The Girlfriend Experience), Charlotte Rampling (London Spy) and Kerry Washington (Confirmation).
But there was to be no repeat of The People v OJ’s dominance at the Emmys, when it also picked up trophies for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series.
Instead it was UK drama The Night Manager – coproduced by the BBC and US cable channel AMC – that picked up the highest number of prizes of any TV show at the Globes. Tom Hiddleston was named Best Actor in a Limited Series/TV movie, ahead of Riz Ahmed (The Night Of), Bryan Cranston (All the Way), John Turturro (The Night Of) and Emmy winner Courtney B Vance (The People vs OJ Simpson).
Olivia Colman and Hugh Laurie completed an acting treble for The Night Manager, picking up best supporting actress and actor awards respectively for a limited series/TV movie.
Goliath star Billy Bob Thornton won the other acting prize for a drama, picking up Best Actor in a Drama TV Series ahead of Mr Robot’s Rami Malek, Matthew Rhys for The Americans, Better Call Saul leading man Bob Odenkirk and Liv Schrieber (Ray Donovan).
It’s not unusual for the Golden Globes to step out of the shadow of the Emmys with some different winners. In fact, The Crown wasn’t even in contention in 2016, only debuting in November several months after the Emmys were handed out, so it could be the series to watch when those statuettes are handed out again later this year.
Yet the Globes could also be a precursor for another awards ceremony, the Bafta TV Awards, which will take place in London in May. Back on home soil, The Crown and The Night Manager are dead certs to be in the running for every major category, both on screen and behind the camera, and their success stateside is unlikely to go unnoticed.
tagged in: AMC, BBC, Golden Globes, Goliath, Netflix, The Crown, The Night Manager, The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story