Predicting Every Golden Globes Winner for the Awards Show’s 81st Bash
The Golden Globes have a complicated history in the realm of entertainment award shows.
Here’s who stood out to us in the nominations, and who we predict will win at the 81st Golden Globes.
Best Actor Categories
The nominees for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama, the nominees are Bradley Cooper for Maestro, Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer, Leonardo DiCaprio for Killers of the Flower Moon, Colman Domingo for Rustin, Andrew Scott for All of Us Strangers and Barry Keoghan for Saltburn.
It’s a two-person race between Cooper and Murphy. This will also go for the Oscars, but we’ll come back to that later. While I think Oppenheimer is somewhat overrated, Murphy’s performance is not. I think he’s the frontrunner for the Oscar, but also I think the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will give it to Cooper because he directed himself to a brilliant performance.
Nominees for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical are Nicolas Cage for Dream Scenario, Timothée Chalamet for Wonka, Matt Damon for Air, Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers, Joaquin Phoenix for Beau Is Afraid and Jeffrey Wright for American Fiction. This one is easy and shouldn’t be close. It’s Paul Giamatti’s award, all day and all night.
The nominees for Best Actor in a Television Series Drama are Pedro Pascal for The Last of Us, Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong and Brian Cox, all for Succession, Gary Oldman for Slow Horses and Dominic West for The Crown.
The knee-jerk reaction is to suggest that Pedro Pascal should win for his amazing work in The Last of Us, but he’s got at least one more season to go and this has Succession written all over it. Cox and Strong have each won this once, so I suspect they’ll give it to Culkin this time for his villainous turn.
All that might be true, but here’s something else: Gary Oldman should win this for playing the best TV character of the last 20 years, Jackson Lamb, on Slow Horses (that’s an opinion piece for another day).
When it comes to the nominees for Best Actor in a TV Series Comedy or Musical, the nominees are Bill Hader for Barry, Steve Martin and Martin Short — both for Only Murders in the Building, Jason Segel for Shrinking, Jason Sudeikis for Ted Lasso and Jeremy Allen White for The Bear.
We predict White will take home the win, as part of what we think will be a sweep for The Bear.
In the Best Actor division for Limited Series, Anthology Series or Made for TV Movie, the nominees are Matt Bomer for Fellow Travelers, Sam Claflin for Daisy Jones & the Six, Jon Hamm for Fargo, Woody Harrelson for White House Plumbers, David Oyelowo for Lawmen: Bass Reeves and Steven Yeun for Beef. I would be shocked if Yeun doesn’t take this and deservedly so.
Best Actress Categories
For Motion Picture Drama, the nominees are Lily Gladstone for Killers of the Flower Moon, Carey Mulligan for Maestro, Sandra Hüller for Anatomy of a Fall, Annette Bening for Nyad, Greta Lee for Past Lives and Cailee Spaeny for Priscilla.
In Best Actress in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, the nominees are Fantasia Barrino for The Color Purple, Jennifer Lawrence for No Hard Feelings, Natalie Portman for May December, Alma Pöysti for Fallen Leaves, Margot Robbie for Barbie and Emma Stone for Poor Things.
I believe that Emma Stone is going to win the Oscar for Best Actress, but I don’t think she’ll take the Golden Globes. I think Robbie will be rewarded for her incredible work in Barbie.
For Best Actress in a TV Drama, the nominees are Helen Mirren for 1923, Bella Ramsey for The Last of Us, Keri Russell for The Diplomat, Sarah Snook for Succession, Imelda Staunton for The Crown and Emma Stone for The Curse. Ramsey probably deserves this (again), as her costar does, but I don’t think it matters, because Snook is going to win.
The nominees for Best Actress in a TV Comedy or Musical are Ayo Edebiri for The Bear, Natasha Lyonne for Poker Face, Quinta Brunson for Abbott Elementary, Rachel Brosnahan for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Selena Gomez for Only Murders in the Building and Elle Fanning for The Great — but it doesn’t matter, because Edebiri’s got this.
The final Best Actress category is for Limited Series, Anthology Series or Made for TV Movie. Those nominees are Riley Keough for Daisy Jones & the Six, Brie Larson for Lessons in Chemistry, Elizabeth Olsen for Love and Death, Juno Temple for Fargo, Rachel Weisz for Dead Ringers and Ali Wong for Beef. I think Rachel Weisz deserves this for her dual roles as identical twin sisters, but I believe it’s going to go to Wong, who matches Steven Yeun beat for beat in Beef.
Best Supporting Actor Categories
For Motion Picture, the nominees are Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo, both for Poor Things, Robert DeNiro for Killers of the Flower Moon, Robert Downey Jr. for Oppenheimer, Ryan Gosling for Barbie and Charles Melton for May December.
I think there’s no way that RDJ won’t finally win an Oscar, but I’m torn here because I think Gosling’s brilliant comedic turn as Ken could steal it away from him. A toss-up, but I will stick with Iron Man because his speech will be hilarious.
Supporting Actor in TV noms are Billy Crudup for The Morning Show, Matthew Macfadyen, Alan Ruck and Alexander Skarsgård, all for Succession, James Marsden for Jury Duty and Ebon Moss-Bachrach for The Bear.
Macfadyen is the only person who could steal it from Moss-Bachrach (see above, regarding The Bear nominees), but I don’t think he will.
Best Supporting Actress Categories
The nominees for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture are Emily Blunt for Oppenheimer, Danielle Brooks for The Color Purple, Jodie Foster for Nyad, Julianne Moore for May December, Rosamund Pike for Saltburn and Da’Vine Joy Randolph for The Holdovers.
Randolph is my predicted win. She’s fabulous in The Holdovers as a grieving mother and deserves every one of the kudos she’s got coming.
Last but not least, the Best Supporting Actress in TV nominees are Elizabeth Debicki for The Crown, Abby Elliott for The Bear, Christina Ricci for Yellowjackets, J. Smith-Cameron for Succession, Meryl Streep for Only Murders in the Building and Hannah Waddingham for Ted Lasso. I would love to say that Meryl Streep or J. Smith-Cameron might win this, but please recall what I said above about The Bear nominees.
So that’s 14 categories, all in one place. Place your bets. We’ll see you in March for the Oscars!
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