The 2023 Golden Globes nominations were announced on Monday, and while the HFPA continues to battle reputation issues, there were still a number of surprises and snubs when it came to who was (and was not) nominated. We run down the biggest ones below.
SNUB: Tom Cruise
Apparently shepherding the gargantuan blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” past the $1 billion mark and saving cinema as we know it in 2022 was not enough to get the three-time Golden Globe winner a space in the Best Actor in a Drama category. Although Cruise giving back his previous Globes awards in the wake of the show’s controversy may have had something to do with it.
SURPRISE: Ana de Armas
Heavily criticized upon release, “Blonde” seemed to be getting virtually no traction in the awards race until now, when de Armas nabbed a spot in the Best Actress in a Drama race for her intense rendering of the troubled Marilyn Monroe. Which is a spot many thought would go to…
SNUB: Danielle Deadwyler
A frontrunner for the true-story drama “Till” since the moment the film was first released, this rising star had been thought of as one of the definites in her category. Hopefully this will light a fire under MGM’s awards push to get this moving performance seen on a wider scale.
SURPRISE: The entire cast of “The Banshees of Inisherin” gets nominated
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson were a no-brainer and Kerry Condon was a pretty safe bet. But the nominations inclusion of supporting player Barry Keough indicated that the Globes nominators loved “The Banshees of Inisherin” like Farrell loved his donkey. It is the most nominated film in this year’s Globes with 8 nods.
SNUB: Stephanie Hsu
Unlike the “Banshees” cast triumph above, this “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star was the only principal cast member not to receive a Globe nomination, despite a fervent fan base and holding her own against veteran costars Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis (nominated for far-less screen time). Let’s all mournfully nosh on a bagel on her behalf.
SURPRISE: Jeremy Pope
“The Inspection” was another semi-forgotten, quiet little release after a robust showing at film festivals earlier this year. But Pope’s impressive acting showcase in Elegance Bratton’s life-based feature debut about a gay man surviving the rigors of Marine life was a ten-hut and landed him a spot in the leading-actor race.
SNUB: “Women Talking” (or Directing)
Sarah Polley netted a screenplay nomination for her powerful adaptation of Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel, but was not to be seen in the directing category this year. Nor was any female director despite a lot of possibilities. (Like “The Woman King” helmer Gina Prince-Bythewood or “Aftersun” award-winner Charlotte Wells, just for starters, in addition to Polley.)
SNUB: Will Smith
Despite Apple’s considerable awards push for the Antoine Fuqua drama and the Globes being an awards show Smith actually can attend in the next decade, lightning did not strike twice for last year’s “King Richard” Globes, SAG and Oscar winner.
SNUB: Paul Dano and Judd Hirsch
Mom (Michelle Williams) made the cut, and “The Fabelmans” had a nice showing overall in Globe nominations, but Paul Dano’s dad and 87 year-old Judd Hirsch’s great-uncle failed to duke it out in the best supporting actor category, for which both have been heavily favored to appear in for months.
SURPRISE: Lesley Manville
It would have appeared Manville’s Princess Margaret in Season 5 of “The Crown” would have been her ticket to this ceremony, but nominators chose to remember her sweet, early-year turn as a Dior-dazzled domestic in “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”. As her character might say, “wish me luck.”
