IT WAS ANOTHER good night for the Brits at the Golden Globes on Sunday, with Christian Bale, Olivia Colman, Richard Madden and Ben Whishaw among the winners for the gongs, which are handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
Bale won for his startling transformation into ex-US Vice-President Dick Cheney in Vice, while Colman got the nod for her role as Queen Anne in the film The Favourite. Madden and Whishaw picked up Globes for TV roles, Madden for his role in the BBC drama Bodyguard, and Whishaw for portraying Jeremy Thorpe’s lover Norman Scott in A Very English Scandal. Bohemian Rhapsody, about Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, won two big awards, including one for its star Rami Malek.
The Golden Globes have long been scorned as awards because of the small and secretive membership of the HFPA, but they usually provide a vital early guide to the Oscar favorites.
Colman cemented her place as one of the British acting’s hottest talents and a crowd favorite, giving an excited acceptance speech that ended with her holding up her trophy and sending a message to her family: “Ed and the kids – look! Yay!”
And although the ceremony was less political than in years past, Christian Bale did provide one acid moment when he thanked “Satan” for inspiration for his role in Vice.
Richard Madden is best known on these shores for his role as Rob Stark in HBO’s Game of Thrones, but that might change after picking up the Globe for best TV drama actor playing Sergeant David Budd in BBC One’s Bodyguard. The final episode was watched by more than 17 million people in the UK – making it the UK’s most watched episode of a TV drama since current records began in 2002. Maddend said of the nod: “I didn’t see this coming at all.”
He used his speech to pay tribute to co-star Keeley Hawes, “the best actress I could ever work with”, series creator Jed Mercurio, and his mother and father, who had flown from Scotland for the ceremony.
‘A true queer hero’
Whishaw, meanwhile, dedicated his best actor in a TV limited series trophy to Norman Scott, the man he portrayed in A Very English Scandal.
Scott was targeted in a failed murder plot allegedly hatched by Liberal politician Jeremy Thorpe, played in the drama by Hugh Grant.
Whishaw said Scott “took on the establishment with a courage and defiance that I find completely inspiring”, adding: “He’s a true queer hero, an icon, and Norman, this is for you.”
And another British win was to be found in the Globe going to Sandra Oh for her role in Killing Eve, the unconventional British spy drama written by English writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
Musician Mark Ronson was another British winner, sharing the award for best song with Lady Gaga for Shallow, their anthemic hit from the film A Star Is Born.
