Despite a number of scandals swirling around the event’s organizers, Hollywood heavyweights including James Cameron and Steven Spielberg went back to the Golden Globes on Tuesday, filling the ballroom for the first significant awards ceremony of the year.
Due to the pandemic, as well as allegations about the lack of diversity and purported ethical failings of their organizers, the Globes, which serve as the official start of the yearly film prize-giving season, have lacked their customary glamor for the previous two years.
But as the organization rushed to change, NBC, which canceled its coverage of the ceremony last year, decided to bring back the 80th Golden Globe Awards for a single occasion. The celebs also turned out.
After employees feverishly labored to dry off the red carpet, which is actually gray after days of heavy rain in Los Angeles, A-listers Rihanna, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie headlined the list of attendees.
The Globes movie honors are divided into two categories: “drama” and “comedy or musical,” in contrast to the Oscars, which take place on March 12 and serve as the season’s high point.
Austin Butler received best actor in a drama for his portrayal of Elvis Presley in the rock and roll biopic “Elvis.”
“You were an icon and a rebel and I love you so much,” said Butler to the late, legendary singer, in an emotional speech in which he also praised Presley’s family for their support.
“You could at least play ‘Suspicious Minds’ or something,” he joked to the gala’s pianist, as music interrupted his moment on stage.
Colin Farrell won the Globe for best comedy film actor for “The Banshees of Inisherin,” about a shattered friendship on a remote Irish island.
And Michelle Yeoh won best comedy actress for the surreal “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”
Her co-star in the multiverse-hopping sci-fi film Ke Huy Quan — who shot to fame as a child star in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” almost four decades ago — won best supporting actor.
Quan, 51, grew emotional as he admitted he had begun to fear he “would never surpass what I achieved as a kid.”
“Thankfully more than 30 years later, two guys thought of me. They remembered that kid, and they gave me an opportunity to try again,” he said, referring to directors Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan.
