Awards season in Hollywood always provides victories for a breakout or surprise star, but this year’s list of winners at the 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards stacks up like no other. We’d like to congratulate the Hollywood Foreign Press for honoring such a diverse and deserving group of actors.
Starting off with the biggest success story of all – Jennifer Hudson. The previously
non-famous, non-actress is now, in fact, the opposite. Hudson who ranked seventh on season three of “American Idol,”didn’t sign a record contract and hasn’t landed any significant projects after the show, yet she was awarded a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.
Her performance in “Dreamgirls” is stunning. The fact that this “no name” actress is sweeping every award in the circuit is a true success story. We’ll ignore the fact that she’s the real star of the movie and is still being nominated in the Supporting category, and just be happy for her success.
Eddie Murphy’s transformational
performance as James “Thunder” Early – a James Brown-type R&B singer – earned him the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, his first serious award in his entire career. It is a great achievement that an actor known only for comedy (and recently, not-so-great comedy), can garner unanimous praise in a dramatic role with great musical talent (which no one knew he had). Much praise is owed to the Hollywood Foreign Press for acknowledging Forest Whitaker as a great actor. For more than 20 years, Whitaker has produced quality performances and has never been recognized for them.
Most people don’t even know his name, but his face might ring a few bells. The win for his performance in “The Last King of Scotland” isn’t just for that film; it’s a recognition of all his work. During his acceptance speech, the look in his eyes gave the feeling that he never thought he would win a major award for a leading role. But all those years in the background have finally come to fruition.
Among a list of first-time winners, it’s wonderful to honor the classics. Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren won for Best Actress in a Comedy and Drama for their roles in “The Devil Wears Prada” and “The Queen” respectively. Streep gave one of the best acceptance speeches we’ve ever heard, in which she elegantly, and with exquisite light humor, petitioned that movie houses across the country should make a stronger effort to show smaller films with lesser budgets.
It was a point made without frills or long explanations, just simply and effectively. And what better way to end her speech with her “Prada” character’s classic closer, “That’s all.”
Oscar should be taking notes.
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