Nicole Kidman was the big winner on Thursday, scoring a pair of Best Actress nominations for the 59th annual Golden Globe Awards. The two nods virtually ensure the flamed-haired Aussie a trip to the Oscars in March, and confirm what Hollywood insiders have long declared: Nicole Kidman is a major star.
The 34-year-old beauty with the porcelain skin was singled out for her work in Baz Luhrmann’s opulent Moulin Rouge, the 19th-century Parisian musical which had everyone talking this year. She’ll compete for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy against Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones’s Diary), Cate Blanchett (Bandits), Reese Witherspoon (Legally Blonde), and Thora Birch (Ghost World).
Recognised for Alejandro Amenabar’s ghost story The Others, Nicole takes on a series of acting legends in the Best Actress in a Drama category. Dame Judi Dench was honoured for Iris, with Monster’s Ball beauty Halle Berry, In The Bedroom’s Sissy Spacek, and Tilda Swinton of The Deep End rounding out the list.
Nicole’s Moulin Rouge co-star Ewan McGregor made the short list for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. However, Tinseltown watchers predict Gene Hackman may pip the Scottish hunk to the post with his hilarious performance in quirky The Royal Tenenbaums.
Billy Bob Thornton, Angelina Jolie’s eccentric husband, is also a double nominee. The Oscar winner was recognised for his work in the Coen Brothers black-and-white noir The Man Who Wasn’t There and for the Barry Levinson comedy Bandits.
The annual awards, presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are widely considered a predictor of Oscar glory. However, with a series of notable absences from the Best Picture list incuding Michael Mann’s Ali and Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down, it seems the Golden Globe nominations have not produced a front runner.
The Best Picture Drama category includes Russell Crowe’s A Beautiful Mind, the indie In The Bedroom, sci-fi hero The Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Man Who Wasn’t There, and David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive.
On the Musical or Comedy side, Bridget Jones’s Diary takes on Robert Altman’s Gosford Park, the teen comedy Legally Blonde, Moulin Rouge and the computer animated Shrek.
A Beautiful Mind, the story of troubled Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash, and Moulin Rouge, picked up six nominations each.
The annual awards also celebrate the best in US television. Mob thriller The Sopranos and White House drama The West Wing face off yet again for Best Drama, alongside CSI, and newcomers Six Feet Under and 24.
Ally McBeal leads the comedy side, competing against Sex And The City and a trio of NBC laughers, Frasier, Friends and Will & Grace.
The awards will be presented on January 20 in Los Angeles, airing live on US network NBC.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
