'The Crown' and 'Mank' Lead This Year's History-Making Golden Globe Nominations

For the first time in the awards' 78-year history, three female filmmakers were nominated for Best Director.
Sarah Ward
February 04, 2021

In 2021, the Golden Globes are taking place more than a month later than usual. The awards are also staging a different kind of ceremony than normal, with hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler steering the show from separate cities, and Zoom certain to feature heavily. Still, the first big event of this year's film and television awards season definitely knows how to get everyone talking — about its achievements and inclusions, as well as its snubs.

The nominations for the 2021 Golden Globes were announced in the early hours of Thursday, February 4, Australian and New Zealand time, and they made history. For the first time ever, three women were nominated for Best Director, with Nomadland's Chloe Zhao, One Night in Miami's Regina King and Promising Young Woman's Emerald Fennell all getting a nod. If you're wondering how monumental this is, the Globes has never nominated more than one woman in the category in a single year, and it has only given out seven nominations to female filmmakers — yes, in total — in its 77-year history before now.

David Fincher's Mank picked up the most amount of nods in the film categories, with six, but other highlights include Chadwick Boseman's nod for Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Riz Ahmed's nomination in the same category for Sound of Metal, the filmed version of Hamilton picking up two nods in the comedy fields (including Lin-Manuel Miranda's nomination for  Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Comedy), and Sacha Baron Cohen getting a look for both Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (in the Best Actor in a Motion Picture — Comedy category) and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Best Supporting Actor). Borat's breakout star Maria Bakalova also earned a nomination (for Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Comedy), too, becoming the first Bulgarian actor to do so.

The Globes also recognise TV, which is good news for the likes of Unorthodox, The Great and The Mandalorian, all of which received some love. There's a big omission in 2021's nods, however, with Michaela Coel's exceptional I May Destroy You — the best new show of 2020 hands down — absolutely nowhere to be seen. Instead, The Crown came out on top with six nominations, and everything from Normal People and Small Axe to Lovecraft Country and The Flight Attendant earned some attention. Aussie actors Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett also scored nods in the television fields, thanks to The Undoing and Mrs America.

Every list of nominees for every awards ceremony has gaps, of course, and I May Destroy You isn't alone in missing out at this year's Globes. In the movie fields, Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods was also completely overlooked — as was Zendaya's performance in Malcolm & Marie and the entire cast of Minari. In the TV categories , the Globes didn't sink its teeth into What We Do in the Shadows at all, and barely paid Better Call Saul any attention either.

If you're wondering who else is actually up for an award, though, you'll find the full list of nominees below. And, as for who'll emerge victorious, that'll be announced on Monday, March 1 Australian and New Zealand time.

GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEES 2021:

BEST MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — DRAMA

  • Riz Ahmed — Sound of Metal
  • Chadwick Boseman — Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
  • Anthony Hopkins — The Father
  • Gary Oldman — Mank
  • Tahar Rahim — The Mauritanian

BEST MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY

  • Maria Bakalova — Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
  • Kate Hudson — Music
  • Michelle Pfeiffer — French Exit
  • Rosamund Pike — I Care a Lot
  • Anya Taylor-Joy — Emma

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY

BEST MOTION PICTURE — ANIMATED

BEST MOTION PICTURE — FOREIGN LANGUAGE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

  • Sacha Baron Cohen — The Trial of the Chicago 7
  • Daniel Kaluuya — Judas and the Black Messiah
  • Jared Leto — The Little Things
  • Bill Murray — On the Rocks
  • Leslie Odom, Jr — One Night in Miami

BEST DIRECTOR — MOTION PICTURE

  • David Fincher — Mank
  • Regina King — One Night in Miami
  • Aaron Sorkin — The Trial of the Chicago 7
  • Chloe Zhao — Nomadland
  • Emerald Fennell — Promising Young Woman

BEST SCREENPLAY — MOTION PICTURE

  • The Father
  • Mank
  • Nomadland
  • Promising Young Woman
  • The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE — MOTION PICTURE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG — MOTION PICTURE

  • 'Fight for You' — Judas and the Black Messiah
  • 'Io Si' — The Life Ahead
  • 'Speak Now' — One Night in Miami
  • 'Hear My Voice' — The Trial of the Chicago 7
  • 'Tigress & Tweed' — The US v Billie Holiday

BEST TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA

  • Emma Corrin — The Crown
  • Olivia Colman — The Crown
  • Jodie Comer — Killing Eve
  • Laura Linney — Ozark
  • Sarah Paulson — Ratched

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — DRAMA

BEST TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY

  • Lily Collins — Emily in Paris
  • Kaley Cuoco — The Flight Attendant
  • Elle Fanning — The Great
  • Catherine O'Hara — Schitt's Creek
  • Jane Levy — Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES — MUSICAL OR COMEDY

  • Don Cheadle — Black Monday
  • Nicholas Hoult — The Great
  • Eugene Levy — Schitt's Creek
  • Jason Sudeikis — Ted Lasso
  • Ramy Youssef — Ramy

BEST TELEVISION LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

  • Cate Blanchett — Mrs America
  • Daisy Edgar-Jones — Normal People
  • Shira Haas — Unorthodox
  • Nicole Kidman — The Undoing
  • Anya Taylor-Joy — The Queen's Gambit

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

  • Cynthia Nixon — Ratched
  • Gillian Anderson — The Crown
  • Helena Bonham Carter — The Crown
  • Julia Garner — Ozark
  • Annie Murphy — Schitt's Creek

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, LIMITED SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TV

  • John Boyega — Small Axe
  • Brendan Gleeson — The Comey Rule
  • Dan Levy — Schitt's Creek
  • Jim Parsons — Hollywood
  • Donald Sutherland — The Undoing

The 2021 Golden Globes take place on Monday, March 1 Australian and New Zealand time. For further details, head to the awards' website.

Top image: The Crown, Des Willie/Netflix.

Published on February 04, 2021 by Sarah Ward
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