81st Golden Globe Awards: ‘Oppenheimer,’ ‘Succession’ Take Big Wins in First Major Show of the Season

The $950M blockbuster Oppenheimer from Universal was the big winner at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, winning five: Motion Picture – Drama, Director for Christopher Nolan, Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for Cillian Murphy, Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Robert Downey Jr. and Original Score.

Nolan’s R-rated, three and a half hour opus on Robert J. Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, was his first film after breaking off from Warner Bros and was a big, $100M risk for Universal that paid off.

Warner Bros’ $1.5B-grossing Barbie entered the Globes with eight nominations: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Actress – Musical or Comedy (Margot Robbie), Supporting Actor (Ryan Gosling), Director for Greta Gerwig, Screenplay and three spots in the song category, but came away with a single win in song for Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” Searchlight’s Poor Things bested the doll epic with wins for Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for Emma Stone. Both Oppenheimer and Barbie were nominated in the newly created Cinematic and Box Office Achievement category, which Barbie won.

History was made in two categories at tonight’s Globes. Anatomy of a Fall was a surprise winner in the screenplay category, becoming the first primarily non-English language film to ever win there. Justine Triet accepted on behalf of herself and co-writer and life partner Arthur Harari. In her speech Triet explains that she and Harari wrote the film during COVID, locked in their apartment. “Strangely, nobody died,” she joked, referring to the subject of her film’s central story about a woman on trial for the murder of her husband. She also, possibly inadvertently, revealed that the film contains a “suicide.” The film also won for Best Non-English Language Film representing France but is ineligible for the Oscars in that category since the country chose The Taste of Things instead. Unlike the Oscars, a country can have more than one film represented and nominated at the Golden Globes.

Lily Gladstone won Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her performance as Mollie Burkhart in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. The only Indigenous and Native American winner in Golden Globe history in this category, she began her speech in Blackfeet, continuing in English, “I love everyone in this room right now. I don’t have words. I just spoke a bit in Blackfeet language – a beautiful community and nation that raised me and encouraged me to keep going and doing this,” she said. “My mom — who even though she’s not Blackfeet – worked tirelessly to get our language into our classrooms.”

“This is for every little rez kid, every little urban kid, every little native kid out there who has a dream and is seeing themselves represented,” said Gladstone, closing her speech to a full standing ovation.

The Holdovers was a double winner tonight, first for Da’Vine Joy Randolph in supporting actress (who made history this week by being one of only five women to win that category with the four major critics’ groups – NBR, NYFCC, LAFCA and NSFC) then Paul Giamatti, his third win in eight nominations, for Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Several films went home empty-handed tonight including Maestro, May December, Past Lives and American Fiction.

The television side saw history as well with only four shows winning among all categories and single shows dominating their respective drama, comedy and limited series categories in near sweeps. Succession was the top winner with four (from nine nominations but multiple in the same categories) including drama series, lead actor for Kieran Culkin and lead actress for Sarah Snook. The Bear took home comedy series, lead actor for Jeremy Allen White and lead actress for Ayo Edebiri. Beef was a triple sweep winning limited series, lead actor for Steven Yeun and lead actress for Ali Wong. Only Elizabeth Debicki’s supporting actress win for The Crown broke the mold.

Hosted by comedian Jo Koy for the first time, his opening monologue was met with groans and derision from the audience and viewers online. Between defensiveness over bad jokes landing flatly (“Some I wrote, some other people wrote,” he said. “Yes, I got the gig 10 days ago! You want a perfect monologue? Yo, shut up. You’re kidding me right? Slow down, I wrote some of these and they are the ones you are laughing at.”) and cheap shots at Barbie and Taylor Swift, Koy doesn’t seem likely to return to the Golden Globes stage anytime soon.

Multi-Emmy Award-winning producing duo Glenn Weiss and Ricky Kirshner of White Cherry Entertainment (WCE) served as executive-producing showrunners with Weiss directing.

Here is the complete list of winners.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

Anatomy of a Fall
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer – WINNER
Past Lives
The Zone of Interest

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Air
American Fiction
Barbie
The Holdovers
May December
Poor Things – WINNER

BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED

The Boy and the Heron – WINNER
Elemental
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Suzume
Wish

BEST MOTION PICTURE – NON-ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Anatomy of a Fall (France) – WINNER
Fallen Leaves (Finland)
Io Capitano (Italy)
Past Lives (United States)
Society of the Snow (Spain)
The Zone of Interest (United Kingdom)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

Annette Bening – Nyad
Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon – WINNER
Sandra Hüller – Anatomy of a Fall
Greta Lee – Past Lives
Carey Mulligan – Maestro
Cailee Spaeny – Priscilla

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers of the Flower Moon
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Barry Keoghan – Saltburn
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer – WINNER
Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Fantasia Barrino – The Color Purple
Jennifer Lawrence – No Hard Feelings
Natalie Portman – May December
Alma Pöysti – Fallen Leaves
Margot Robbie – Barbie
Emma Stone – Poor Things – WINNER

BEST PERFORMANCE BY A MALE ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Nicolas Cage – Dream Scenario
Timothée Chalamet – Wonka
Matt Damon – Air
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers – WINNER
Joaquin Phoenix – Beau Is Afraid
Jeffrey Wright – American Fiction

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

Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
Jodie Foster – Nyad
Julianne Moore – May December
Rosamund Pike – Saltburn
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers – WINNER

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

Willem Dafoe – Poor Things
Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr. – Oppenheimer – WINNER
Ryan Gosling – Barbie
Charles Melton – May December
Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Greta Gerwig – Barbie
Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer – WINNER
Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon
Celine Song – Past Lives

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

Justine Triet and Arthur Harari – Anatomy of a Fall – WINNER
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach – Barbie
Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer
Tony McNamara – Poor Things
Celine Song – Past Lives

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

Poor Things
Oppenheimer – WINNER
The Boy and the Heron
The Zone of Interest
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Killers of the Flower Moon

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE

“Addicted to Romance” from She Came to Me (Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa)
“Dance the Night” from Barbie (Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt)
“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie (Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt)
“Peaches” from The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Jack Black, Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond, and John Spiker)
“Road to Freedom” from Rustin (Lenny Kravitz)
“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie (Billie Eilish and Finneas) – WINNER

CINEMATIC AND BOX OFFICE ACHIEVEMENT

Barbie – WINNER
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
John Wick: Chapter 4
Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

Best Television Series – Drama

1923
The Crown
The Diplomat
The Last of Us
The Morning Show
Succession – WINNER

Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Abbott Elementary
Barry
The Bear – WINNER
Jury Duty
Only Murders in the Building
Ted Lasso

Best Actor in a Television Series – Drama

Brian Cox – Succession
Kieran Culkin – Succession – WINNER
Gary Oldman – Slow Horses
Pedro Pascal – The Last of Us
Jeremy Strong – Succession
Dominic West – The Crown

Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama

Helen Mirren – 1923
Bella Ramsey – The Last of Us
Keri Russell – The Diplomat
Sarah Snook – Succession – WINNER
Imelda Staunton – The Crown
Emma Stone – The Curse

Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Bill Hader – Barry
Steve Martin – Only Murders in the Building
Jason Segel – Shrinking
Martin Short – Only Murders in the Building
Jason Sudeikis – Ted Lasso
Jeremy Allen White – The Bear – WINNER

Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy

Rachel Brosnahan – The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Quinta Brunson – Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri – The Bear – WINNER
Elle Fanning – The Great
Selena Gomez – Only Murders in the Building
Natasha Lyonne – Poker Face

Best Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television

All the Light We Cannot See
Beef – WINNER
Daisy Jones & the Six
Fellow Travelers
Fargo
Lessons in Chemistry

Best Actor – Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Matt Bomer – Fellow Travelers
Sam Claflin – Daisy Jones & the Six
Jon Hamm – Fargo
Woody Harrelson – White House Plumbers
David Oyelowo – Lawmen: Bass Reeves
Steven Yeun – Beef – WINNER

Best Actress – Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television

Riley Keough – Daisy Jones & the Six
Brie Larson – Lessons in Chemistry
Elizabeth Olsen – Love and Death
Juno Temple – Fargo
Rachel Weisz – Dead Ringers
Ali Wong – Beef – WINNER

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television

Billy Crudup – The Morning Show
Matthew Macfadyen – Succession – WINNER
James Marsden – Jury Duty
Ebon Moss-Bachrach – The Bear
Alan Ruck – Succession
Alexander Skarsgård – Succession

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television

Elizabeth Debicki – The Crown – WINNER
Abby Elliott – The Bear
Christina Ricci – Yellowjackets
J. Smith-Cameron – Succession
Meryl Streep – Only Murders in the Building
Hannah Waddingham – Ted Lasso

Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television

Ricky Gervais – Ricky Gervais: Armageddon – WINNER
Trevor Noah – Trevor Noah: Where Was I
Chris Rock – Chris Rock: Selective Outrage
Amy Schumer – Amy Schumer: Emergency Contact
Sarah Silverman – Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love
Wanda Sykes – Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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