Golden Globes 2018: A night of many beginnings and first wins

Los Angeles: Oprah Winfrey, Sterling K Brown, and Aziz Ansari were some of the first-timers who were honoured at the Golden Globe Awards 2018. Celebrated host-media mogul, Winfrey, became the first African-American woman to be honoured with the annual Cecil B DeMille Award, named after the Hollywood producer-director behind “The Ten Commandments”.

She gave a rousing address at the ceremony paying her tributes to the women who courageously spoke out against sexual abuse. In another first, “This Is Us” star, Brown created history as he became the first African-American to win a Golden Globe in the Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama category for his performance as Randall Pearson on the NBC hit series.

Ansari, the Indian-origin actor, finally bagged the trophy as he was named the winner in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series Musical/Comedy category for his role in “Master Of None”. He was nominated in the same category for the Netflix show in 2016.

The 75th awards ceremony also ended the dry spell for many recognised names such as Gary Oldman and Frances McDormand at the event. Oldman won his first Globe as the Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour”. It was his first nod as well.

The veteran actor, interestingly, has been critical of the Globes in the past. McDormand took home the trophy for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama Golden Globe for her performance in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”.

The six-time lucky actor played Mildred, a grieving mother of a young woman whose rape-murder has gone unsolved in her small-town American community. The actor has been nominated for a Globe in the past, including for her Oscar-winning role in “Fargo,” but had never won an individual award.

Alison Janney was named the Best Supporting Actress in Motion Picture category for her role of LaVona Fay Golden, the mother of infamous figure skater Tonya Harding in “I, Tonya”. This was the actor’s sixth Golden Globe nomination.

The Globe for the Best Actress in the Musical or Comedy category went to Saoirse Ronan for her role in “Lady Bird”, both written and directed by Greta Gerwig. The actor earlier received nominations in 2008 and 2016.

While Ewan McGregor won his first Globe as Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for his role in “Fargo”. This was his fourth nomination. Guillermo del Toro, Martin McDonagh, Sam Rockwell, Rachel Brosnahan and Alexander Skarsgard struck gold in the first nod at the award ceremony.

While del Toro took home the Golden Globe for Best Director for Motion Picture (“The Shape of Water”), McDonagh scored a win in the category of Best Screenplay for “Three Billboards…” Both were nominated in these two segments.

Skarsgard, who plays Nicole Kidman’s abusive husband in HBO’s “Big Little Lies”, won his first Globe as the Best Supporting Actor in Limited Series category. Rockwell won the golden title for Best Supporting Act in Motion Picture for his role in “Three Billboards…”

Brosnahan emerged Best Actress in a Television Comedy Series for playing the protagonist, Miriam ‘Midge’ Maisel in “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”, who admitted backstage that she had blanked out after saying ‘hi’ to Winfrey in the middle of her acceptance speech.

As the first award show in the new year, Golden Globes 2018 set a precedent by addressing the sexual harassment scandal that rocked Hollywood late last year and the winners’ speeches reflected the shift in Hollywood.