‘Emilia Pérez’ Off to Strong Start at Golden Globes with Zoe Saldaña win, but ‘Conclave’ Takes Screenplay
Zoe Saldaña was the first winner of the night at the 2025 Golden Globes, setting a positive tone for Emilia Pérez for the evening.
The star was recognized for her turn as a lawyer who assists a drug kingpin transition in Jacques Audiard’s dramatic opera released by Netflix. Emilia Pérezhopes to win best film comedy or musical against fellow frontrunners Wicked, Anora and Conclave and set it on a course for an Oscar best picture win in March. Netflix has never taken the Academy’s top prize.
“My heart is full of gratitude,” Saldaña said in her tearful speech, as she saluted the “strength, complexity and undeniable talent” of co-stars Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón as well as director Jacques Audiard, all of whom are nominated for Globes. It was Saldaña’s first Globes win on the occasion of her first nomination.
But Conclave took the momentum back a short time later when Peter Straughan won best screenplay for Focus Features’ twist-heavy papal drama over Emilia, giving the Vatican picture a boost as it makes a bid for best drama at the Globes and an ultimate Oscar prize.
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The awards race has been particularly wide open this film season, as movies as disparate as Wicked, Anora, Emilia Pérez, Conclave, September 5 and The Brutalist have all been at the front of the pack at one time or another.
Supporting actor film honors Sunday went to Kieran Culkin for his role as a free-speaking drifter on a Holocaust-history tour in Jesse Eisenberg’s A Real Pain released by Searchlight. Culkin is a heavy favorite for the Oscar, and the Globes win continued to augur well for him. It’s been a good 12 months for Culkin at the Globes; he’s now won two prizes after also picking up best actor in a drama a year ago for his role in Succession.
Culkin had previously been nominated four times at the Globes without winning, dating back to his turn in indie-film darling Igby Goes Down in the early 2000’s. “The first-ever acknowledgement I got as an actor was a Golden Globes nomination when I was basically a kid,” he said, referencing that moment.
Shogunwas off to a strong start on the television side as stars Hiroyuki Sanada and Tadanobu Asano won for lead actor in a dramatic TV series and best supporting actor on television, respectively. “You don’t know me. I’m an actor from Japan. My name is Tadanobu Asano,” the latter effused in a jubilant speech.
Hacks star Jean Smart won for lead performance by an actress in a TV comedy or musical, continuing the momentum from her win for best actress in a comedy series at the Emmys in September. Baby Reindeer co-star Jessica Gunning landed best supporting actress for her turn in Netflix’s intense stalker drama after taking the prize at the Emmys as well. And The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White made it a twofer, winning for lead actor in a comedy or musical TV series after his own Emmys win. (Here is a complete list of Globes winners so far.)
Host Nikki Glaser opened the show inside the Beverly Hilton with a monologue that, give or take a weird Harrison Ford moment, seemed to go over better than last year’s hastily arranged performance by comedian Jo Koy.
“I am not here to roast you tonight. How could I?” Glaser asked, noting how powerful everyone in the room was. “You could really do anything, except tell the country who to vote for.”
The monologue was somewhat Wicked-heavy. “We can’t talk about movies tonight without talking about Wicked,” she said, before taking a few pokes at the musical blockbuster. Glaser was nominated but did not win for best TV standup special; those honors went to Ali Wong.
The voting body for the Globes was retooled ahead of last year’s show, with more than 330 international journalists replacing the clubbier 85 or so voters from the defunct Hollywood Foreign Press Association. While the track record is thin, last year’s show proved a relatively strong predictor of the Oscars, with winners for best drama (Oppenheimer), lead actor in a drama (Cillian Murphy), lead actress in a comedy (Emma Stone), director (Christopher Nolan), screenplay (Anatomy of a Fall) and animated movie (The Boy and the Heron) all going on to win corresponding top prizes at the Oscars.
Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge that also owns The Hollywood Reporter.
This is a developing story.
