A Look At The Best Female Actress Nominees At The Golden Globes
By Alexa Bournazos
This year brought a multitude of outstanding performances by female actresses in leading roles. Several of these deserving actresses were represented in the nominations for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture award at the 2020 Golden Globes. This award honors actresses’ exceptional performances as leads in various films. With the growing advocacy for gender equality, this category grows annually as viewers see more powerful female roles. The growth of the category resulted in its division into two separate awards, one for drama films and one for musical or comedy films. These actresses have worked tirelessly to earn the recognition they deserve, and each nominee is more than qualified to win this and many other awards.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama:
Cynthia Erivo – Harriet
Cynthia Ervio is a British actress of Nigerian heritage. Recently, she has undertaken a historically pivotal and emotional role as Harriet Tubman in the upcoming film, Harriet. Along with a Golden Globe, Erivo is also nominated for an Oscar for her performance in this film. If she wins this Oscar, she will join the rarified group of actors and actresses in the exclusive EGOT Club, having already won an Emmy, Tony, and Grammy for her role in the powerful Broadway musical The Color Purple.
Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson is an incredibly successful New York City-born actress. Johansson plays an actress navigating her divorce from her director husband (Adam Driver) and a custody battle over their son. This nomination will be her fifth Golden Globe nomination as she has starred in a multitude of popular films.
Saoirse Ronan – Little Women
Saoirse Ronan is an Irish actress who has been nominated for 4 Golden Globes. She is nominated in this category for her performance as Jo in the movie Little Women based on Louisa May Alcott’s infamous novel about four sisters and their journey into adulthood. This role is important to a plethora of individuals as the novel is a 150 year old classic.
Charlize Theron – Bombshell
Charlize Theron is a South African born actress nominated for her sixth Golden Globe for her performance in the film Bombshell. Theron tells the story of Megyn Kelly, a former news anchor at Fox News who accused her boss of sexual harassment. This film is a significant nomination as it is a representation of the #MeToo movement and may assist in raising awareness for the frequent mistreatment of women in the workplace.
Renée Zellweger – Judy
Renée Zellweger is the winning nominee in this category for her portrayal of actress-singer Judy Garland in Judy. Garland was troubled with anxiety due to her constant position in the public eye. This role was a challenging undertaking that was terrifically executed by Zellweger. Zellweger’s career as an actress has been incredibly successful as this is her seventh Golden Globe nomination and fourth win.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Ana de Armas – Knives Out
Ana de Armas portrays Marta Cabrera, the lead role in the film Knives Out. Marta is a Latina nurse tied to a murder mystery. This film is a true whodunit with an intricate plot. de Armas said that she did not want to simply portray a pretty face but rather depict a character such as Marta who represents her culture and identity as a working class woman with good values.
Awkwafina – The Farewell
Awkwafina made history as the first Asian actress to win a Golden Globe in a lead actress film category for her role in the film The Farewell. Awkwafina plays Billie, a Chinese American who travels to China to say goodbye to her ill grandmother. The role was gracefully executed due to Awkwafina’s deep connection to the character. Awkwafina’s award is crucial to Asian Americans as her success in her role as Billie represents a significant change in society’s perception of race.
Cate Blanchett – Where’d You Go, Bernadette
Cate Blanchett received her tenth Golden Globe nomination for her role as Bernadette in the film Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Where’d You Go, Bernadette is based on the best-selling novel by Maria Semple about a woman who feels trapped in her routine life and suddenly vanishes, allowing for her to embark on a path of self discovery.
Beanie Feldstein – Booksmart
Beanie Feldstein was nominated for her first Golden Globe for her performance in the comedy Booksmart. Many viewers dismissed her terrific performance in the film Ladybird as a one one-off for Jonah Hill’s little sister, but she proved them wrong with her portrayal of over-achieving bookworm, Molly, who, on her last day of high school, learns that you can have fun and still do well in school.
Emma Thompson – Late Night
Emma Thompson received her tenth Golden Globe nomination for her leading role in the comedy Late Night. Thompson plays Katherine Newbury, a TV talk show host who might be replaced by a younger male version due to her show’s dropping ratings. Thompson is hilarious in her depiction of Katherine and wonderfully shows her journey of reinventing herself for her TV audience.
Golden Globes Best Dressed
By Chloe Cornell
The Golden Globes red carpet is always fun as it is a more casual event than the Oscars and actresses tend to be more experimental with their looks. Below are some of our favorite looks from the awards show.
Zoë Kravitz in Saint Laurent
Sienna Miller in Gucci
Margot Robbie in Chanel
Kerry Washington in Altuzarra
Scarlett Johansson in Vera Wang
Zoey Deutch in Fendi
A Rihanna Documentary Is Coming and People Don’t Know How to Feel About It
By Reese Wolfe
Recently Amazon set aside an astounding $25 million for a documentary about the pop star Rihanna. According to Peter Berg, the director of the documentary, this film is expected to be titled Rihanna. Berg went on to explain how the documentary will comprise of “an unfiltered look into Rihanna’s life, providing a glimpse into the evolution of one of the world’s most well-known pop artists.” The upcoming film is also projected to offer over 1,200 hours of footage and private insights into Rihanna’s personality, life philosophies, humor, family and love. Although people are definitely excited for the release of a documentary about Rihanna, what people want most from this beloved artist is a new album. Rihanna has not released a full-length album since Anti which dropped almost four years ago. Several tweets and memes have surfaced about the subject as people are disappointed in Rihanna’s lack of new music and concerned that Rihanna will not have time for music with the new documentary coming out. These tweets and memes also speculate that Rihanna’s documentary will consist of her sitting in the studio silent. Thankfully, there have been rumors that Rihanna is in the studio once again, and it looks like all peace will be restored.