Photo:CBS
CBS
Paul Giamattiis cracking jokes and praising teachers as he wins at the 2024Golden Globes.
In the running for best actor in a comedy or musical movie wereNicolas CageforDream Scenario,Timothée ChalametforWonka,Matt DamonforAir,GiamattiforThe Holdovers,Joaquin PhoenixforBeau Is Afraidand Jeffrey Wright forAmerican Fiction.
Giamatti, 56, joked in his speech, “Oh my gosh, so many stairs. Too many stairs. My knees are shot, I’m telling you. Up and down all night, standing up and sitting down all night, my knees. I’m never going to be inJohn Wick 5at this rate.”
“Surely this is the first time this award has been given to an actor who has played a man who smells like fish,” he further quipped about his professor character.
After sharing some thank-yous, he said, “I want to give a shout-out to my son Samuel, who recently graduated from college. And it’s a movie about a teacher. I play a teacher in it. My whole family, they’re teachers. All of them, going back generations.”
He continued, “Teachers are good people. Gotta respect them. They do a good thing. It’s a tough job, so this is for teachers as well. Thanks, guys. Thank you.”
Paul Giamatti in “The Holdovers”.Seacia Pavao/Focus Features
Seacia Pavao/Focus Features
Giamatti’s 2024 Golden Globe nod forThe Holdovers, his sixth with two previous wins, is special considering his first recognition was forSidewaysin 2005 — the other he time he played leading man for filmmaker Alexander Payne (Election).
Reuniting after almost 20 years has proved a winning combination again, with the David Hemingson-written holiday hit also in the best comedy or musical movie race.
Costarring first-time actor Dominic Sessa and first-time Globe nominee — andwinner— Da’Vine Joy Randolph,The Holdoversfeatures Giamatti as a stubborn (andcross-eyed) professor at a fictional New England boarding school in 1970.
Nicolas Cage in “Dream Scenario”.Jan Thijs/A24
Jan Thijs/A24
Also in the category was Cage, 59, who has now totaled five nods from the Golden Globes. Of those, he won once in 1996 forLeaving Las Vegas, a leading dramatic performance for which he also took home anAcademy Award.
Dream Scenariofeatures Cage as an ordinary biology professor who inexplicably begins appearing in multiple people’s dreams, strangers and acquaintances alike. It costars Julianne Nicholson as his wife, Tim Meadows as his colleague and Michael Cera as his PR manager.
Timothée Chalamet in “Wonka”.Warner Bros./Everett
Warner Bros./Everett
His third Golden Globe nod in only a handful of years, Chalamet, 28, leads Willy Wonka origin storyWonka, from director and co-writerPaul King(Paddington). CostarringCalah Lane,Keegan-Michael Key,Olivia ColmanandHugh Grantas an Oompa-Loompa, it’s a musical movie that serves as an origin story for the beloved chocolatier from Roald Dahl’sCharlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Matt Damon in “Air”.Ana Carballosa/Prime Video
Ana Carballosa/Prime Video
Damon, 53, is no first-timer at the Golden Globes. As an actor, he’s been nominated seven times, winning in 2016 forThe Martian. As a screenwriter, he took home a Globe alongsideBen AffleckforGood Will Huntingin 1998 — a feat they repeated at the subsequent Oscars.
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Joaquin Phoenix in “Beau Is Afraid”.Takashi Seida/ A24
Takashi Seida/ A24
Phoenix’s name has appeared on the Golden Globes’ nominations lists plenty, for both dramatic and comedic movies. Of his seven nods, the 49-year-old actor won in 2006 for playing Johnny Cash inWalk the Lineand in 2020 for playing the titular role inJoker.
Fans may be surprised to see Phoenix recognized forAri Aster’s A24 horror-esque hitBeau Is Afraidinstead of his other major 2023 film, Ridley Scott’sNapoleon. But his surreal performance as Beau Wassermann had audiences on the edge of their seats.
Jeffrey Wright in “American Fiction”.Claire Folger
Claire Folger
American Fictionhas earned the actor, 58, the best acclaim of his career. In writer-director Cord Jefferson’s adaptation of Percival Everett’s 2001 bookErasure, Wright plays Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a frustrated novelist who pens a stereotypically Black book out of spite, only for it to become a bigger hit than anything written under his own name. It costarsSterling K. Brown,Issa Rae,Erika Alexander,Tracee Ellis RossandLeslie Uggams.
SeePEOPLE’s full coverageof the 81st annual Golden Globes as they’re broadcasting live from The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles on CBS and Paramount+.
source: people.com
