--- ---  # Maggie Gyllenhaal Is Right: 'Real Women' Dominated TV This Year  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jan 12, 2015 3:44 AM UTC  Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman, Winner of Best Actress for a Mini-Series or TV Movie at the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015. Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman, Winner of Best Actress for a Mini-Series or TV Movie at the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015.Paul Drinkwater—NBC  by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent Jan 12, 2015 3:44 AM UTC After winning best actress in a mini-series for _The Honorable Woman_, Maggie Gyllenhaal said this in her Golden Globes speech: “I’ve noticed a lot of people talking about the wealth of roles for powerful women in television lately, and when I look around the room at the women who are in here and I think about the performances that I’ve watched this year, what I see actually are women who are sometimes powerful and sometimes not. Sometimes sexy, sometimes not. Sometimes honorable, sometimes not. And what I think is new is the wealth of roles for _actual_ women in television and in film.” She’s right. The women in her category were fortunate enough to play more than just ingénues, simple baddies or sex objects. Frances McDormand played a [wholly unlikable](http://time.com/3554536/olive-kitteridge-hbo-likability/) and yet ultimately well-intentioned protagonist on _Olive Kitteridge_. Jessica Lange continued to play alternately wily, evil and sympathetic on her _American Horror Story_ run. Allison Tolman could have been a simple “good guy” foil to Malvo in _Fargo_, but instead stood out as an imperfect but brave cop [you might actually know](http://time.com/3662649/fargo-allison-tolman-comedy-chicago-anti-hero-mindy-project-archer-fx-golden-globes/) (thankfully wearing boots instead of heels). And Frances O’Connor brought many dimensions to grief in _The Missing_. Gyllenhaal’s character herself on _The Honorable Woman_ was all but honorable. In trying to do the right thing for her family, Gyllenhaal made many ethically questionable choices. The show turned the “Can women have it all?” question up to full throttle, becoming not a show about power, but a show about deeply flawed love. Her “real” women argument extends to other characters on TV like the women of _Transparent_, Julianna Margulies’ Alicia Florrick on _The Good Wife_ or Ruth Wilson’s Alison Lockhart on _The Affair_, all of whom can be selfish, ruthless and stupid without turning into bland stereotypes. Sure, lots of these female characters were powerful in the sense that they were defined by something other than their romantic interests — or even wielded influence in the Israel-Palestine conflict. But they also had moments of weakness: moments when they cried, when they thought about committing suicide, when they screwed up. They were _real_ women, _interesting_ women — and that’s even better than powerful women. Watch the full clip here: **MORE:** [_Olive Kitteridge_ and Why “Likability” Is for Saps](http://time.com/3554536/olive-kitteridge-hbo-likability/) ### Golden Globes 2015: Red Carpet Photos  Jessica Chastain arrives to the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015. Christopher Polk—NBC/Getty Images  Anna Kendrick attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Salma Hayek Pinault attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Jessica Chastain attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Emily Blunt arrives to the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Kevork Djansezian—NBC/Getty Images  George Clooney and Amal Alamuddin Clooney attend the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Amy Adams attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Eddie Redmayne attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty Images  Julianne Moore attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jeff Vespa—WireImage/Getty Images  Tina Fey attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Amy Poehler attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Kevin Spacey attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Frazer Harrison—Getty Images  Emma Stone attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Lorde attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty Images  Jeffrey Tambor attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jeff Vespa—Getty Images  Quvenzhane Wallis attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Lena Dunham arrives to the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Kevork Djansezian—NBC/Getty Images  Adrian Grenier arrives to the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Christopher Polk—NBC/Getty Images  Julia Louis-Dreyfus arrives to the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Kevork Djansezian—NBC/Getty Images  Allison Williams attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Keira Knightley arrives to the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Kevork Djansezian—NBC/Getty Images  Patti Smith attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Frazer Harrison—Getty Images  James Corden attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Frazer Harrison—Getty Images  Bill Hader attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty Images  Diane Kruger attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Frazer Harrison—Getty Images  Chrissy Teigen and John Legend attend the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Kate Mara attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jeff Vespa—WireImage/Getty Images  Lana Del Rey attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Kit Harington arrives at the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards held at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Kevork Djansezian—NBC/Getty Images  Giuliana Rancic attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jeff Vespa—WireImage/Getty Images  Pedro Pascal attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Frazer Harrison—Getty Images  Conchita Wurst attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Frazer Harrison—Getty Images  Kelly Osbourne attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty Images  Naomi Watts attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Kevork Djansezian—NBC/Getty Images  Gina Rodriguez attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Frazer Harrison—Getty Images  Katherine Heigl attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Uzo Aduba attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Frazer Harrison—Getty Images  Felicity Jones attends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty Images  Reese Witherspoon ttends the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on Jan. 11, 2015 in Beverly Hills, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images Golden Globes 2015: Maggie Gyllenhaal Is Right: Real Women Dominate TV ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3663260/golden-globes-2015-maggie-gyllenhaal-real-women/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3663260/golden-globes-2015-maggie-gyllenhaal-real-women/"},"headline":"Maggie Gyllenhaal Is Right: 'Real Women' Dominated TV This Year","datePublished":"2015-01-12T03:44:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:06:16.826Z","description":"From The Honorable Woman to Fargo","url":"https://time.com/3663260/golden-globes-2015-maggie-gyllenhaal-real-women/","keywords":["awards","Television"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt147729082bd32551/69877961a988ca026e6abd79/maggie-gyllenhaal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt147729082bd32551/69877961a988ca026e6abd79/maggie-gyllenhaal.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards - Season 72","caption":"72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards - Season 72","creditText":"Paul Drinkwater—NBC","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/awards/","name":"awards"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3663260/golden-globes-2015-maggie-gyllenhaal-real-women/","name":"Maggie Gyllenhaal Is Right: 'Real Women' Dominated TV This Year"}}]}] ```