The Biggest Snubs of the 2019 Golden Globes Nominations

On Thursday morning, nominations for the 76th annual Golden Globes were announced from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. While this year’s awards season officially launched after Thanksgiving with the Gotham Awards and honors from the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics’ Circle, nods for the Golden Globes — which will air live on NBC on Jan. 6, hosted by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg — kick the conversation into higher gear when it comes to the sport of Oscar prognostication. On the movie side, nominations were led by Vice, Adam McKay’s scathing account of Dick Cheney’s rise to power, which scored six, while The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story led the TV side with four.

The field included several surprises, among them Sasha Baron Cohen for Who Is America?, John C. Reilly for Stan & Ollie and Lucas Hedges for the gay conversion therapy drama Boy Erased. But the fact that the Globes separates the honors for movies by drama and musical or comedy — doubling the size of certain categories — makes certain snubs sting a little more. Below are the 2019 Golden Globes snubs that stung the most.

Film

First Man

After winning five Oscars, including Best Director, for La La Land in 2017, Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong drama failed to nab a nomination for Best Picture or for Ryan Gosling’s understated turn as the NASA pioneer. It did earn nominations for Claire Foy’s supporting role as Janet Armstrong and for its score by La La Land composer Justin Hurwitz.

First Reformed

This somber drama by Taxi Driver screenwriter Paul Schrader might not have felt like a lock, given its release all the way back in May and modest box-office performance. But Ethan Hawke’s performance as a pastor in turmoil and Schrader’s screenplay have gotten much love from critics and deserve to remain in the conversation as the season presses on.

Michael B. Jordan

Black Panther nabbed noms for Score, Song and Best Picture – Drama — Marvel’s first movie nominated in the latter category. But Jordan’s multilayered villain deserved love in the Supporting Actor field.

Sam Elliott

Many consider Elliott’s put-upon older brother of Bradley Cooper’s Jackson Maine in A Star Is Born to be a leading contender for Supporting Actor, so his absence here was a glaring one.

Cold War

Paweł Pawlikowski’s smoky romance set in 1950s Poland seemed like a lock for Foreign Language film. Perhaps it will fare better with the Academy of Motion Pictures.

Widows

Five years after winning Best Picture with 12 Years a Slave, director Steve McQueen returned with a smart, grown-up heist drama in Widows, but despite critical acclaim, it appears nowhere in this year’s field of movie nominees.

A Quiet Place

Paramount has been campaigning diligently to keep John Krasinski’s mature horror parable in the conversation, but it failed to register with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Television

Atlanta

Despite receiving Emmy nominations for writing, directing, Best Comedy, and performances by Donald Glover, Brian Tyree Henry and Zazie Beetz, the series was nowhere to be found among Golden Globes nominations.

The Handmaid’s Tale

Hulu’s Margaret Atwood adaptation, which broke from its source material in its second season, won Best Television Series – Drama at last year’s Golden Globes. This year, it didn’t even receive a nomination in that field, though it scored acting nods for Elisabeth Moss and Yvonne Strahovski.

This Is Us

It’s among the most-watched series on TV and three of its stars were nominated last year (with Sterling K. Brown memorably winning), but This Is Us failed to score a single nomination this year.

Patrick Melrose

Though Benedict Cumberbatch was nominated for his performance in the Showtime limited series adapted from the popular books, the show itself was conspicuously absent among nominees.

Insecure

Neither the HBO series itself — nor Issa Rae’s writing, nor her performance — made a splash with the HFPA this year, though Rae was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Emmy last year.

Odds and Ends

Roma: Alfonso Cuarón’s gorgeous black-and-white picture, inspired by his childhood, scored a nomination for Foreign Language Film, Director and Screenplay but felt conspicuously absent from the Best Picture – Drama field. But it wasn’t eligible: the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s official rules state that films submitted in the Foreign Language category are ineligible for the other Best Picture races.

If Beale Street Could Talk, Best Score: Composer Nicholas Britell’s sensitive score for Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of a 1974 James Baldwin novel was robbed, full-stop.

Toni Collette: After winning Best Actress at the Gotham Award for her tour-de-force performance in the eminently disturbing Hereditary, Collette seemed to have some momentum, but she was edged out in the drama category. Other actresses whose names were absent despite much lauded performances: Regina Hall (Support the Girls), Natalie Portman (Vox Lux), Kathryn Hahn (Private Life) and Julia Roberts (Ben Is Back).

Best Screenplay: A Star Is Born and BlacKkKlansman were frontrunners in this category but neither secured a nomination. Perhaps they’ll fare better at the Oscars, which separates the field into Original and Adapted, leaving space for more nominees.

Steve Carell: Though costar Timothée Chalamet was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Beautiful Boy, Carell, who plays the father of a son consumed by his addiction, didn’t make the cut as a leading actor.

Best Director: No female directors received nominations. Hardly a shock considering Hollywood’s track record, but still a disappointment.