Javier Bardem and Karla Sofía Gascón will be Spain's representatives at the 82nd edition of the Golden Globes after being nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series for their work in the miniseries Monsters: The Story of Lyle and Erik Menéndez, and for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Film for her role in Emilia Pérez, respectively. This was announced on Monday by the organizers of these awards, considered the prelude to the Oscars, whose ceremony will take place on January 5th with comedian Nikki Glaser as the host.
Emilia Pérez, the acclaimed musical queer drug lord directed by Jacques Audiard, emerges as the frontrunner in the film category with 10 nominations, closely followed by The Brutalist with seven; Cónclave with six; and Anora, winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and The substance, each receiving five nominations. The Bear leads in the TV series category with five mentions.
It is quite surprising the absence of another Spanish name in these nominations, that of Pedro Almodóvar, who won the Golden Lion with The Room Next Door, his first English-language feature film, at the Venice Film Festival. Its protagonist, the British actress Tilda Swinton, is the only one with a chance to win the award for Best Actress in a Drama in this intense story about the right to die with dignity and female friendship. The film left empty-handed last weekend at the European Film Awards in Lucerne. Swinton, who plays a dying woman, is competing for the statuette alongside Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl), Angelina Jolie (Maria), Nicole Kidman (Babygirl), and Fernanda Torres (I'm Still Here).
The Madrid-born trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who has captivated audiences with her portrayal of a dangerous Mexican drug trafficker who wants to become a woman, has already been awarded as best actress at Cannes - along with her colleagues Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gómez, and Adriana Paz - and has just been chosen as the best European actress. Her name is highly likely to be among the five actresses contending for an Oscar as well.
Gascón, 52, will compete for the Golden Globe against Amy Adams (Nightbitch); Ciynthia Erivo (Wicked); Mikey Madison (Anora); Demi Moore for The Substance and Zendaya, for Rivals. Meanwhile, Saldaña and Gomez will do so in the Best Supporting Actress category alongside Isabella Rossellini (Conclave) and Felicity Jones (The Brutalist).
The director of Emilia Pérez, the veteran French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, will have as rivals in the directing category the German Edward Berger (Conclave), the Americans Brady Corbet for The Brutalist and Sean Baker for Anora, the also French Coralie Fargeat for The Substance, and the Indian Payal Kapadia for All we imagine as light, one of the great revelations of 2024, awarded with the Grand Jury Prize at Cannes and the Gotham for Best International Film.
On the other hand, Bardem will compete for the award against Tadanobu Asano, who has been nominated for Shōgun; Harrison Ford, for Shrinking; Jack Lowden, for Slow Horses; Diego Luna, for La máquina and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, for The Bear.
Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofía Gascón in 'Emilia Pérez'
In the Best Actor category, Sebastian Stan stands out with a double nomination: for Best Actor in a Drama for portraying Donald Trump in The Apprentice, and for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for A Different Man, where he plays an actor who undergoes a radical surgical intervention to transform his appearance. The Romanian-American actor will compete for the award in the Drama category against Ralph Fiennes (Conclave), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), Daniel Craig (Queer), Adrien Brody (The Brutalist), and Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown). In the Comedy or Musical category, he will compete against Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain), Hugh Grant (Heretic), Gabriel Labelle (Saturday Night), Jesse Plemons (Kinds of Kindness), and Glen Powell (Hit Man).
