Zoe Saldaña was the first winner of the night at the 2025 Golden Globes, setting a positive tone for Emilia Perez for the evening.
The star was recognized for her turn in the film as a lawyer who assists a drug kingpin transition in Jacques Audiard’s dramatic opera released by Netflix. Emilia Perez hopes to win best film comedy or musical against fellow frontrunners Wicked and Anora.
More from The Hollywood Reporter
“My heart is full of gratitude,” Saldaña said in her tearful speech, as she saluted the “strength, complexity and undeniable talent” of co-stars Selena Gomez and Karla Sofía Gascón as well as director Jacques Audiard, all of whom are all nominated for Globes. It was Saldaña’s first Globes win on the occasion of her first nominaition.
Shortly after, Hacks star Jean Smart won for lead performance by an actress in a TV comedy or musical, picking up on her win for best actress in a comedy series at the Emmys in September. (Here is a complete list of Globes winners so far.)
Host Nikki Glaser opened the show inside the Beverly Hilton with a monologue that, give or take a weird Harrison Ford moment, seemed to go over better than last year’s hastily arranged performance by comedian Jo Koy.
“I am not here to roast you tonight. How could I?” Glaser asked, noting how powerful everyone in the room was. “You could really do anything, except tell the country who to vote for.”
The monologue was fairly Wicked-heavy. “We can’t talk about movies tonight without talking about Wicked,” she said, before taking a few pokes at the musical blockbuster.
The awards race has been particularly wide open this film season, as movies as disparate as Wicked, Anora, Emilia Perez, Conclave, September 5 and The Brutalist have all been at the front of the pack at one time or another.
The voting body for the Globes was retooled ahead of last year’s show, with more than 330 international journalists replacing the clubbier 85 or so voters from the defunct Hollywood Foreign Press Association. While the track record is thin, last year’s show proved a relatively strong predictor of the Oscars, with winners for best drama (Oppenheimer), lead actor in a drama (Cillian Murphy), lead actress in a comedy (Emma Stone), director (Christopher Nolan), screenplay (Anatomy of a Fall) and animated movie (The Boy and the Heron) all going on to win corresponding top prizes at the Oscars.
Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by Penske Media Eldridge, a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge that also owns The Hollywood Reporter.
This is a developing story.
Best of The Hollywood Reporter
Sign up for THR’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
