STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Hollywood began the awards season last night with some surprises at the Golden Globes. Many people expected "A Star Is Born" to sweep the awards. Instead, the top honors went to "Green Book" and "Bohemian Rhapsody." Here's NPR's Mandalit del Barco.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: The biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" was the champion of the drama category, winning best motion picture. Rami Malek earned a best actor trophy for his portrayal of the late singer Freddie Mercury from the British rock band Queen.
(SOUNDBITE OF 76TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS)
RAMI MALEK: Thank you to Freddie Mercury for giving me the joy of a lifetime. I love you, you beautiful man. This is for and because of you, gorgeous.
(APPLAUSE)
DEL BARCO: The biggest winner of the night was a film celebrating the friendship of an African-American classical and jazz pianist and his Italian-American driver and bodyguard in the Deep South in the 1960s. "Green Book" earned three Golden Globes - best motion picture musical or comedy, best screenplay and best supporting actor Mahershala Ali. Peter Farrelly, who wrote, directed and produced "Green Book," said he wanted to share a real-life story of hope.
(SOUNDBITE OF 76TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS)
PETER FARRELLY: Because we're still living in divided times, maybe more so than ever. And that's who this movie's for. It's for everybody. If Don Shirley and Tony Vallelonga can find common ground, we all can.
DEL BARCO: Finding common ground was what Alfonso Cuaron says he wanted to do with "Roma." He based the movie he wrote and directed on his childhood memories of growing up in Mexico City. "Roma" earned two Golden Globes - best foreign language film and best director. Onstage and backstage, Cuaron talked about cinema building bridges, not walls, between cultures. Cuaron thanked his home country, his lead actresses and the woman they portrayed on screen - his mother, and the woman who helped raise him, Liboria Rodriguez.
(SOUNDBITE OF 76TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS)
ALFONSO CUARON: (Speaking Spanish).
DEL BARCO: In the television categories, one of the big winners of the night was "The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story." In his acceptance speech, executive producer Brad Simpson said the forces of hate and fear that led to Versace's murder 20 years ago remain.
(SOUNDBITE OF 76TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS)
BRAD SIMPSON: As artists, we must fight back by representing those who are not represented, and...
(APPLAUSE)
SIMPSON: ...By providing a space for people who are new voices to tell stories that haven't been told. As human beings, we should resist in the streets, resist at the ballot box, and practice love and empathy in our everyday lives.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHALLOW")
LADY GAGA: (Singing) Ain't it hard keepin' it so hardcore?
DEL BARCO: "A Star Is Born" earned a Golden Globe for best original song, but the film's star, Lady Gaga, graciously lost out in the best actress category to an astonished Glenn Close.
(SOUNDBITE OF 76TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS)
GLENN CLOSE: Oh, my gosh. How - I'm just...
(APPLAUSE)
DEL BARCO: Close got a standing ovation for talking about women like her character in "The Wife" and her own mother, both of whom she said sublimated themselves to their husbands.
(SOUNDBITE OF 76TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS)
CLOSE: You know, women, we're nurturers. That's what's expected of us. We have our children. We have our husbands, if we're lucky enough, and our partners - whoever. But we have to find personal fulfillment. We have to fill our - you know, follow our dreams. We have to say, I can do that, and I should be allowed to do that.
DEL BARCO: Patricia Clarkson got a best supporting actress trophy for the limited series "Sharp Objects." She thanked her director, Jean-Marc Vallee.
(SOUNDBITE OF 76TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS)
PATRICIA CLARKSON: You demanded everything of me except sex, which is exactly how it should be in our industry.
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DEL BARCO: And Regina King, who got an award for her role in the film, "If Beale Street Could Talk," vowed to make sure that everything she produces in the next two years is made 50 percent by women. One woman captured the full range of the evening's emotions, TV legend Carol Burnett. She was honored for her long career with the inaugural Carol Burnett TV Achievement Award. She recalled her variety show of the '60s and '70s.
(SOUNDBITE OF 76TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS)
CAROL BURNETT: I'm just happy that our show happened when it did and that I can look back and say once more, I am so glad we had this time together. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
DEL BARCO: As she's done on TV for decades, Carol Burnett tugged her ear and signed off.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M SO GLAD WE HAD THIS TIME TOGETHER")
BURNETT: (Singing) Guess it's time for me to say so long.
(APPLAUSE)
DEL BARCO: Mandalit del Barco, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
