It was a big night for the British and Irish stars at Sunday’s Golden Globes Awards.
Earning their first ever Golden Globes were Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen and Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy and Christopher Nolan, while their respective TV and movies also dominated the night.
Meanwhile, making history with his win was British comedian Ricky Gervais, who scooped Best Stand-Up Comedy on Television for his controversial Netflix special, Armageddon.
However, he failed to attend the ceremony, having earlier posted on X his prediction that ‘Won’t win, but it’s nice to still be up there in the mix, flying the flag.’
Macfadyen’s win kicked off a series of Succession stars earning honours on the evening.
Matthew Macfadyen (left) and Cillian Murphy won their first ever Golden Globes during Sunday night’s ceremony as they led the British and Irish winners
Oppenheimer was among the biggest winners of the night as the film earned Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director for Christopher Nolan (pictured)
Making history with his win was British comedian Ricky Gervais , who scooped Best Stand-Up Comedy on Television for his controversial Netflix special, Armageddon
The 49-year-old British actor beat out two of his castmates on the highly-popular HBO series to win Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television.
It was Macfadyen’s first ever nomination and win at the Golden Globes as he was recognized for his work as Tom Wambsgans.
During his acceptance speech he said: ‘Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I just adored every second playing the weird and wonderful human grease stain that is Tom Wambsgans. Tom Wambsgans, CEO, I should say. God help us.
‘My love and thanks and admiration to Jesse Armstrong, as always. And to all Eric’s ordinary writers. I’m too scared to name them all, because I’ll forget someone and I want sleep.
‘To Adam Mckay, Francie Mazelike, HBO, wonderful directors and producers, and of course are gorgeous crew and cast who I miss very much. Thank you.’
His character is the power hungry husband to Shiv Roy (Sarah Snook), who enjoys the power that comes with being married into the media mogul family, and runs conservative news network ATN.
Macfadyen beat out some familiar faces in castmates Alan Ruck and Alexander Skarsgård in addition to Billy Crudup – The Morning Show, Ebon Moss-Bachrach – The Bear, and James Marsden – Jury Duty.
Succession – created by British screenwriter Jesse Armstrong – nearly swept the television drama categories including Best Television Series – Drama and individual honors for Macfadyen, Sarah Snook, and Kieren Culkin.
Snook, 36, was recognized in the Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series – Drama category as she won out over Emma Stone (The Curse), Imelda Staunton (The Crown), Helen Mirren (1923), Kerri Russell (The Diplomat) and Bella Ramsey (The Last of Us).
Later on in the evening it was Culkin, 41, who earned Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series – Drama.
He beat out his castmates Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong along with Dominic West – The Crown, Gary Oldman – Slow Horses, and Pedro Pascal – The Last of Us.
Matthew won Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television for his character Tom Wambsgans in Succession, the power hungry husband to Shiv Roy
Succession – created by British screenwriter Jesse Armstrong – nearly swept the television drama categories (L-R) Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Frank Rich, Jesse Armstrong, Matthew Macfadyen, Nicholas Braun, Alan Ruck and J. Smith-Cameron
Oppenheimer was among the biggest winners of the night as the film earned Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director for Nolan, and two coveted acting awards for leading man Murphy and Robert Downey Jr.
Murphy scooped Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama for his titular role as the nuclear scientist.
He beat out a very impressive field including: Andrew Scott – All of Us Strangers, Barry Keoghan – Saltburn, Bradley Cooper – Maestro, Colman Domingo – Rustin, and Leonardo DiCaprio – Killers of the Flower Moon.
Murphy began his acceptance speech with a very important question as he said: ‘Oh, boy. First question, do I have lipstick all over my nose? I’m just going to leave it.’
He started out his speech with praise for Nolan whom he has worked with a few times previously including Batman Begins, Dunkirk, and Inception.
The Irish actor continued: ‘I knew the first time I walked on a Christopher Nolan set that it was different.
‘I could tell by the level of rigor, the level of focus, the level of dedication, the complete lack of any seating options for actors. [Laughter]
‘That I was in the hands of the visionary director and master. I want to thank Chris and Emma for having the faith in me for 20 years.
‘Thanks so much. One of the most beautiful and vulnerable things about being an actor is that you can’t do it on your own, really.
‘We had the most incredible ensemble cast in this movie. It was magic and some of them are here today. Emily Blunt, Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Gary Oldman.
‘Thank you for carrying me and holding me through this movie. Thank you. Thank you to Donna Langley and everyone at universal for believing in this movie from the very beginning.
‘Oh, to all my fellow nominees. If you’re Irish or not, you are all legends. Stunning work. I salute you. To all my reps, on my team, thank you so much. You are the best. To my family, and the luckiest man and I love you. Thanks so much, guys.’
Oppenheimer was among the biggest winners of the night as the film earned Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director for Nolan, and two coveted acting awards for leading man Murphy (pictued) and Robert Downey Jr
Robert Downey Jr. took home the second win of the night in the Male Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture category for Oppenheimer.
The A-lister triumphed over Charles Melton – May December, Mark Ruffalo – Poor Things, Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon, Ryan Gosling – Barbie, and Willem Dafoe – Poor Things.
In Oppenheimer Downey Jr, 58, portrays as Rear Admiral Lewis Strauss, a retired Naval officer and high-ranking member of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC).
Nolan earned Best Director – Motion Picture for the epic film beating out Bradley Cooper – Maestro, Celine Song – Past Lives, Greta Gerwig – Barbie, and Martin Scorsese – Killers Of The Flower Moon.
The 53-year-old filmmaker opened up his speech by saying that the only time he has been on the stage at the Golden Globes was to accept the Best Supporting Actor award on behalf of the late Heath Ledger in 2009.
He said: ‘Thank you. Thank you, Golden Globes. The only time I’ve ever been on this stage before was accepting one of these on behalf of our dear friend, Heath Ledger, and that was complicated and challenging for me.
‘And in the middle of speaking I got all stuck, and Robert Downey Jr. Caught my eye and gave me a look of love and support, the same look he’s giving me now. The same love and support he’s shown so many people in our community over so many years.
‘I thought it would be simpler accepting for myself. But, as a director, I realize I can only accept this on behalf As directors, we bring people together and we try to get them to give their best.
‘Robert, Cillian, that partner in crime for 20 years, Matt, wherever you went, Florence, Emily, and the incredible work of our amazing crew. So many to thank you. Please wrap up, here we go.
‘Donna Langley, and Universal, for seeing potential in very challenging material. Chuck, for giving me the book and urging me onward, and so many other people to think.
‘But Emma Thomas, my partner in life and an art. I love you. Thank you very much.’
Oppenheimer beat out Anatomy of a Fall, Killers Of The Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, and The Zone of Interest to earn the top prize of the night.
Producer Emma Thomas accepted the award presented by Oprah Winfrey on behalf of the cast and crew at the end of the night as she said: ‘This is crazy! Oh, my god.
‘Okay, that’s crazy. From Oprah! They weren’t kidding, this is a really intimidating room. Thank you so much to the Golden Globes.
‘Can you hear my heart beating? Because it’s going crazy! This was just an incredible experience making this film, and this is just the smallest portion of the many people that made the film what it is.
‘I have loved sitting here, hearing everyone talk about their work. What is so clear is that what we do is collaboration.
‘That’s amazing and it’s exciting, and I find that to be completely magical. I have to say, I am so pleased that Chris [Nolan] has been acknowledged, because I just think that what he does is unlike anything anyone else is doing.
‘All of this talent, and these amazing actors but also all of our HODs. The PAs, camera assistants, everybody did their best on this Chris brings the best out and people by being the very best himself.
‘I would love to thank Donna Langley and everybody at universal. When I sort of look back on that moment when we sat down with you, I don’t think it was a no-brainer by any stretch of the imagination to make a three hour talky movie about R-rated, by the way, about one of the darkest developments in our history.
‘I’m really grateful that your faith in us has been rewarded tonight.’
Oppenheimer is the story of American scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb.
This year’s ceremony saw a new award added to the mix, with British comedian Gervais winning Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television for his Netflix special Armageddon.
He triumphed over Trevor Noah (Where Was I)’ Chris Rock (Selective Outrage); Amy Schumer (Emergency Contact); Sarah Silverman (Someone You Love) and Wanda Sykes (I’m An Entertainer).
It was a controversial win as Gervais, 62, has come under fire for the special, in which he cracks jokes about terminally ill children.
Among those hitting out at the comic for his joke were British disability charity Scope.
During his joke about Make-A-Wish requests, Ricky said ‘I always say yes [to their requests]. And I always start the video the same way. I go “why didn’t you wish to get better? What, you f***ing retarded as well?”‘
Scope warned that ‘language like this has consequences’, stating: ‘We wish we were surprised by reports that Ricky Gervais has used ableist slurs in his new Netflix special.
‘Language like this has consequences and we’re just not accepting the explanation that Gervais uses to try and justify this language.’
‘He argues that he wouldn’t use this language in ‘real-life’. But his stand-up routine doesn’t exist in a parallel universe. The stage is real. Netflix is real. The people this kind of language impacts are real.’