From Cate Blanchett to Baz Luhrmann: Aussiewood at the 80th Golden Globe Awards

Aussiewood sprinkled its star dust at this year’s 80th Golden Globes with five nominations and a fourth acting win for Cate Blanchett, this time her performance as a renowned German conductor in Todd Field’s Tár.

The Golden Globes was back in full capacity at the Beverley Hilton in Los Angeles and broadcast on NBC. This time the ceremony was on a Tuesday, not a Sunday night and was also streamed live on Stan.

In the previous years the ceremony had been scaled down due the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as controversies associated with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA).

Nominations and awards

Besides Blanchett, another Aussiewood member nominated included Baz Luhrmann for directing the feature about the rockabilly icon, Elvis. Also nominated was Margot Robbie in the acting musical or comedy category for her role as Nellie LaRoy, an aspiring actress in the film Babylon, about ambitious creatives in Hollywood during the roaring 1920s.

Hugh Jackman received an nomination as the father of a teenage boy with mental health issues in The Son, and Elizabeth Debicki in her supporting role of Princess Diana in season five of the Netflix series, The Crown.

US actor Austin Butler won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama for his role as Elvis Presley. But Luhrmann lost out to Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans for Best Director — Motion Picture.

Andrew Dominik’s Netflix drama, Blonde, saw Cuban actress Ana de Armas (who played Marilyn Monroe) nominated in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama. However, that award went to Blanchett, who did not attend the ceremony because she was in London for the premiere of Tár.

Aussiewood and awards

Since the 1900s, Australians in the cultural field have often spent time in or moved to Hollywood to forge successful careers.

Despite the 1970s and 1980s boom in Australia’s national film industry, the minimal Australian nominations for the Golden Globes were tied to the Foreign Language category. One example is Gillian Armstrong’s My Brilliant Career, which was nominated for Best Picture in 1981.

The term Aussiewood came into vogue during the 2000s to describe the international franchises and successful invasion of Australian artists in Hollywood.

In their 2004 book on the topic, critics Michaela Boland and Michael Bodey said Aussiewood reached a critical mass in 2002 when Australian directors and the acting fraternity were nominated in 24 television and film categories at the Golden Globes.

Nicole Kidman, who won a Golden Globe in 2002 for her role as Satine in Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, has a total of six Golden Globe awards to her name – the most for any Australian to date.