All the Inside Details from the 2020 Golden Globe Awards
Photo: Getty Images
With more than five hours of coverage—two on the red carpet and three inside the awards—NBC covers a lot of ground at the Golden Globe Awards. Not to mention all the content generated by the attendees themselves via Instagram and Snapchat. (Honorable mention to Alex Rodriguez, who storied everything from fiancée Jennifer Lopez’s pre-Globes gym session to her hustle down the carpet.) But despite the full-on, from-all-fronts coverage attack, much goes unseen by those eyes not actually present on the glittering night of.
Arriving at last night’s event (or yesterday afternoon’s, rather, as the festivities officially kicked off at 2:00 p.m.), everyone was welcomed with the worst of L.A. traffic—but it was for a good cause! A TSA thorough scan of all the black cars queuing outside The Beverly Hilton hotel included the opening of trunks, replete with police dogs. Once past the checkpoint, everyone was deposited at the red carpet that unfolded more like a crimson labyrinth than a straight shot into the ceremony.
There was much to do on the carpet and you had your options: A shower of flashbulbs at the official step and repeat (which was easily bypassed for the under-the-radar producer or publicist); a line of print and digital-media journalists posted up and eager for interviews—there were photo ops aplenty, and refreshments to be had. On the ground, Roman Griffin Davis (nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy for Jojo Rabbit) put a smile on everyone’s face as he made the rounds, even dancing during an interview. Pose’s Billy Porter (nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series—Drama) could be seen swanning around the carpet in a white feathered number by Alex Vinash that indeed looked swanlike. And Olivia Colman (who won Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series—Drama for her queenly performance in The Crown) really took the time to chat it up with the ever-grateful press.
Spirits were high, but they only lifted further once inside the ballroom, where a stage was filled with gilt swooshes and semicircles to evoke the evening’s namesake. Tables were crowded with magnums of Moët Chandon Champagnes, large boxes of Lindt truffles at every seat, and cheery floral arrangements. One table sat snugly beside another, so once sat, everyone felt like black-tie sardines.
First in the ballroom and unfazed by all the excitement yet to climax outside on the carpet were funny women Carol Burnett, Ellen DeGeneres, and Kate McKinnon, who sat at their table before anyone else and flouted any fashionably late rules. The next notable guest was Succession’s beloved Cousin Greg (Nicholas Braun), who appeared to be everyone’s biggest fan, hugging his contemporaries and clearly happy to be there. Perhaps last to arrive was Beyoncé, but we already knew that.
The room remained unseated until the 11th hour (the ceremony’s 5:00 p.m. sharp start time), and not because this group was like herding cats. No, these celebrities, even those Globes first-timers, knew the drill. Within a three-minute countdown, everyone was poised in their seats, clapping on a cue delivered by “the voice of God,” which remained with us all night with down-to-the-second commercial break countdowns and reminders for presenters to stick to the prompters to stay on schedule.
Surprisingly, but for practical reasons, dinner was served before the awards. Meaning that those needing to spin around the red carpet for press wouldn’t actually get to have their vegan suppers.
Soon enough, Ricky Gervais cleared his throat and began his fifth hosting gig for the Globes, tempting the room with his signature am I allowed to laugh? humor. His monologues were delivered like a bored exhale, and his dry British humor was at times nihilistic: “Let’s go out with a bang, let’s have a laugh at your expense. Remember, they’re just jokes. We’re all gonna die soon and there’s no sequel, so remember that.”
The rest of the night went on as televised. In between commercial breaks, the ants-in-their-pants stars rose at every chance, double-kissing their contemporaries and seeing how much small talk could be exchanged in their allotted three minutes before a 30-second countdown had everyone promptly back in their assigned seat.
Not on camera were those more intimate moments that make a seat at the Globes all the more delicious. There was Winnie Harlow, dressed in a beaded LaQuan Smith number, who whipped out her own KKW x Winnie for a touch-up at her table. There was the ever-elegant Renée Zellweger in her ice-blue Armani Privé column, searching for a cloth napkin to place beneath her satin clutch (a protective measure) before taking home the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture—Drama for Judy. And there was Pierce Brosnan, lovingly rubbing the shoulders of his sons, Paris and Dylan, the night’s Golden Globes Ambassadors, before they took to the stage to speak of their commitment to the FEED organization. Charity was on the minds of all; from the multiple shout-outs to aid those affected by the brush fires in Australia to the pin Roman Griffin Davis wore in support of refugees on his velvet blazer to Moët Chandon’s “Toast for a Cause,” which invited all of the night’s nominees to raise a glass on the red carpet in support of a $1,000 donation to the charity of their choice.
Over the course of the three-hour-long awards, the energy rose, not waned—the room became a bit buzzier as everyone got a bit Champagne happy. By the end of the night, it seemed harder to get everyone seated for airtime, especially those winners who were so elated that nothing could bring them down.
It all ended with 1917’s big win, a round of applause, and an announcement that the cameras had officially stopped rolling. In Hollywood-speak, that was a wrap! On to the after-parties, where things were only just beginning.
Photo: Getty Images1/24Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez
Photo: Getty Images2/24Lucy Boynton and Margot Robbie
