Netflix’s TV series about the British royal family, The Crown, took centre stage at the virtual Golden Globe 2021 Awards. It won best TV drama, as well as two best drama actor and actress awards for Josh O’Connor and Emma Corrin, who played Charles and Diana Windsor.
Looking at the best TV series nominees, however, reveals the awards could have gone Netflix, HBO Max, or Disney Plus – all exclusively streaming platforms. The shift in awards indicates just how strong TV is on streaming platforms, which also tend to have higher budgets than their traditional studio counterparts.
The Queen’s Gambit, also made by Netflix, won the Best Limited Series award. You guessed it, the other award nominees were also exclusively comprised of streaming platforms like Amazon, HBO Max, and Hulu. Anya Taylor-Joy also won Best Actress in a Limited Series for her role as Beth Harmon in the show.
The late Chadwick Boseman posthumously won the Best Actor for Drama award for his performance in Netflix’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Viola Davis was also nominated for Best Actress for Drama award for the same film.
By the end of the ceremony, Netflix had walked away with 10 wins out of the 42 nominations it received.
Amazon Prime Video also made a strong debut with Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, a film which Amazon Studios recently acquired and funded. The film won Best Motion Picture for Comedy or Music, beating traditional studios like Walt Disney Pictures, Vertical Entertainment, and Neon.
Outside of the streaming platforms, Chloé Zhao won the Best Director award for Nomadland. She became the first Asian woman to win the award. The last time this title was awarded to a woman was in 1984, when Barbara Streisand won it for Yentl, making Zhao only the second woman to receive it.
The full list of nominees and winners were provided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association:
Best Motion Picture – Drama
- The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
- Mank (Netflix)
- Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
- Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
- Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
- Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday)
- Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman)
- Frances McDormand (Nomadland)
- Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
- Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)
- James Corden (The Prom)
- Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton)
- Dev Patel (The Personal History of David Copperfield)
- Andy Samberg (Palm Springs)
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
- Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Amazon Studios)
- Hamilton (Walt Disney Pictures)
- Music (Vertical Entertainment)
- Palm Springs (Neon)
- The Prom (Netflix)
Best Director – Motion Picture
- Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
- David Fincher, Mank (Netflix)
- Regina King, One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
- Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
- Chloé Zhao, Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
- Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal)
- Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
- Anthony Hopkins (The Father)
- Gary Oldman (Mank)
- Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian)
Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
- Normal People (Hulu/BBC)
- The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix)
- Small Axe (Amazon Studios/BBC)
- The Undoing (HBO)
- Unorthodox (Netflix)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
- Cate Blanchett (Mrs. America)
- Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People)
- Shira Haas (Unorthodox)
- Nicole Kidman (The Undoing)
- Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
- Gillian Anderson (The Crown)
- Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown)
- Julia Garner (Ozark)
- Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek)
- Cynthia Nixon (Ratched)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture
- Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy)
- Olivia Colman (The Father)
- Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian)
- Amanda Seyfried (Mank)
- Helena Zengel (News of the World)
Best Television Series – Drama
- The Crown (Netflix)
- Lovecraft Country (HBO Max)
- The Mandalorian (Disney Plus)
- Ozark (Netflix)
- Ratched (Netflix)
Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language
- Another Round (Samuel Goldwyn Films)
- La Llorona (Shudder)
- The Life Ahead (Netflix)
- Minari (A24)
- Two of Us (Magnolia Pictures)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
- Jason Bateman (Ozark)
- Josh O’Connor (The Crown)
- Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul)
- Al Pacino (Hunters)
- Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason)
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
- Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm)
- Kate Hudson (Music)
- Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit)
- Rosamund Pike (I Care a Lot)
- Anya Taylor-Joy (Emma)
Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
- Emily in Paris (Netflix)
- The Flight Attendant (HBO Max)
- The Great (Hulu)
- Schitt’s Creek (CBC)
- Ted Lasso (Apple TV Plus)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
- Don Cheadle (Black Monday)
- Nicholas Hoult (The Great)
- Eugene Levy (Schitt’s Creek)
- Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso)
- Ramy Youssef (Ramy)
Best Original Score – Motion Picture
- The Midnight Sky (Netflix) – Alexandre Desplat
- Tenet (Warner Bros.) – Ludwig Göransson
- News of the World (Universal Pictures) – James Newton Howard
- Mank (Netflix) – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
- Soul (Pixar) – Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama
- Olivia Colman (The Crown)
- Jodie Comer (Killing Eve)
- Emma Corrin (The Crown)
- Laura Linney (Ozark)
- Sarah Paulson (Ratched)
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
- Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
- Jack Fincher – Mank (Netflix)
- Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
- Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
- Chloe Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
- Bryan Cranston (Your Honor)
- Jeff Daniels (The Comey Rule)
- Hugh Grant (The Undoing)
- Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird)
- Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much Is True)
Best Motion Picture – Animated
- The Croods: A New Age (Universal Pictures)
- Onward (Walt Disney Pictures)
- Over the Moon (Netflix)
- Soul (Walt Disney Pictures)
- Wolfwalkers (Cartoon Saloon)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
- Lily Collins (Emily in Paris)
- Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant)
- Elle Fanning (The Great)
- Jane Levy (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist)
- Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
- John Boyega (Small Axe)
- Brendan Gleeson (The Comey Rule)
- Dan Levy (Schitt’s Creek)
- Jim Parsons (Hollywood)
- Donald Sutherland (The Undoing)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture
- Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trial of the Chicago 7)
- Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah)
- Jared Leto (The Little Things)
- Bill Murray (On the Rocks)
- Leslie Odom, Jr. (One Night in Miami)
