The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. loves to nominate celebrities, but this year, voters left a few off the list — no Angelina Jolie for directing “Unbroken,” no Ben Affleck for “Gone Girl,” no Bradley Cooper for “American Sniper” and no Julia Roberts for HBO’s “The Normal Heart.” The Golden Globes voters, made up of fewer than 100 foreign journalists, don’t overlap with the Academy, but because their nominations are announced just days before the Oscars nominating window, they are an influential group in terms of giving performances a boost. And the big winners after Thursday morning’s announcement included Jake Gyllenhaal for “Nightcrawler,” Jennifer Aniston in “Cake,” David Oyelowo for “Selma” and “Birdman,” which landed more nominations than any other film (seven). On the TV side, the Globes proved to once again be the hippest awards show, by including freshman series like “Jane the Virgin,” “Silicon Valley” and “Transparent.”
Here are the 26 biggest snubs and surprises.
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SNUB: “Unbroken” gets shut out of everything.
The high-profile Universal project, directed by Angelina Jolie, about World War II hero Louis Zamperini was expected to appear in the best drama category. It not only got snubbed there, but also didn’t pick up a single nomination — not for its lead actor (Jack O’Connell), supporting actor (Takamasa Ishihara), screenplay (by the Coen brothers) nor director (Jolie).
SNUB: “Interstellar.”
The Globes had previously singled out Christopher Nolan in the directing category for 2010’s “Inception,” but his new space epic — the most emotional movie of his career — didn’t land any nominations. Its star Matthew McConaughey was instead recognized for his TV work in “True Detective.”
SNUB: Bradley Cooper, “American Sniper.”
It’s a shame that Cooper (above) isn’t getting more awards season attention for the most transformative performance of his career — he packed on 40 pounds to play Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. The Warner Bros. drama also got shut out of best picture, director (Clint Eastwood) and supporting actress (Sienna Miller).
SNUB: Channing Tatum, “Foxcatcher.”
Steve Carell made it into the lead actor race for his creepy turn as John du Pont, but there was a hope from Sony Pictures Classics that Channing Tatum would also make the cut for playing Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz.
SNUB: Ben Affleck, “Gone Girl.”
The Globes recognized the film’s director (David Fincher), female lead (Rosamund Pike) and screenplay (Gillian Flynn), but not its male star.
SNUB: Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night.”
You would think that the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. would find room for the French actress’ stellar turn in the Dardenne brothers’ drama, especially after her performance got notices from the New York Film Critics Circle and Boston Society of Film Critics Awards last week.
SNUB: Laura Dern, “Wild.”
Both the Hollywood Foreign Press and the Screen Actors Guild (which announced Wednesday) overlooked Dern in the supporting actress category for playing Cheryl Strayed’s mom in “Wild.” She could still rebound for the Oscars.
SNUB: “Top Five.”
The Golden Globes somehow neglected to nominate the funniest comedy of the year in the best comedy category. They also shut out its actors Chris Rock and Rosario Dawson.
SNUB: “Begin Again.”
The John Carney indie seemed tailor-made for the Golden Globes’ best musical/comedy category, but it didn’t land a best picture nomination, a lead actress notice for Keira Knightley (who picked up a supporting actress in “The Imitation Game”) or lead actor for Mark Ruffalo (who got in for both “Foxcatcher” and “The Normal Heart”). And most outrageous of all, the Globes didn’t even include the addictive ballad “Lost Stars” (performed by Adam Levine) for song.
SNUB: Bill Hader, “The Skeleton Twins.”
This is the kind of breakthrough performance — Hader played a depressed gay man in the Sundance darling — that the Globes are usually good at honoring in their comedy categories.
SNUB: Jenny Slate, “Obvious Child.”
The same goes for this A24 Sundance comedy about a Brooklyn thirtysomething who gets dumped by her boyfriend.
SNUB: Julia Roberts, “The Normal Heart.”
The Hollywood Foreign Press adores Roberts so much, they’ve nominated her for eight Golden Globes, including her performances in 2010’s “Duplicity” and 2008’s “Charlie Wilson’s War.” But they didn’t go for her AIDS doctor with polio in Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of “The Normal Heart” for HBO.
SNUB: “The Walking Dead.”
AMC’s “The Walking Dead” was only nominated once before for season one, which is more than most orgs have given it. Even though it’s the biggest drama on TV — and critics felt like season five experienced a creative surge — it would probably take an actual zombie apocalypse for any recognition from a major awards body.
SNUB: “Homeland.”
Whither “Homeland”? Showtime’s creatively revived drama fell off the Globes list last year after a poorly received third season. But the show was back in top form for season four. Problem is, once you’re out of the Globes’ good graces, it’s very difficult to get back in. And all the extra competition from Showtime’s massive drama slate — including nominee “The Affair” and un-nommed “Masters of Sex,” “Penny Dreadful” and “Ray Donovan” — couldn’t have helped.
SNUB: Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock.”
He was nominated for “The Imitation Game,” but snubbed on the TV side for his Emmy-winning role in “Sherlock.” The lead actor in a TV miniseries category was packed with heavyweights like Martin Freeman (“Fargo”), Woody Harrelson (“True Detective”), Matthew McConaughey (“True Detective”), Mark Ruffalo (“The Normal Heart”) and Billy Bob Thornton (“Fargo”).
SNUB: Kerry Washington, “Scandal.”
Like the Screen Actors Guild, the Hollywood Foreign Press failed to nominate Kerry Washington for “Scandal” since apparently they could only find room for one actress from a Shonda Rhimes show (Viola Davis in “How to Get Away With Murder”).
SNUB: “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
The Andy Samberg Fox comedy was a dark-horse winner last year in this category, but it didn’t get any love for season two. Instead, the Globes nominated three other freshman shows — “Silicon Valley,” “Transparent” and “Jane the Virgin” — along with “Girls” and “Orange Is the New Black.” Unlike most awards shows, which nominate the same series every year, the Globes seem to forget established shows like “The Big Bang Theory,” “Modern Family,” “Louie,” “Veep” and “Parks and Recreation,” which were also snubbed.
SNUB: Amy Poehler, “Parks and Recreation.”
The Globes dumped Poehler after she won the category last year.
SURPRISE: Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
This is the first time Anderson has been nominated for director at the Globes. It’s a surprise that he was included at the expense of more high-profile directors like Angelina Jolie (“Unbroken”), Clint Eastwood (“American Sniper”), Christopher Nolan (“Interstellar”), Bennett Miller (“Foxcatcher”) and Morten Tyldum (“The Imitation Game”). His comedy, which also appeared in the best picture Globes category and landed a SAG ensemble nomination, is picking up awards season steam, even though the Fox Searchlight indie was released early in the year.
SURPRISE: “Pride.”
The Hollywood Foreign Press shined the spotlight on the little-seen CBS Film indie about a group of gay-rights activists who joined the 1984 British coal-miners strike. They chose it over “Big Eyes,” “Begin Again,” “Inherent Vice” and “Annie.”
SURPRISE: Joaquin Phoenix, “Inherent Vice.”
P.T. Anderson’s latest is his most alienating film yet, but the Globes still found room for Joaquin Phoenix’s trippy performance.
SURPRISE: Quvenzhane Wallis, “Annie”
The Sony Pictures musical remake has been surrounded by bad buzz, but perhaps Wallis’ inclusion isn’t all that surprising given that the Globes love musicals (they once nominated “Burlesque” for best picture) and they owe her for not previously recognizing her Oscar-nominated performance as Hushpuppy in 2012’s “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
SURPRISE: “Transparent” makes history for Amazon.
It was a huge morning for Amazon Studios as the critically acclaimed “Transparent” landed noms for comedy series and lead actor Jeffrey Tambor. That’s the first recognition for the upstart digital player from a major awards show, and well deserved for Jill Soloway’s semi-autobiographical dramedy.
SURPRISE: “Game of Thrones.”
This is the first nomination for “Game of Thrones” in the Globes’ drama series category since its first season. Globe voters snubbed seasons 2 and 3 (despite The Red Wedding!). It’s incredibly rare for a show to pop back into contention after dropping out, so fanboys should be extra psyched that the Westeros gang is now back in the HFPA’s good graces.
SURPRISE: “The Missing.”
Imported from the BBC, Starz miniseries “The Missing” was a surprise inclusion in both the top TV movie/mini category and in lead actress for Frances O’Connor. The eight-part series follows the search for a missing boy in France and follows in the footsteps of last year’s powerhouse Starz entries “The White Queen” and “Dancing on the Edge” (which earned that now infamous upset win for Jacqueline Bisset).
SURPRISE: “Jane the Virgin” gets some love.
The CW usually isn’t the first network anyone thinks of when it comes to awards (or even the 21st network). But “Jane the Virgin” may change all of that. The whip-smart spin on telenovelas landed semi-surprising noms for both best comedy series and breakout lead actress Gina Rodriguez. This isn’t entirely new territory for the Globes (they did give Keri Russell a trophy for the WB’s “Felicity”), but there were audible gasps at the Beverly Hilton when Rodriguez was announced as a nominee. And more gasps of delighted surprise when the series was announced.