The director won one of the most important awards of the evening for his film “Oppenheimer”.
Christopher Nolan was one of the big winners at the Golden Globes. He won best director for “Oppenheimer.” With the dark historical drama, which was one of last year’s big blockbusters, the Brit has now reached the top of Hollywood’s most important prizes. The chances of winning the directing Oscar increase greatly.
So far there have only been nominations for Nolan at the Golden Globes (although also from 2000, for his screenplay for “Memento”), but no gold statue yet. That changed on Sunday (January 7th). When the director finally took the microphone to say thank you, he acknowledged one of his past actors.
“The only time I have ever been here on this stage was accepting an award for our dear friend Heath Ledger, and that was complicated and challenging for me,” Nolan said. “In the middle of my speech I stopped and Robert Downey Jr. looked at me with a supportive look – it’s the same look he’s giving me now.”
Heath Ledger made The Dark Knight an event
Nolan cast Heath Ledger as the Joker in the second part of his Batman trilogy, “The Dark Knight” (2008). But the actor no longer noticed his success. He died of an accidental overdose at just 28 years old. The film had not yet been released in cinemas. His haunting portrayal of the villain earned him numerous posthumous awards, including the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
The filmmaker later praised the actors from his new film “Oppenheimer” and called his leading actor Cillian Murphy (who also won a Golden Globe) his “partner in crime for 20 years. Murphy appeared in a total of six Nolan films. His first role was in “Batman Begins” (2005). With “Oppenheimer” the director gave him the first leading role in his film universe. It could also soon win him an Oscar.