Golden Globes: Brie Larson wins best actress in a drama film for ‘Room’

In accepting the Golden Globe for best actress, drama, for the movie “Room,” Brie Larson displayed just the kind of sideways, off-the-cuff charm that has propelled her through this awards season.

On a night when making jokes at the expense of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and the meaning/relevance of the Golden Globes seemed something of a mandate, Larson found an original way to address the notoriously eccentric voting body.

“It’s been such a pleasure getting to know you, you’re such an incredible bunch of people!” Larson said with a seeming lack of guile.

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In “Room,” Larson plays a young woman kidnapped and held for years in her captor’s backyard shed. Her character has to deal with the trauma of her situation while struggling to protect the young son she bears while imprisoned, in the film written by Emma Donoghue from her novel of the same name and directed by Lenny Abrahamson.

This was Larson’s first Golden Globe nomination.

“This movie means so much to me,” Larson said onstage. As music began to play her off, she said, “I can’t believe this. I’m sorry to anyone I forgot. I’ll write you a thank you card.”

The other nominees in the category were a mix of Globe favorites and new faces.

Cate Blanchett was nominated for her role in the romantic period drama “Carol.” This was Blanchett’s ninth Globe nomination. She won best actress in a drama for “Elizabeth” and “Blue Jasmine” and supporting actress for “I’m Not There,” in which she played a young Bob Dylan for “Carol” director Todd Haynes.

Rooney Mara was also nominated from “Carol,” as the young shop girl who falls into a romantic entanglement with Blanchett’s wealthy socialite. Though Mara was initially submitted to be considered in the supporting actress category, the HFPA placed her in lead. This was Mara’s second Globe nomination. She was previously recognized for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”

Alicia Vikander also was initially submitted in the supporting category for her performance in “The Danish Girl.” Ultimately, she was nominated in both the lead actress category for her role as artist Gerda Wegener in “The Danish Girl” and in the supporting actress category for her role as a sentient robot in “Ex Machina.” They were her first Golden Globe nominations.

Saoirse Ronan was nominated for her performance in “Brooklyn,” as a young woman in the 1950s who leaves her small Irish town to head to New York City on her own. This was Ronan’s second Globe nod, having previously been nominated in the supporting actress category in 2008 for “Atonement” when she was only 13.

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