Kids are welcome at the ceremony

The iPod generation -- led by three young stars of the period film “Atonement” -- will be well represented among the nominees parading along the red carpet at the Golden Globes in January.

Thursday’s nominations include 12 performers in movies and television younger than 30.

In films, Nikki Blonsky, 19, who plays a plump, danced-crazed teen in “Hairspray,” and Ellen Page, 20, who plays an off-beat pregnant teen in “Juno,” were nominated for best actress in a comedy or musical, while Keira Knightley, 22, and James McAvoy, 28, were nominated for best actress and actor for “Atonement.” Ryan Gosling, 27, whose character falls in love with a life-size female doll in “Lars and the Real Girl,” was nominated for best actor in the same category.

“It’s still dominated by those over 30,” Gosling said of the nominees. “We still have our work cut out for us. I’ve got to act fast because I’m going to be one of them soon.”

At 13, Saoirse Ronan is the youngest nominee, for her “Atonement” performance. The native of Ardattin, Ireland, sounded even younger than her years, gushing, “It’s unbelievable to be nominated at all -- to be nominated at any age. But it’s even more than that for me. I’m 13. I’m chuffed.”

A youth movement was afoot in TV as well, with nominees America Ferrera, 23, for “Ugly Betty”; Anna Paquin for “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee” and Ruth Wilson for “Jane Eyre,” both 25; and Bryce Dallas Howard, 26, for “As You Like It.”