Talk about a shocker … or 10! The Golden Globe Awards are not always predictable, despite the intensive guessing games some play leading up to the annual ceremony. In fact, the awards show delivered major surprises and snubs during its decades-long history.
Each year gives fans and industry folks names left off the nominations roster or an upset, but some are the kind of moments that will never be forgotten. From critically beloved TV shows that never received nods to lauded performances that were overlooked to statues being awarded to those who seemed like long shots, the Golden Globes know how to keep viewers on their toes.
Gina Rodriguez, for one, stunned not only the crowd but herself at the 2015 Golden Globes when she took home the Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy award for Jane the Virgin. Other nominees in her category included Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Lena Dunham, Edie Falco and Taylor Schilling.
“Thank you to my mom and dad for telling me to dream and to never stop dreaming,” the actress gushed in her speech. “My father used to tell me to say every morning, ‘Today’s going to be a great day. I can and I will.’ Well, Dad, today’s a great day. I can and I did.”
Keri Russell pulled off a similar upset in 1999 when she won Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama for her leading role on Felicity. However, as the actress earned critical acclaim for her work on The Americans nearly two decades later, she admitted exclusively to Us Weekly that she prefers to be snubbed.
“It’s such a cool thing to be nominated and I’m always very secretly thankful I don’t have to speak publicly,” she confessed in September 2017. “Always secretly relieved. Always. I just go, ‘Oh, my God. Thank God.’”
Other stars and projects — such as Alfred Hitchcock, Robert De Niro, Friday Night Lights and True Grit — were shut out of the awards-show fervor, leading to much backlash.
Scroll through to revisit the biggest snubs and surprises in Golden Globes history:
