Demi Moore and Zoe Saldana gave terrific, memorable acceptance speeches as Emilia Pérez and Shogun won top prizes in film and television categories.
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he Golden Globes 2025 were an interesting affair. The nominations were packed with so many thrilling performances that it should’ve been a nail-biting event. However, because of predictable wins in the television categories and the comedy or musical nominations overall, it was a slightly bewildering night.
But what elevated the Golden Globes were the acceptance speeches, the red carpet, and the hosting gig that went to Nikki Glaser. More than anything else, one thing became obvious, Babygirl star Nicole Kidman, Maria star Angelina Jolie and Lee star Kate Winslet have one major competitor this year, and it’s a woman who has never won an award prior to this year—Demi Moore.
It was absolutely great to see Ghost star, Demi Moore, who delivered good films in the ‘80s and ‘90s, in a triumphant moment with The Substance, a film that has been acknowledged across the board in Hollywood and by Hollywood. With an original screenplay, The Substance is perhaps the most important film to emerge in recent years because, while entertaining, it also addresses issues such as the bizarre beauty standard that a person has to live up to, where criticism of others and self-criticism is toxic and almost violent because of what we can do to achieve those absurd standards. What was most infuriating, though, was that while Moore did win Best Actress, she didn’t win in a dramatic category. Instead, (and like every year), her performance (and many others in the past) were lumped into the musical and/or comedy category. The Substance is not a comedy and not a satirical piece. It is a drama and horror film. But what mattered, perhaps most, is that it finally led to Demi Moore winning her first award, and she blew everyone (including us) away with her emotional, powerful speech. Kids, you must see it in its entirety and not as an Instagram reel.
“I’m just in shock right now,” Moore began, “I’ve been doing this a long time, like over 45 years, and this is the first time I’ve ever won anything as an actor, and I’m just so humbled and so grateful.” She went on, “Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a ‘popcorn actress.’ And at that time, I made that to mean that this wasn’t something that I was allowed to have. That I could do movies that were successful, that made a lot of money, but that I couldn’t be acknowledged. And I bought in[to] it, and I believed that.
And that corroded me over time to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it.” Moore, 62, continued, “Maybe I was complete. Maybe I’ve done what I was supposed to do. And as I was at kind of a low point, I had this magical, bold, courageous, out-of-the-box, absolutely bonkers script come across my desk called The Substance, and the universe told me that you’re not done. And I’ll just leave you with one thing that I think this movie is imparting. In those moments when we don’t think we’re smart enough, we’re pretty enough, we’re skinny enough, we’re successful enough, or basically just not enough. I had a woman say to me, ‘Just know you will never be enough, but you can know the value of your worth if you just put down the measuring stick.’ And so today, I celebrate this as a marker of my wholeness and of the love that is driving me and for the gift of doing something I love and being reminded that I do belong. Thank you so much.”
If you haven’t seen the Golden Globes and have no plans to do so, just find this speech and watch it for yourself. Absolutely incredible and easily one of the best moments of the night.
Apart from a roaring applause, award presenter Kerry Washington rightly said, “Good luck to the next person,” meaning anyone who had to follow Demi Moore’s victory speech.
Another favorite moment arrived with the victory of Zoe Saldana, a woman who has been a part of franchise films including Guardians of the Galaxy and Avatar, and yet, pulled off a marvelous performance in Emilia Pérez, for which she learned Mexican and showed us just how versatile she is as an actress. Winning Best Supporting Actress, this was her first award, and she, a little like Demi Moore, also gave a wonderful speech (which ran over time).
Said Zoe Saldana: “Oh my God. I know I don’t have much time, and I have dyslexia, so I tend to forget when I’m really anxious, and I’m filled with adrenaline, but my heart is full of gratitude. Thank you so much to the Golden Globes for celebrating our film and honoring the women of Emilia Pérez. Thank you so much.
“This is a first time for me, and I’m just so blessed that I’m sharing this moment with
Selena [Gomez] and Karla [Sofía Gascón] and Jacques [Audiard] and all of my fellow nominees. I’m in awe of you, your strength, your complexity, your undeniable talent. I know that it is a competition, but all that I have witnessed is just us showing up for each other and celebrating each other, and it’s just so beautiful.
So Selena [Gomez], Ariana [Grande], Margaret [Qualley], Felicity [Jones], Isabella [Rossellini]—I had lunch one time in your house and it was like, I thought I had made it already, but—you’re magic. You’re all magic, and I experienced this kind of magic on the set of Emilia Pérez and it’s thanks to you. Thank you, merci beaucoup, Jacques Audiard. Thank you so much for trusting me to play Rita. You created rich and complex characters, and you’re so French and so chic and confident and kind! I love it!
My Emilia Pérez cast and crew...thank you so much...And Karla, no one other than you could have played Emilia Pérez. No one. Eres única. Eres única... My family, my mom is here, my sisters, my husband, and my sons. I love you, I love you. You guys are everything. Thank you!”
Among other highlights, the host of the night, Nikki Glaser mashed up Wicked and Conclave for a song spoof, and if that doesn’t sound funny, watch this woman own a stage that is usually (not always) reserved for a male comedian. Glaser really owned it when she said to a room full of Hollywood A-listers, “I am not here to roast you tonight. I want you to know that. And how could I, really? You’re all so famous, so talented, so powerful. I mean, you could really do anything, except tell the country who to vote for,”
she said, referencing Trump’s reelection. “But it’s OK,” she added, “you’ll get ‘em next time if there is one.”
For further highlights, you really have to watch this year’s Golden Globes acceptance speeches and well, just that. And if you haven’t gotten our drift, read: Demi Moore.
Golden Globes 2025: The complete list of winners and nominees for film
Motion picture (drama) - The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nickel Boys
September 5
Motion picture (comedy or musical) - Emilia Perez
Anora
Challengers
A Real Pain
The Substance
Wicked
Actor (drama) - Adrien Brody, for The Brutalist
Timothee Chalamet - A Complete Unknown
Daniel Craig - Queer
Colman Domingo - Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes - Conclave
Sebastian Stan - The Apprentice
Actor (comedy or musical) - Sebastian Stan, for A Different Man
Jesse Eisenberg - A Real Pain
Hugh Grant - Heretic
Gabriel LaBelle - Saturday Night
Jesse Plemons - Kinds of Kindness
Glen Powell - Hit Man
Actress (drama) - Fernanda Torres, for I’m Still Here
Pamela Anderson - The Last Showgirl
Angelina Jolie - Maria
Nicole Kidman - Babygirl
Tilda Swinton - The Room Next Door
Kate Winslet – Lee
Actress (comedy or musical) - Demi Moore, for The Substance
Amy Adams - Nightbitch
Cynthia Erivo - Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascon - Emilia Perez
Mikey Madison - Anora
Zendaya - Challengers
Supporting actor - Kieran Culkin, for A Real Pain
Yura Borisov - Anora
Edward Norton - A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce - The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong - The Apprentice
Denzel Washington - Gladiator II
Supporting actress - Zoe Saldana, for Emilia Perez
Selena Gomez - Emilia Perez
Ariana Grande - Wicked
Felicity Jones - The Brutalist
Margaret Qualley - The Substance
Isabella Rossellini - Conclave
Director - Brady Corbet, for The Brutalist
Jacques Audiard - Emilia Perez
Sean Baker - Anora
Edward Berger - Conclave
Coralie Fargeat - The Substance
Payal Kapadia - All We Imagine As Light
Screenplay - Peter Straughan, for Conclave
Jacques Audiard - Emilia Perez
Sean Baker - Anora
Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold - The Brutalist
Jesse Eisenberg - A Real Pain
Coralie Fargeat - The Substance
Score - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, for Challengers
Volker Bertelmann - Conclave
Daniel Blumberg - The Brutalist
Kris Bowers - The Wild Robot
Clement Ducol, Camille - Emilia Perez
Hans Zimmer - Dune: Part Two
Song – ‘El Mal’, from Emilia Perez
‘Beautiful That Way’ from The Last Showgirl
‘Compress/Repress’ from Challengers
‘Forbidden Road’ from Better Man
‘Kiss The Sky’ from The Wild Robot
‘Mi Camino’ from Emilia Perez
Animated feature - Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir Of A Snail
Moana 2
Wallace And Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Non-English language film - Emilia Perez
All We Imagine As Light
The Girl With The Needle
I’m Still Here
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig
Vermiglio
Cinematic box office achievement - Wicked
Alien: Romulus
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Deadpool & Wolverine
Gladiator II
Inside Out 2
Twisters
The Wild Robot
Golden Globes 2025: The complete list of winners and nominees for television
TV series (drama) - Shogun
The Day Of The Jackal
The Diplomat
Mr And Mrs Smith
Slow Horses
Squid Game
TV series (comedy or musical) - Hacks
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
The Gentlemen
Nobody Wants This
Only Murders In The Building
TV series (limited or TV movie) - Baby Reindeer
Disclaimer
Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story
The Penguin
Ripley
True Detective: Night Country
TV actor (drama) - Hiroyuki Sanada, for Shogun
Donald Glover - Mr And Mrs Smith
Jake Gyllenhaal - Presumed Innocent
Gary Oldman - Slow Horses
Eddie Redmayne - The Day Of The Jackal
Billy Bob Thornton - Landman
TV actor (comedy) - Jeremy Allen White, for The Bear
Adam Brody - Nobody Wants This
Ted Danson - A Man On The Inside
Steve Martin - Only Murders In The Building
Jason Segel - Shrinking
Martin Short - Only Murders In The Building
TV actor (limited series or TV movie) - Colin Farrell, for The Penguin
Richard Gadd - Baby Reindeer
Kevin Kline - Disclaimer
Cooper Koch - Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story
Ewan McGregor - A Gentleman In Moscow
Andrew Scott - Ripley
TV actress (drama) - Anna Sawai, for Shogun
Kathy Bates - Matlock
Emma D’Arcy - House Of The Dragon
Maya Erskine - Mr And Mrs Smith
Keira Knightley - Black Doves
Keri Russell - The Diplomat
TV actress (comedy) - Jean Smart, for Hacks
Kristen Bell - Nobody Wants This
Quinta Brunson - Abbott Elementary
Ayo Edebiri - The Bear
Selena Gomez - Only Murders In The Building
Kathryn Hahn - Agatha All Along
TV actress (limited series or TV movie) - Jodie Foster, for True Detective: Night Country
Cate Blanchett - Disclaimer
Cristin Milioti - The Penguin
Sofía Vergara - Griselda
Naomi Watts - Feud: Capote Vs The Swans
Kate Winslet - The Regime
Supporting actor - Tadanobu Asano, for Shogun
Javier Bardem - Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story
Harrison Ford - Shrinking
Jack Lowden - Slow Horses
Diego Luna - La Maquina
Ebon Moss-Bachrach - The Bear
Supporting actress - Jessica Gunning, for Baby Reindeer
Liza Colon-Zayas - The Bear
Hannah Einbinder - Hacks
Dakota Fanning - Ripley
Allison Janney - The Diplomat
Kali Reis - True Detective: Night Country
Stand-up comedy performance - Ali Wong, for Single Lady
Jamie Foxx - What Had Happened Was
Nikki Glaser - Someday You’ll Die
Seth Meyers - Dad Man Walking
Adam Sandler - Love You
Ramy Youssef - More Feelings