Golden Globes moves Borat 2’s Maria Bakalova to lead actress and Promising Young Woman to drama

With awards season starting to heat up, the Golden Globes governing body, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, are making a few intriguing new changes.

While studios submit their films for consideration to the HFPA, the organization conducts its own review, and can make changes accordingly as they see fit.

Two of the biggest changes for the 2021 Golden Globes, airing February 28 on NBC, is Borat 2’s Maria Bakalova being moved from supporting actress to lead actress, and the film Promising Young Woman shifted from comedy to drama categories.

The HFPA rules state that their members, 89 journalists from more than a dozen countries, can accept the studio submissions or vote to overturn them, with a 2/3 vote to overturn.

The members voted to reject Amazon Studios’ submission of Bakalova as supporting actress, for her role as Tutar Sagdiyev, the title character’s daughter. 

Given the immense groundswell of praise and support for Bakalova, they elevated her to lead actress status for the Golden Globes.

Bakalova currently has the most critics awards wins and remains one of the front-runners for the Academy Awards. 

A switch from supporting to lead actress has happened in the past, most notably Chicago star Catherine Zeta-Jones, although she ultimately lost to her co-star Renee Zelwegger.

Zeta-Jones would go on to win the SAG, BAFTA and Oscar for that role in the supporting actress category.

Abigail Breslin was also switched to the lead category for Little Miss Sunshine, though she wasn’t even nominated, yet would go on to get nominations from SAG and the Oscars in the supporting category.

Focus Features had submitted its buzzworthy film Promising Young Woman, debuting in theaters on Christmas Day, in the comedy categories for the Globes, but the HFPA reversed that decision, putting it in the drama category.

The revenge thriller starring Carey Mulligan from writer-director Emerald Fennell (Killing Eve) is said to be a ‘big hit’ with the HFPA, with Mulligan coming off a win for Best Actress from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

There was also word that the HFPA was considering switching Helena Zegers’ turn in News of the World from supporting to lead, though it was later confirmed the HFPA has accepted the studio’s submission.

Another possible change could be with Amazon Studios’ One Night in Miami, where the studio put Kingsley Ben-Adir (Malcolm X) and Eli Goree (Cassius Clay) in the leading category with Aldis Hodge (Jim Brown) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Sam Cooke) in supporting.

The HFPA reportedly did not accept the four actors being split, and will likely put them all into the same category, though it isn’t clear if it will be lead or supporting.

Disney Plus’ Hamilton has also been accepted in the musical or comedy category, with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Odom Jr. competing in the lead categories and Phillipa Soo and other vying for supporting category nominations.

The HFPA is also considering moving Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom from the drama to the comedy or musical category.

Finally, the HFPA has deemed that A24’s Minari will not compete for Best Picture, but will be relegated to Best Foreign Language Film, since it’s largely set in Korea, though Steven Yeun and Yeri Han will be eligible in the drama categories.

The Golden Globe nominations will be announced on February 3, with the awards ceremony taking place on February 28.