Behind the scenes at the 82nd Golden Globes

On the eve before the Golden Globes, we bumped into "Shogun" actor Hiroyuki Sanada and wished him good luck.

True enough, his luck also rubbed off on the whole cast of the show who were nominated as Sanada won Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Series-Drama for his role as Lord Yoshii, Anna Sawai won Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series-Drama for her portrayal of Toda Mariko, Tadanobu Asano bagged the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role on Television for his performance as Kashigi and the show itself won Best Television Series-Drama.

All three "Shogun" actors were first-time Golden Globe nominees and now first-time winners as well.

The other first-time winners included Adrien Brody (Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama, "The Brutalist"), Demi Moore (Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy, "The Substance"), Fernanda Torres (Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama, "I'm Still Here"), Jessica Gunning (Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series, "Baby Reindeer"), Sebastian Stan (Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, "A Different Man"), Zoe Saldana (Best Supporting Actress, "Emilia Perez") and Brady Corbet (Best Director-Motion Picture, "The Brutalist").

Sanada, 64, beat Donald Glover ("Mr. and Mrs. Smith"), Jake Gyllenhaal ("Presumed Innocent"), Gary Oldman ("Slow Horses"), Eddie Redmayne ("The Day of the Jackal") and Billy Bob Thornton ("Landman").

The actor from Shinagawa, Japan thanked "everyone who has been in my life. All of you have brought me here. I would like to tell the young actors and creators in the world to please be yourself, believe in yourself, and never give up. Good luck."

Backstage, Sanada, when asked how it felt to hold the Golden Globe trophy, quipped, "It's very heavy. Mentally heavy."

As a producer as well on the show, he admitted that it adds pressure on himself. "But we have a team. I am not alone. So, less pressure than as an actor. Responsibility is there, but not pressure."

The very cool and calm Sanada revealed that "We couldn't have imagined these things happening when we shot a few years ago. It was kind of a gamble. But when we released the first two episodes, we got a great reaction from the audience and critics as well."

He added that he spent seven years for the project and then after shooting "we spent a year and a half for the postproduction then the promotion and release. So that's why I'm feeling this is very heavy and a lot for me."

Acting also as the cultural consultant on the film, Sanada said, "The culture thing is very delicate and important. I wanted to try to introduce our culture to the world correctly, in an authentic way. To avoid misunderstanding, we put the Japanese lenses in the script.

I wanted to try to introduce our culture to the world correctly, put the Japanese lenses in the script and then we hire a Japanese crew and a samurai drama specialist from Japan. So that was very important for us."

Sanada pointed out that with the "Shogun" success, it will be a new normal in the industry. "That is my hope. And then hope is going to be a good steppingstone for the next generation of filmmakers and actors in the world, not only for Japanese filmmakers. That is a very important thing. So, I hope this will work for them."

Anna Sawai

Anna Sawai, who looked every inch a star in her all-white tube Dior gown with silver Cartier jewelry and with her hair pulled up, became the second Japanese actress to win in the same category. Yoko Shimada won a Golden Globe in 1981 for playing the same role. Sawai is also the third actress of Asian descent to win in the said category alongside Shimada and Sandra Oh who won in 2019 for "Killing Eve."

In her speech, she said, "Thank you to the voters for voting for me, even though I would vote for Kathy Bates any day." Bates was nominated for "Matlock." Bates was also seen ripping off her speech after Sawai was announced as the winner.

Aside from Bates, Sawai beat Emma D'Arcy ("House of the Dragon"), Maya Erskine ("Mr. & Mrs. Smith"), Keira Knightley ("Black Doves") and Keri Russell ("The Diplomat").

Born in Wellington, New Zealand, the 32-year-old actress moved to Japan with her family at age 10 and got her first acting role at age 11 as the title character in the Nippon TV production of "Annie."

She added in her acceptance speech, "Without a good script, it's not possible to perform to our fullest potential."

Backstage where the winners were interviewed, Sawai said ecstatically, "It's mind-blowing! We got four nominations, and we got four awards! It's so good!"

She said of her preparation to become her character, "There is so much that goes into it. But to make it short, I feel like we went in through the physical first and that really helped me get into the character in the kimono and walk and everything."

Living this character for 10 months, the soft-spoken and sweet Sawai said, "It should have been harder to get rid of her but the next day after I wrapped, I had to go to a different show so I was forced to forget her and I think that playing someone else really allowed me to just leave her behind. Is she here tonight? She is not here tonight. She is nothing like me."

A member of a J-pop girl group, Sawai confessed that she would love to do a musical project. "I don't know if they will cast me, but I would love to. Anything that is music related; I would love to do."

Tadanobu Asano

Tadanobu Asano, 51, was so excited about his Golden Globe award that he could not contain his joy. He said when he accepted his award, "Wow, so maybe you don't know me. But I am an actor from Japan, and my name is Tadanobu Asano!" Then, he added, "Wow, this is a big present for me! Thank you to the 'Shogun' team and everybody! I'm very happy! Thank you!"

At the viewing party where the trophies were being engraved, the actor from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan walked in excitedly holding the trophy up in the air and greeting his well-wishers with a big smile!

"Shogun" co-creator Justin Marks and executive producer Rachel Kondo

Co-creator and executive producer of "Shogun" Justin Marks and his wife- executive producer Rachel Kondo accepted the Golden Globe award for Best Television Series-Drama. He said, "Yesterday, Rachel and I were scouring the ferns of our house looking for a 50-pound tortoise that we adopted for some reason and keeps escaping. And now, here we are, and Han Solo (Harrison Ford who attended the show as a nominee for 'Shrinking,' is looking at us."

The show, which is based on James Clavell's 1975 bestseller, is a fictional take on the real-world events of the 17th century Japan. Marks added, "Nothing about this show has ever been expected. Truly, it was made on the backs of thousands of fearless yeses that we received over the years from our East-meets-West cast and crew."

When interviewed backstage, Marks confessed that the biggest challenge "was just finding a way to bring the wealth of material that the book had into the show without losing anything because it really was a perfect work on its own, and just the act of condensing it was at times heartbreaking. The good news is we can do it again in season two, so we can bring more of it to it. Good news, we are ready for it."

Kondo added, "It's nice when you're doing a show like this for television. As big as this show was, you never have enough resources. The best resource that we had that we realized very early in the production was we had these amazing performances, and we had these amazing faces. So, we used these lenses that could get right up in their faces and turn their faces into the landscapes that we needed."

Even though the show is set in the past, what resonated to people to the most according to Sawai was that "we highlighted characters who believed profoundly in what they believed in, and so they either died for it, they fought for it, they lost for it, and I think that people responded to that because we're in a time and space in which we all want to believe in something."

Zoe Saldana

Zoe Saldana, 46, was gorgeous black glittery sequined Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello gown and accessorized with Cartier jewelry. She was also wearing Saint Lauren bag and shoes. The house's production company, Saint Laurent Productions, also co-produced the Spanish-language movie-musical, "Emilia Perez," where Saldana portrayed the unappreciated hardworking lawyer, Rita.

The first time Golden Globe winner, who was born in Passaic, New Jersey, is of Dominican and Puerto Rican descent. She gave a very emotional and tearful speech, almost choking in between sentences and gasping for breath.

She said, "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, (director) Jacques Audiard. Thank you so much for trusting me to play Rita. You are just a character that I admire so much. 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!"

Backstage, Saldana exclaimed, "I'm just joyful. I allowed myself to just experience joy guilt -free and be there not just for my fellow colleagues of 'Emilia Perez' and my boss, Jacques Audiard, but to also be there for other artists who have worked so hard for this acknowledgment. Rita is such a beautiful character."

She added that her favorite part about playing her is "pouring so much of myself and my experiences in Rita were amazing. I've never felt more exposed. I've never felt stronger to be that vulnerable and to disclose so much of myself. I reconnected with my identity by doing a film in my Spanish language and reconnected with ballet. Once a dancer, always a dancer. So that really felt like coming home."

Asked if there was one moment from the film that she would keep forever, she admitted, "It was Jacques asking me to be a part of it. Those are moments that are imprinted in your mind and your psyche forever. The moment you realize that all that hard work has paid off and somebody is going to bet on you, somebody's going to believe in you. And those are unforgettable moments, and I can play them in my mind over and over again."

At the media room backstage, Saldana disclosed, "What I feel is absolute joy. Joy because there's a sense of the present. I've been in this industry for 25 years. From the moment I transitioned from being a dancer to an actor. I was in my late teens, early twenties, not knowing what was ahead of me. And what I have witnessed is I've always been employed. I've always had good human beings and amazing undeniably talented filmmakers believe in me and bet on me, trust me … So, this recognition is paramount for my continuation as an artist."

Finally, Saldana also revealed that she had received a message from director James Cameron, "who's somewhere in New Zealand right now, cutting 'Avatar: Fire and Ash.' And he, after all these years, he believes in me, so it nourishes my desire to continue growing as an artist," the actress."

Karla Sofia Gascon

Karla Sofia Gascon made history as the first transgender woman to be nominated as a lead actress for a film at the Golden Globes.

After the Jacques Audiard-helmed musical "Emilia Perez" won in Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy, Gascon, who portrayed Emilia Perez and Juan "Manitas" Del Monte in the Spanish-language musical, went up onstage to also talk.

Dressed in a yellow and orange color Saint Laurent gown, Gascon said, "I chose these colors – the Buddhist colors – tonight because I have a message for you: The light always wins over darkness. I have a lot of things to say to you because you can maybe put us in jail. You come beat us up, but you can never take away our soul, our existence, our identity. And I want to say to you, raise your voice and say, 'I am who I am, not who you want."

Demi Moore

Demi Moore was dressed to win.

Wearing a custom strapless champagne silk Giorgio Armani Prive gown which was accented with a curved geometric detail embellished with Swarovski crystals and paired with Christian Louboutin shoes, Moore, was easily on top of our best-dressed ladies of the night.

The 62-year-old actress, who portrayed the fading celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle in "The Substance," reflected on her first recognition and award in her entire 45-year career in Hollywood.

Born in Roswell, New Mexico, Moore gave one of the best speeches of the night as well.

She said, "I'm just in shock right now. 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.

"Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a popcorn actress. At that time, I made that mean that this wasn't something that I was allowed to have. That I could do movies that were successful and made a lot of money, but that I couldn't be acknowledged, and I bought in, and I believed that," she said referring to her Golden Globe win.

"That corroded me over time, to the point where I thought a few years ago that maybe this was it. Maybe I was complete, maybe I'd done what I was supposed to do.

"And as I was at 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, 'You're not done.'

"Thank you to all of the people who stood by me, especially the people who believed in me when I haven't believed in myself.

"In those moments when we don't think we're smart enough or pretty enough or skinny enough or 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."

Backstage, the lovely actress said, "The film has had a profound effect. It is extraordinary and so much more than I ever expected. It's resonated on such a deep level. I couldn't be more proud, more humbled. I'm just over the moon. So good."

Ali Wong

At the viewing party where the winners had their trophies engraved, we saw all the winners walk in ecstatically with their Golden Globe trophies. Ali Wong, wearing a red tube Balenciaga dress, won the Best Performance in a Stand-Up Comedy on Television category for her "Ali Wong: Single Lady." She smiled happily, waved and greeted her fans.

In her acceptance speech, Wong said," This is so nice! Oh my gosh, thank you so, so much. You know, I come from San Francisco, and that's where I started doing stand-up, and I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for all the stage time that I got there and all the practice that I got to become a stand-up comedian."

Colin Farrell

Colin Farrell, in a white suit, walked in at the viewing party and then excitedly shook hands with the guests who congratulated him for his victory in Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series for "The Penguin."

The 48-year-old actor who was born in Castleknock, Dublin, Ireland said in his acceptance speech, "I guess it's prosthetics from here on out." Farrell disclosed he had to sit in the makeup chair for three hours every day to transform himself into Oswald Chesterfield Cobblepot.

"Richard (Gadd), man, you broke my heart this year.

Kieran Culkin

Kieran Culkin, 42, who bagged the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture for his role in Jesse Eisenberg's "A Real Pain," confessed that "my wife (Jazz Charton) and I took a shot with Mario Lopez so I am feeling a little, definitely feeling that. The whole speech is gone. Terrific Kieran. You are doing fine. I love the Golden Globes.

He revealed, "The first ever acknowledgment I got as an actor was a Golden Globe nomination when I was basically a kid, and that meant a lot, so this has a special place. Now it's like the best date night my wife and I ever had, so thanks Golden Globe people. Keep doing what you are doing.

"Thanks to Jesse for writing an incredible script and actors, just leap at opportunities to work with Eisenberg."

Jean Smart

Jean Smart, 73, who won her second Golden Globe for her "Hacks" show, teased, "I never thought I'd be so happy to be called a hack!" The show also won Best Television Series-Musical or Comedy.

Smart, who was born in Seattle, Washington, was dressed in a long-sleeved blue Rhea Costa gown.

Portraying comedian Deborah Vance in the series, Smart added, "Without Ava (portrayed by her co-star Hannah Einbinder), there would be no Deborah."

Then revealed that the show is now in the middle of Season 4, "and we are still having a ball."

Jodie Foster

Winning her fifth Golden Globe, Jodie Foster, now 62, won Best Actor in a Limited Series for her role in "True Detective: Night Country." After being heckled by actress Sofia Vergara who was also nominated in the same category for "Griselda" who said "No! No! Not again! Give me one!" Foster replied, "I know. I know."

Wearing a black Dior shift embellished with pearlescent beads, Foster said in her speech, "The greatest thing about being this age and being in this time is having a community of all these people, especially you, Sofia." She also thanked "the indigenous people who share their stories with us. They have changed my life. Hopefully, they will change yours."

Adrien Brody

Adrien Brody, who won Best Actor-Drama for "The Brutalist" which also bagged the coveted Best Motion Picture- Drama, is also a first-time Golden Globe winner. His director, Brady Corbet, also won the Best Director Award and is also a first-time Golden Globe winner.

Brody, 51, got emotional too in his speech and thanked his partner Georgina Chapman, the former wife of Harvey Weinstein, "for your generosity of spirit, your own resilience, your immense creativity as a daily reminder of how to be."

For the special Golden Globe night, Brody wore a Thom Browne suit and an abstract boutonniere by Elsa Jin. Of course, Chapman, who is a designer, approved of his red carpet look.

"Wicked" cast and director Jon Chu

The beautiful "Wicked" ladies – Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo and Michelle Yeoh – were looking resplendent in their outfits for the night. Grande was in a Givenchy vintage haute couture nude off-shoulder gown. Erivo was daring in a custom black Louis Vuitton halter gown with silver sequin floral embellishments and a voluminous structure on the waist. Yeoh, on the other hand, was elegant and regal in her black high-neck Balenciaga gown.

"Wicked" romped off with the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement Award at the 82nd Golden Globes.

Director Jon Chu, the 45-year-old USC alum, said in his speech, "This is for you, the fans out there who came to the movie theaters to bring your friends and families and stay in the dark. We saw your videos, we saw your sing-alongs, we saw your makeup, your hair products, your bakery items.

"And it shows us how important making this stuff is in a time when pessimism and cynicism rule the planet right now – that we can still make art, that we can still make art that is a radical act of optimism, that is empowerment, and that is joy.

"And so when we discover that maybe the world isn't exactly the way we thought it was, that maybe we're a little bit Elphaba inside of us, that maybe that we have that courage and that strength to not give up, but to rise up and take the road off the yellow brick road, and maybe discover we can fly. Thank you very much. This means so much to all of us. Thank you."

Sebastian Stan

Sebastian Stan, the 42-year-old actor from Constanta, Romania, who did two controversial movies where he was both nominated – "A Different Man" and "The Apprentice" – won for "A Different Man" and advocated for empathy and inclusion in his acceptance speech. He portrayed Edward, an aspiring actor with neurofibromatosis, a genetic condition that causes tumors to grow on the skin and bone.

The first-time Golden Globe winner said, "Aaron Schimberg and Adam Pearson at home, I wish you were here. I will share this with you. Thank you for your trust. Our ignorance and discomfort around disability and disfigurement has to end now. We have to normalize it and continue to expose ourselves (and our children) to it. Encourage acceptance. One way we can do that is by continuing to champion stories that are inclusive."

He also mentioned his other film, "The Apprentice," where he is nominated and where he portrayed a young Donald Trump.

He confessed, "This was not an easy movie to make. Neither is 'The Apprentice,' the other film that I was lucky to be a part of and that I am proud to be in. These are tough subject matters, but these films are real, and they are necessary. We can't be afraid and look away."

Backstage, the double nominee and first-time Golden Globe winner said, "Both of these films had hard journeys. 'The Apprentice,' obviously, no studio, no money, no marketing, no billboard on Sunset…wanting to be buried and censored and whatever, and 'A Different Man' as well. It's a very unique film, and I think now it's finally going to get exactly that too, but it's going to get some eyes on it and that's what matters.

Asked why he thinks he has been gravitating towards these roles, he replied, "I think I honestly have a lot to do with probably getting older, and what I mean by that is you want to be part of something that's meaningful, you want to be surrounded by people who are asking tough questions that are brave, that are fearless.

"I think, for instance, both of these cases, Ali Abbasi and Aaron Schimberg, they're very brave. They're asking us to go into uncomfortable places. And I think there's something to be learned from that. And of course, I want to challenge myself. I want to keep myself guessing and hopefully other people who care."

Jessica Gunning

Jessica Gunning, 39, is a first-time Golden Globe winner for her role as the stalker Martha in "Baby Reindeer."

The actress from Holmfirth, West Yorkshire, England, who was dressed in an off-shoulder teal satin dress with an exaggerated bodice, admitted that she almost tripped as she was coming to the stage to accept her award and "you would have seen my Golden Globes then."

She said she felt like a kid again getting a hamster for Christmas. She narrated, "This is an absolute honor. There is a video of me when I was eight years old, my mom and dad got me a hamster for Christmas and they bought it out in this bin bag, no, in a cage. Happy Christmas! And I've got a very Yorkshire accent. I kept saying, 'I can't believe this is happening to me. I can't believe this is happening to me.'

"And I realized this morning that that has been a kind of soundtrack for the last year since 'Baby Reindeer' came out. I cannot believe any of this is happening to me. I just want to say 'thank you' to everyone who let me come on this journey.

"I can't believe this is happening to me, and I know that eight-year-old me wouldn't either."

Backstage, Gunning couldn't believe her win. She said, "It is so surreal. I can't believe it."

She revealed that when she first read the script, she was not freaked out. "I actually wasn't freaked out; no. I understood the character. It's Richard's (Gadd) amazing writing. I kind of fell in love with her and the script, the whole story. I got goosebumps. I read all seven episodes front to back and was like, 'Oh my gosh, it's one of the best things I've ever read. But even then, when I thought it was going to be a hit, when I watched it for the first time, I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that we would be here holding this alone like nominated. So yeah, I'm absolutely thrilled."

When asked what decisions did she made behind the making of Martha, Gunning said, "Well, I always thought this, she's a character where you can't play her like a villain, or you can't see her as a baddie because she isn't, she doesn't feel like she is. And so, for me, it was a love story. So, I just played the love story of it all."

So, what did she learn from playing Martha? The charming Gunning revealed, "Oh so much. It was the hardest challenge of my career so far. But what a character, what a part to get to play. So, I loved every minute of it. I love being part of her team and I love working with Richard. And yeah, working on amazing writing is really a gift. I learned a lot, but it's an incredible opportunity."

And when it came to developing chemistry with Richard on screen, "all of it was in the writing. Luckily, we shot quite a lot in sequence, so we got to know each other as we were filming, which helped when in a job like that. It's quite intense. Loads of it is in the writing and just in their dynamic. We just found a natural chemistry in who we are as well, so it worked out for the best."

"Baby Reindeer" Creator-Actor-Producer Richard Gadd

The first-time nominee and first-time Golden Globe winner for creating "Baby Reindeer" which won Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, Richard Gadd, told the crowd when he got his trophy, "This is insane. Seeing all of you people here, that's mad. The Rock's (Dwayne Johnson) is there. This is crazy. I can't believe it. Honestly, I grew up with you man, this is nuts!"

The 35-year-old actor-writer-producer from Wormit, Fife, Scotland continued, "The way you guys have embraced this show is unbelievable. It means the absolute world to me, to us. We're so grateful to Netflix for this story. For giving me the chance to tell this messed up kind of story to the world.

—MGP, GMA Integrated News