Golden Globes 2020: '1917' wins best drama, 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' takes top comedy

Brian Truitt | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Golden Globes: What you didn’t see on TV From Joaquin Phoenix's bleeped speech to Jennifer Aniston's troublesome train, here's what happened away from the cameras.

Director Sam Mendes' innovative war movie "1917" pulled off a couple of shockers at the 77th annual Golden Globe Awards – including taking best drama over Oscar contenders "The Irishman" and "Marriage Story" – while Quentin Tarantino's 1969-set "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" proved to be the grooviest comedy around.

"This is a huge thing for this movie," said Mendes, who also won best director over Martin Scorsese and Tarantino for his World War I thriller (which opens nationwide Friday). "It's difficult to make big movies without huge actors in the leads."

In contrast, "Once Upon a Time" is full of A-list stars and now has awards-season momentum: Tarantino's love letter to retro L.A. took home a leading three Globes, including best comedy or musical, screenplay and supporting actor for Brad Pitt.

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"Holy moly!" Pitt said when accepting the award, his second win in the category. (He also won in 1996 for "12 Monkeys.") Pitt remarked that when he was starting out, fellow nominees Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Tom Hanks and Anthony Hopkins "were like gods to me, so this is an honor. All my respect."

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Renee Zellweger conquered the field for best actress in a drama for her transformative performance as Judy Garland in "Judy." "Hi, everybody. You all look pretty good 17 years later," said Zellweger, picking up her fourth Globe – and first since 2003's "Cold Mountain."

Joaquin Phoenix won best actor in a drama for his villainous high-profile turn in "Joker," which also took best original score. Phoenix thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for a plant-based meal, director Todd Phillips and the crowd for "putting up with me," and his fellow nominees for "the beautiful, mesmerizing work you've all done this year."

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Taron Egerton snagged best actor in a comedy or musical for the Elton John fantasy biopic "Rocketman." "I really wish I had written something," said the British actor, who thanked John for "living a life less ordinary."

Legendary songwriting partners John and Bernie Taupin received their first award ever together for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again." The "Rocketman" tune won the Globe for original song over Beyoncé's "Spirit" and Taylor Swift's "Beautiful Ghosts." "It's very humbling," John said while Taupin added that the song was special because it honored their "52-year-old marriage."

Awkwafina was named best actress in a comedy or musical for "The Farewell." "If I fall upon hard times, I can sell this," said the comedian, who dedicated the Globe to her father. "I told you I'd get a job, Dad." She's the first woman of Asian descent to win the category. “It’s pretty mind-blowing. It feels incredible," Awkwafina told reporters backstage. "But there’s this other feeling that you want there to be more. I hope this is just the beginning.”

Laura Dern also picked up honors at the glitzy extravaganza, hosted by Ricky Gervais: She won supporting actress for "Marriage Story." Supporting characters often give "voice to the voiceless," Dern said, and she thanked director Noah Baumbach for letting her "give voice, pay tribute to the divorce lawyer. Long, long overdue."

HBO's "Succession" snagged two Globes, for best TV drama and lead actor Brian Cox, and so did "Fleabag," which won best comedy as well as lead actress in a comedy for creator/star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She thanked President Barack Obama for putting "Fleabag" on his 2019 favorites list. "As some of you may know, he's always been on mine," Waller-Bridge said, referring to an Obama gag in her show's first season.

Olivia Colman, who won film best actress honors last year for "The Favorite," won the Globe for lead actress in a TV drama for Netflix's "The Crown," in which she stars as Queen Elizabeth II. "For the last year, I feel I've been living someone else's life," Colman said, "and now I definitely feel I've won someone else's award."

Critically acclaimed black comedy "Parasite" took honors for best foreign-language film. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho said in his speech that once viewers get over the "barrier" of subtitles, "you will be introduced to so many more amazing films."

"Chernobyl" won a pair of Globes, best limited series and supporting actor for Stellan Skarsgard. Among the limited series categories, "Fosse/Verdon" star Michelle Williams won lead actress while Russell Crowe received lead actor honors for "The Loudest Voice." Patricia Arquette won for TV supporting actress for "The Act," and "Ramy" star Ramy Youssef was a big surprise for lead actor in a comedy.

"I know you guys haven't seen my show," the self-deprecating Youssef said. "My mom also was rooting for Michael Douglas."

Charlize Theron presented Tom Hanks with the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and recounted a story of his kindness when filming one of her earliest film roles in "That Thing You Do!" "He just makes the world a better place," Theron said of Hanks.

"Most of the people in this room, I would pay to see them get their cars washed," a humbled Hanks said. He sang the "The Love Boat" theme with a cold "the size of Merv Griffin's 'Jeopardy!' royalties," but choked up when mentioning his wife Rita Wilson and five children in front of him. "I can't tell you how much your love means to me."

When Ellen DeGeneres was honored with the Carol Burnett Award for excellence in television, presenter Kate McKinnon noted how important DeGeneres has been as an LGBTQ icon: "She risked her entire life and her entire career to tell the truth."

DeGeneres had a little fun with receiving a career achievement award but ended with a heartfelt message about what she enjoys most about having her own talk show: "All I ever want to do is make people feel good and laugh. But the real power of television is ... that people watch my show and are inspired to do the same in their lives."