'Boyhood' wins top honors at Golden Globes

Brian Truitt | USA TODAY

Richard Linklater's long journey to complete Boyhood is beginning to look pretty worthwhile.

The movie cemented its status as an Oscar frontrunner Sunday at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards. Boyhood was named best drama, Linklater won for best director and his star Patricia Arquette won for supporting actress for her portrayal of an underappreciated single mother.

"This is a very personal film for me, it couldn't be more personal, and it became very personal to everyone who worked on it," said Linklater, who filmed the coming-of-age movie once a year for 12 years.

"We're all flawed in this world, no one's perfect," he added, dedicating the director award to his parents and parents "who are evolving everywhere and families who are just passing through this world and doing their best."

Celebs speak up on the Golden Globes red carpet Andrea Mandell and Bryan Alexander interview celebrities on the Golden Globes red carpet.

Arquette thanked her "visionary" director "for allowing me to be part of something so human, so simple and groundbreaking and significant in the history of cinema" and "for shining a light on this woman and the many women like her and for allowing me to honor my own mother with this incredible character."



Michael Keaton won for best actor in a musical or comedy and was one of two awards for Birdman, which also garnered best screenplay. It didn't win for best movie in its category, however — that honor went to Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Playing a former superhero-movie actor looking for a career comeback, Keaton said he was thankful for being in director Alejandro González Iñárritu's "unbelievably gutsy, polished look at human nature" and got choked up when talking about his friends, family and son.

"I'm so grateful from the bottom of my heart. You don't know what this means to me," he said.

Julianne Moore made herself the woman to beat at the Oscars by taking best actress in a drama for Still Alice, in which she plays a woman with early onset Alzheimer's. She said the filmmakers "wanted to celebrate who we are and what we value and who we love."

And The Theory of Everything star Eddie Redmayne, who plays theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking in the biopic, won an important victory in a tough dramatic actor field.

"This was a huge privilege. The Hawking family allowed us into their lives and entrusted us with their story," Redmayne said. "Getting to spend time with Stephen Hawking — who, despite all the obstacles put in his way, has lived passionately and fully and with great humor — was one of the great honors of my life."

Showtime's The Affair defied the odds — as well as the power of fellow series Downton Abbey and Game of Thrones — to win for best drama on its first time out, and star Ruth Wilson snagged the award for best actress in a drama.

"If I have learned anything from writing a show about an affair, it's that how sacred and valuable and essential marriages are," said Affair co-creator Sarah Treem.

Kevin Spacey captured the honor for best actor in a drama for playing an underhanded House of Cards politician.

"This is just the beginning of my revenge," Spacey said at the beginning of an emotional acceptance speech. He concluded by saying, "I just want to be better, but this is very encouraging."

Transparent is the first streaming series for Amazon to win a Golden Globe, taking the honor for best comedy series as well as best comedic actor for Jeffrey Tambor.

"Oh, this is big. This is bigger than me," said Tambor, adding that with his transgender role, he's "found more of Jeffrey than I've ever known in my life."

Transparent creator Jill Soloway dedicated the award to "the trans community" and said she wanted the show to teach the audience about "truth, authenticity and love."

J.K. Simmons took home a supporting actor honor for his sadistic jazz teacher in the movie Whiplash, and thanked both of the "boy wonders" involved: writer-director Damien Chazelle and co-star Miles Teller.

Teller "is a young actor of such maturity and brilliance. He inspired me every day to scream at him and hit him in the face," Simmons said in his acceptance speech.

Big Eyes star Amy Adams won the award for best actress in a comedy or musical for playing Margaret Keane, a woman whom Adams said "had such a quiet voice and such a strong heart and such a strong artistic vision and was ultimately able to use her voice."

Adams also paid homage to the other actresses in the audience who are role models for her 4-year-old. "You speak to her so loudly," she said. "She watches everything and sees everything and I am so grateful for all of you women in this room who have such a lovely beautiful voice and are speaking to my daughter."

The Theory of Everything composer Jóhann Jóhannsson won for best original score, and musicians Common and John Legend accepted the original song award for Selma.

Common called Selma director Ava DuVernay a "superhero" when accepting the award.

"The first day I stepped on the set of Selma I began to feel that this was bigger than a movie," he said. "I realized I am the hopeful black woman who was denied her right to vote. I am the caring white supporter killed on the front lines of freedom. I am the unarmed black kid who maybe needed a hand but was instead given a bullet. I am the two fallen police officers murdered in the line of duty, and Selma has awakened my humanity."

Leviathan was named best foreign-language film and the sequel How to Train Your Dragon 2 took home the award for best animated feature.

The Honorable Woman star Maggie Gyllenhaal accepted her honor for best actress in a TV miniseries by noting the wealth of "real" roles for women in television.

"That's what I notice is evolutionary and revolutionary and turning me on," she said.

Gina Rodriguez won best actress in a comedy for her title role in the CW's first-year Latino-centric series Jane the Virgin.

"Thank you, God. for making me an artist," Rodriguez said. "This award is so much more than myself. It represents a culture that wants to see itself as heroes."

Fargo conquered the TV miniseries category and star Billy Bob Thornton won for best actor in a miniseries.

"These days you get in a lot of trouble no matter what you say," Thornton deadpanned. "You could say anything and get in trouble. I know that for a fact. So I'm just going to say thank you."

The Normal Heart's Matt Bomer won for supporting actor in a TV miniseries or movie. He honored both his co-star Mark Ruffalo — "the heart and soul of the movie" — and those who died or are still suffering from AIDS: "We love you and remember you."

Downton Abbey star Joanne Froggatt earned an award for supporting actress in a TV miniseries. She recalled hearing from many fans for a story line this past season that involved the rape of her character. In one letter, Froggatt said, "the writer wasn't sure why she'd written, but she wanted to be heard."

In addition, Juliana Margulies and Don Cheadle presented George Clooney with the Cecil B. DeMille Award, given annually to honor the recipient's "outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment."

Clooney mentioned how 80% of the people in the Globes audience would lose their categories. But, he countered, "for the record, if you are in this room, you've caught the brass ring. You get to do what you've always dreamed to do and be celebrated for it. That just ain't losing."

He also gave a sweet shoutout to his new wife, Amal: "It's a humbling thing when you find someone to love. Even better when you've been waiting your whole life, and when your whole life has been 53 years … Amal, whatever alchemy it is that brought us together, I couldn't be more proud to be your husband."