In 2017, the AMC limited series “The Night Manager” surprised most Golden Globes prognosticators by taking three acting prizes, resulting in the largest TV win haul at that ceremony. One of its awards – Best TV Supporting Actor – went to Hugh Laurie, who now has a shot at clinching a matching trophy for his work on Netflix’s “All the Light We Cannot See.” If he is victorious once again, he will set an admirable new precedent as the first actor (regardless of gender) to achieve Golden Globe honors for two supporting limited series performances.
Laurie, who initially won a pair of Best TV Drama Actor Golden Globes for “House” in 2006 and 2007, appears on “All the Light We Cannot See” as a PTSD-afflicted World War I veteran living through the 1940s German occupation of his home country of France. Based on Anthony Doerr’s acclaimed 2014 book of the same name, the four-part series primarily focuses on the complicated relationship between two teenagers: Laurie’s character’s blind great-niece, Marie-Laure LeBlanc (Aria Mia Loberti), and German soldier Werner Pfennig (Louis Hofmann).
In general, Laurie would be the fourth man to be awarded this particular Golden Globe for more than one program, following Ed Asner (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” 1972 and 1976; “Rich Man, Poor Man,” 1977), Edward James Olmos (“Miami Vice,” 1986; “The Burning Season,” 1995) and Donald Sutherland (“Citizen X,” 1996; “Path to War,” 2003). Although Sutherland’s two wins did come for non-continuing titles, both were one-off telefilms rather than multi-part series. In the corresponding female category, the only cases of dual program victories have involved Faye Dunaway and Laura Dern, who each scored one win for a limited series (“Ellis Island,” 1985; “Big Little Lies,” 2018) and one for a TV movie (“Gia,” 1999; “Recount,” 2009).
There is a chance that Laurie could find himself nominated directly against his “All the Light We Cannot See” cast mate, Mark Ruffalo, who plays his character’s nephew and Marie-Laure’s father. This would make their limited series the first to simultaneously earn two supporting male Golden Globe nominations since “American Crime Story” duo Sterling K. Brown and John Travolta were bested by Laurie in 2017. At this point, Gold Derby’s odds indicate that neither Laurie nor Ruffalo is a safe bet for a nomination, but their star power and Golden Globes history (Ruffalo won Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actor for “I Know This Much Is True” in 2021) give them undeniable advantages over many of their competitors.
While it’s unfortunately true that Laurie would have had an easier time of things if the 2023 Golden Globes’ experimental separation of continuing and non-continuing program supporting players had been permanent, he’s still no slouch in this year’s catch-all featured male race. Following Tyler James Williams (“Abbott Elementary”) as his category’s second likeliest repeat winner, he could easily rise above a slate of mixed-format challengers, just as he did before.
PREDICT the 2024 Golden Globe nominations through December 11
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