Fresh faces brighten Golden Globes

LOS ANGELES—Little-known actors and directors from movies such as “Dreamgirls” and “Little Miss Sunshine” earned major career boosts on Thursday with Golden Globe nominations that put them closer to Hollywood’s A-list.
The new faces range from Jennifer Hudson, whose performance in “Dreamgirls” garnered a nomination for best supporting actress, to husband-and-wife directing team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, with the low-budget “Miss Sunshine” in the category for best movie musical or comedy. The group also includes 29-year-old director Jason Reitman, son of well-known director Ivan Reitman. His satirical “Thank You for Smoking,” was nominated for best musical or comedy film.
British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays a transvestite in “Kinky Boots,” Japan’s Rinko Kikuchi in her role as a deaf mute girl in “Babel” and her co-star, Adriana Barraza, portraying a troubled Mexican nanny also received career-boosting nominations. Hudson, a former contestant on U.S. television’s “American Idol,” said she fought to maintain her composure when she learned of her nomination while waiting to appear on NBC television’s “The Today Show.” “But I couldn’t cry, because I’d mess up my makeup,” she said. “But I was crying. It’s all of these different things going on. ... I’m still shaking on the inside.”
Faris was more low-key with her reaction but nonetheless excited. —Agencies.