The 28th annual Critics Choice Awards aired on The CW Sunday night (January 15th), hosted by Chelsea Handler. As nominees such as Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell, and Brendan Gleeson all tested positive for COVID-19 leading up to the event, attendees were required to test negative for COVID-19 72 hours before the show.
In her opening monologue, Handler commented on the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. “I’m just happy to be here tonight, supporting the critics’ right to choose,” she said. “At least someone still has the choice, unless they’re a female critic and then it just depends on what state they live in.” She also took aim at Nick Cannon, Prince Harry, and James Corden. “The cast of The Bear is here. Awesome show,” she said. “They showed us how grueling and absolutely miserable working in the restaurant industry can be. And they didn't even have to wait on James Corden.”
The big winners for the evening were Better Call Saul, Abbott Elementary, and The Dropout for television, and Everything Everywhere All at Once for film. Everything Everywhere All at Once took home Best Picture, while Brendan Fraser took home Best Actor for his role in The Whale, tearing up during his acceptance speech. Cate Blanchett won Best Actress for her role in Tar.
Mirroring the Golden Globes, Abbott Elementary won the award for Best Comedy Series, while Jeremy Allen White took home Best Actor in a Comedy Series for his work in The Bear, and Angela Bassett and Ke Huy Quan won Best Supporting Actress and Actor for their roles in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Everything Everywhere All at Once respectively.
The Best Supporting Actor and Actress categories for television were awarded in pairs, with Jennifer Coolidge and Giancarlo Esposito accepting the awards for drama, Niecy Nash-Betts and Paul Walter Hauser winning the limited series or made for TV movie awards, and Sheryl Lee Ralph and Henry Winkler taking home the comedy awards. Nash-Betts gave an emotional acceptance speech, during which she thanked her mother for working overtime so that she could take drama classes. Jennifer Coolidge encouraged fans to never give up: “I hope this gives you the inspiration. It's not over till it's over. It's not over till you're dead,” she said.
Presenter Seth Rogen questioned the choice to give out two awards at a time—and then didn’t hold back when it came to criticizing The CW. “I’m not saying the CW is bad. What I will say, it is the one network to receive zero Critics Choice nominations — you are saying it’s bad,” he said. “We’re on your least favorite network. How did that happen? Nominate yourselves next time, you’d have won. No one will think it’s weird, they’ll think it’s fine.” Rogen added, “I might be the first Jew on the CW in history. Soak it in.”
The night’s presenters included Quinta Brunson, Cedric the Entertainer, Aubrey Plaza, Kerry Washington, Troy Kotsur, Sarah Hyland, Jeremy Allen White, Sharon Horgan, Miles Teller, Anna Taylor Joy, Henry Golding, and more.
Kate Hudson presented Janelle Monae with the See Her Award, sharing a montage of Monae’s roles in films like Harriet and Hidden Figures. Beginning her acceptance speech, Monae said that her pronouns are “she/her, they/them and free-ass m—–f—-r.” She commented on how her family has influenced her choice to play marginalized characters. “My mother was a janitor, my father was a trash man, and my grandmother was a sharecropper in Aberdeen, Mississippi,” she said, adding, “And it's personal because I am non-binary, I am queer, and my identity influences my decisions and my work.”
John Goodman presented his Big Lebowski costar Jeff Bridges with the Lifetime Achievement Award, calling him a “legend” and introducing a compilation of Bridges’ numerous roles over the years—including his first major role in the 1971 film The Last Picture Show. During his acceptance speech, Bridges shared that it was his father Llyod Bridges‘ birthday, and that he was wearing his cufflinks to the event. “I wouldn't be up here without my dad,” he said. Later, he shared that he had to look at his IMDB to remember his roles over the years. “Looking at those pictures I’ve got to admit I checked out IMDB to look at my stuff, to prepare for the night. I said wow. I’ve made a lot of movies!”
See the full list of winners below:
BEST PICTURE
Everything Everywhere All at Once
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Tár
BEST ACTOR
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
BEST DIRECTOR
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
BEST LIMITED SERIES
The Dropout
BEST DRAMA SERIES
Better Call Saul
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Zendaya – Euphoria
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Bob Odenkirk – Better Call Saul
BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE SERIES
Pachinko
BEST TALK SHOW
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
BEST COMEDY SPECIAL
Norm Macdonald: Nothing Special
BEST ANIMATED SERIES
Harley Quinn
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Claudio Miranda – Top Gun: Maverick
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Florencia Martin, Anthony Carlino – Babylon
BEST EDITING
Paul Rogers – Everything Everywhere All at Once
BEST HAIR AND MAKEUP
Elvis
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar: The Way of Water
BEST COMEDY SERIES
Abbott Elementary
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jean Smart – Hacks
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Jeremy Allen White – The Bear
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
BEST ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Daniel Radcliffe – Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All at Once
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Henry Winkler – Barry
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Sheryl Lee Ralph – Abbott Elementary
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Paul Walter Hauser – Black Bird
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Niecy Nash-Betts – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Giancarlo Esposito – Better Call Saul
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Jennifer Coolidge – The White Lotus
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
RRR
BEST ACTRESS IN A LIMITED SERIES OR MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION
Amanda Seyfried – The Dropout
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Ruth E. Carter – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
BEST SCORE
Hildur Guðnadóttir – Tár
BEST SONG
Naatu Naatu – RRR
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Sarah Polley – Women Talking
BEST COMEDY
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Gabriel LaBelle – The Fabelmans
