MANILA, Philippines – Actor Darren Criss dedicated his first Golden Globe to his “firecracker Filipino” mother, as he received an award for his role as serial killer Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace.
“This has been a marvelous year for representation in Hollywood, and I’m so enormously proud to be a teeny-tiny part of that as the son of a firecracker Filipino woman,” Darren, who is half-Filipino, said in his speech during the 2018 Golden Globe awards night on Monday, January 7 (Sunday evening, January 6, in the US).
Cerina Criss, Darren’s mom, hails from Cebu, a province in the Philippines.
"This has been a marvelous year for representation in Hollywood, and I'm so enormously proud to be a teeny tiny part of that as the son of a firecracker Filipino woman … Mom, I know you're watching this… I dedicate this to you." – Darren Criss on his first #GoldenGlobes win pic.twitter.com/g4PKsoXROw
— E! News (@enews) January 7, 2019
Representation was an important theme in this year’s awards.
Host Sandra Oh, the child of Korean immigrants, turned emotional during the opening of the awards night, saying: “I said yes to the fear of being on this stage tonight because I wanted to be here and look out onto this audience and witness this moment of change. I’m not fooling myself. Next year could be different and probably will be. But right now, this moment is real.”
Sandra went on to win Best Actress in a TV series (Drama) for Killing Eve.
It’s been a huge year for representation in Hollywood. Black Panther made waves with a cast composed predominantly of people of color. The titular prince also happens to be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first black superhero.
Months later, rom-com Crazy Rich Asians became the first major Hollywood movie since The Joy Luck Club to feature a predominantly Asian cast. Both movies have nominations in this year’s Golden Globes.
The box office and critical success of these two movies is crucial in Hollywood, amid backlash against the whitewashing of Asian characters in major productions. Sandra and Andy Samberg poked fun at this during the awards night, pointing out that Crazy Rich Asians was the first film with an Asian-American lead since Ghost in the Shell and Aloha.
Actress Emma Stone, who played the Asian-Hawaiian Allison Ng in 2015’s Aloha, blurted out a spontaneous “I’m sorry” after Sandra’s spiel. – Rappler.com
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