Venus earns O’Toole Globe nod

IRISH actor Peter O’Toole has been nominated for a Golden Globe.

He is in the running for the best actor in a drama for the film Venus.

O’Toole said of his nomination: “I am very pleased and honoured to be nominated and I would like to thank the Hollywood Foreign Press very much for thinking of me.

“I would also like to thank everyone who worked on Venus, as they share this honour with me.”

Other actors in the category include Leonard DiCaprio, who has been nominated twice — for his performances in Blood Diamond and Martin Scorsese film The Departed.

The other stars in the best dramatic film actor category are Will Smith, for the father-son story The Pursuit Of Happyness, and Forest Whitaker for The Last King Of Scotland, about Ugandan dictator Idi Amin.

British actor Jeremy Irons, who owns a castle in West Cork, got a nod in the best supporting actor in a TV series or film, for Elizabeth I.

Meanwhile, Sacha Baron Cohen’s fictional Kazakh journalist Borat earned him a best actor in a comedy nod and a best comedy nomination for the film.

Cohen joked after hearing of his nominations: “I have been trying to let Borat know this great news but for the last four hours both of Kazakhstan’s telephones have been engaged.

“Eventually, Premier Nazarbayev answered and said he would pass on the message as soon as Borat returned from Iran, where he is guest of honour at the Holocaust Denial Conference.”

He added: “I am extremely honoured. I’m very proud as well for my fellow writers as well as our director Larry Charles, and our producer Jay Roach, and am very thankful for the HFPA’s belief and acknowledgement of our film.”

Multinational ensemble drama Babel led the pack with seven nominations, including best dramatic picture.

Clint Eastwood has two best director nominations, for his Second World War companion films Flags Of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima.

The Departed scooped a total of six nominations, including one for director Martin Scorsese.

Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Kate Winslet will fight a three-way battle for the best actress gong.

The Golden Globes — the winners of which are announced on January 15 — often act as a forecast for the Academy Awards, which are presented in February.

Film favourites

Nominations for best motion picture:

Babel

Bobby

The Departed

Little Children

The Queen

Nominations for best performance by an actress:

Penélope Cruz for Volver

Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal

Maggie Gyllenhaal for Sherrybaby

Helen Mirren for The Queen

Kate Winslet for Little Children

Nominations for best performance by an actor:

Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond

Leonardo DiCaprio for The Departed

Peter O’Toole for Venus

Will Smith for The Pursuit Of Happyness

Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland

Best director:

Clint Eastwood for Flags of our Fathers

Clint Eastwood for Letters From Iwo Jima

Stephen Frears for The Queen

Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu for Babel

Martin Scorsese for The Departed.