by Joal Ryan
Catherine Zeta-Jones is "over the moon." Nicole Kidman is "very excit[ed]." And Leonardo DiCaprio is "truly honored."
How else do you expect a Golden Globe nominee to feel?
A day after the biggest Oscar warm-up of them all unveiled its field for the 60th annual Golden Globe Awards, the stars who were touched by the Hollywood Foreign Press (in a good way) sounded like you'd expect-- they sounded happy.
"I am absolutely over the moon," said Zeta-Jones, a Best Actress nominee in the musical-comedy category for Chicago, in a statement. "All this is a bonus to an experience of a lifetime."
"All this" referred to not just Zeta-Jones' individual recognition but to the overall eight nominations earned by Chicago, a song- and-dance rendering of a real-life 1920s-era murder trial.
Chicago's Golden Globe haul is the most for any musical or comedy since 1972's Cabaret. The two films have an intertwined lineage. Both are onetime Bob Fosse productions--the late director- choreographer helmed the film version of Cabaret and, in 1975, brought the stage version of Chicago to Broadway. Following in Fosse's dance steps, Chicago director Rob Marshall, a Globe nominee himself, codirected an acclaimed Broadway revival of Cabaret.
Marshall and his fellow Chicago denizens can only hope to match the award-show record of the film version of Cabaret. The Liza Minnelli-led flick won three Globes and, even more impressive, eight Oscars, including Best Picture.
Ren�e Zellweger, Zeta-Jones' Chicago cellmate and fellow Globe musical-comedy actress nominee, isn't talking about pulling a Liza. She's just talking about being, yes, happy. "I could not be more grateful to have been part of [the movie] and could not be more proud of my friends," she said in a statement following the nominations announcement. "I am elated."
Just as Zellweger and Zeta-Jones will square off against each other on Globe night, Nicole Kidman, who wore a prosthetic nose to essay author Virginia Woolf in The Hours, has familiar competition facing her in the Best Drama Actress category, where she's pitted against costars Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore (although Moore was nominated for her other film, Far from Heaven).
"It was an honor to play [Woolf], and for it to be recognized like this and to share the film with Julianne and Meryl is very exciting," Kidman said in a statement.
The Hours emerged from the Globe nominations second only to Chicago, with seven overall nods.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars in five-time nominee Gangs of New York, but he grabbed his first Globe nomination since Titanic for his other film, the con-man tale Catch Me If You Can, featuring fellow A-listers Tom Hanks (in front of the camera) and Steven Spielberg (behind it).
"I'm truly honored to receive the nomination," DiCaprio said in a statement. "It was a fantastic experience to work on [the film], and I especially want to thank Steven, Tom and the entire cast and crew for an unforgettable experience."
DiCaprio also gave a shout-out to the Gangs of New York gang, noting nominees Martin Scorsese (Best Director), Daniel Day-Lewis (Best Dramatic Actor), Cameron Diaz (Best Supporting Actress) and U2 (Best Original Song).
DiCaprio needn't have worried about Gangs getting its due. Scorsese spoke eloquently on its behalf. "It means a great deal to receive the nominations for Gangs of New York," the filmmaker, who has never won a Globe, nor an Oscar, said in a statement. "For 30 years, I had wanted to make a movie about the city where I grew up and about our country, and the convulsions and tragedies we've endured in order to grow as a democracy."
Scorsese made his dream film for Miramax, which also released Chicago. True to form, the award-savvy studio was quick to issue a release noting that its films gathered more Globe nominations--26-- than any other studio. (Miramax's math includes the seven nods earned by The Hours, which was a coproduction with Paramount Pictures.)
The 60th annual Golden Globes ceremony is scheduled for January 19 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Michael Caine, a Best Drama Actor for The Quiet American (also brought to you by, natch, Miramax), is already R.S.V.P.-ing.
"This role has meant so much to me," Caine said of the period drama, set in Vietnam in the 1950s, in a statement. "I am very grateful to the Hollywood Foreign Press for recognizing my work, and I'll be there on January 19."
© 2002 E! Online