The Hollywood Foreign Press is obsessed with ingénues. Every year they nominate a pretty, talented young thing from a risky, often ratings-challenged TV show, catapult her into the spotlight and legitimize her program’s ad spots, only to watch her star fall come Emmy time. Just ask past and present contenders Claire Danes, Keri Russell and Jennifer Garner. Though not nominated (this is her first speaking role), Evangeline Lilly, the young female lead in Best TV Drama nominee Lost, is the third starlet brought to the public’s adoring attention by J.J. Abrams, creator of Felicity, Alias and Lost, respectively. (She certainly doesn’t have to worry about her show’s ratings, though. ABC has been crowing about its phenomenal success for months.) Perhaps the Globes are willing to take bigger chances because they occur mid TV season, when shows are still new and capable of shooting off into any direction stylistically. If they reward it while it’s hot and unpredictable, they retain an edge the other, more tiresome award programs cannot claim.

This year the love for baby-faced young women spreads into the film category as well: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson and Emmy Rossum (who is 18 and plays Christine, a literal ingénue, in Phantom of the Opera), are all competing.

The only person who didn’t benefit from this tradition seems to be Eva Longoria, the youngest Desperate Housewife and only cast member from her hit show not nominated. This makes her the season’s Charlotte (the character from Sex and the City regularly snubbed come awards season.) It’s possible Eva’s still struggling to cast off the stigma of Daytime TV, and maybe next year she’ll have her chance.

Speaking of Sex and the City, everyone save Sarah Jessica Parker was completely shut out in their last year of eligibility to make room for the equally sex-obsessed but suburban-dwelling ladies from Wisteria Lane. That’s gotta sting – but I’m pleased to see fresh blood infusing the networks, particularly regarding “women of a certain age.”

The Oscars are notoriously less kind to up and coming female stars. The Curse of The Best Supporting Actress is alive and well. Just ask Marisa Tomei or Mira Sorvino, who needed almost a decade to get back in the limelight. Anytime a (typically young) woman brings home this award, she’s guaranteed several years of mediocre to bad films, a drop in the public eye and eventual disappearance. Who will be the recipient of this year’s curse? The nominees are announced January 25, 2005.

As for best film, this year it’s all about the Biopics for both Golden Globes and Oscars. Top actors took on the roles of real life people with unprecedented abandon: Liam Neeson portrayed Kinsey, the sex researcher; Kevin Spacey even recorded a C.D. impersonating Bobby Darin for Beyond the Sea (and is considered by Ebert and Roeper to have better singing chops than the original!); Leonardo DiCaprio took on The Aviator himself, Howard Hughes; Johnny Depp let his inner child run wild as Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland; Gael Garcia Bernal road-tripped as revolutionary Che Guevara in The Motorcycle Diaries; Kevin Kline portrayed Cole Porter in De-Lovely, and Jamie Foxx completely mesmerized as Ray Charles in Ray. (Am I leaving anyone out??)

Seems to me Reality is the drama du jour for both TV and film. The Golden Globe Awards air on NBC on January 16th at 8 PM Eastern, and a complete list of nominees can be found http://www.hfpa.org/nominations2005.html .

TV Crystal Ball
I just read the pilot script for Painkiller Jane, a new action show set to air on the Sci Fi Network. The story, written by John Harrison and Don Opper, based on a comic book by Joe Quesada and Jim Palmiotti, is a cross between Alias and X-men. Kick-ass action scenes, international espionage, rapid plot twists and a super powered heroine make it worth checking out. It hasn’t been cast yet, but I’m sure every twenty-something actress would love to get her hands on the role (as well as the requisite Golden Globe nom…) According to Variety, the show will debut this summer. If the show turns out anything like the script, I’m hooked!