"Only Chloe Zhao could have told the story': Steven Spielberg hails 'Hamnet' director at 2026 Golden Globes

Los Angeles [US], January 12 : Chloe Zhao's 'Hamnet' took home one of the biggest awards of the night at the 2026 Golden Globes, winning Best Motion Picture Drama on Sunday.

After the award was presented by George Clooney and Don Cheadle, producer Steven Spielberg took the opportunity to celebrate the moment, further acknowledging Zhao's efforts.

"Sam Mendes, who sent me the book by Maggie O'Farrell, Hamnet, and I love the book, but I felt there was really only one filmmaker on the face of the planet who could tell the story of Agnes and Will and the spirits of the earth and the forest, and that was the exceptional, exceptional, exceptional Chloe Zhao," Spielberg said.

Zhao, who was also nominated for Best Director, addressed the audience and shared a message that the lead star, Paul Mescal, had told her.

"He said that making Hamnet made him realise that the most important thing about being an artist is learning to be vulnerable enough to allow ourselves to be seen for who we are and not who we ought to be. And to give ourselves fully to the world. Even the parts of ourselves that we're ashamed of, that we're afraid of, that are imperfect, so the people that we speak to, they can also see themselves and fully accept themselves," the filmmaker said.

Notably, other nominees in the category were 'Sinners', 'Sentimental Value', 'Frankenstein', 'It Was Just An Accident', and 'The Secret Agent'.

An adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's 2020 novel of the same name, 'Hamnet' follows the life of the Shakespeare family as they struggle to deal with the death of their son Hamnet. William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) and his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) will be seen coping with grief in ways that bring strife to their marriage.

'Hamnet' received a total of six nominations at the 2026 Golden Globe Awards.

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