New Mexico-filmed productions grab 10 Golden Globes nominations

Afew New Mexico-based productions were honored with 10 Golden Globe nominations on Monday.

“Oppenheimer,” directed by Christopher Nolan, received eight nominations — just two shy of “Barbie,” which leads with 10 nominations.

“Oppenheimer” is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer” by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. It follows Oppenheimer’s journey working with the team behind the Manhattan Project as they developed what would become the atomic bomb.

According to the New Mexico Film Office, the production employed about 190 New Mexico crew members and 1,200 New Mexico background and extras.

The film is nominated for Best Motion Picture, Drama; Best Director, Motion Picture; Best Screenplay, Motion Picture; Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama for Cillian Murphy; Best Supporting Actor — Motion Picture for Robert Downey Jr.; Best Supporting Actress, Motion Picture for Emily Blunt; Best Original Score, Motion Picture for Ludwig Göransson; and Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. The latter is a new category that honors the box office successes of the year.

While filming in New Mexico, production designer Ruth De Jong and her team didn’t have a studio or home base to work out of. Everything was shot on location, and tons of work had to be done in advance to be ready to film.

De Jong got started in New Mexico, seeing the scouting locations and getting ideas.

“We started scouting early on and visiting places like Berkeley, California, Princeton University, Washington, D.C., and New Mexico,” she said. “New Mexico was really going to be the source of where we filmed everything. We ended up filming a lot of D.C. interiors in New Mexico, and Pasadena doubled for the Berkeley shots.”

De Jong said Nolan prefers a timeless look for his films, even one such as “Oppenheimer,” which is set in a distinct historical period.

Nolan encouraged De Jong to not be fussy or precise about period details. He liked the idea of pushing modernism — allowing the cars, phones or other pieces of technology to be of-the-moment.

“Chris would always say, ‘Ruth, I’m not making a documentary snooze-fest,’” De Jong remembers vividly. “That was always helpful to hear because I would get very ingrained in the research. Instead, our process was to see the real thing, understand its essence, and then divorce ourselves from its form and go make our picture.”

Emma Stone picked up her second Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama, for “The Curse,” which was filmed in northern New Mexico. The production filmed from July through October 2022 in Santa Fe and Española.

“The Curse” is a genre-bending scripted comedy that explores how an alleged curse disturbs the relationship of a newly married couple as they try to conceive a child while co-starring on their problematic new HGTV show. It is currently airing on Showtime and streaming on Paramount+.

The final nomination comes for Natasha Lyonne’s role in “Poker Face.” Lyonne is nominated for Best Actress in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy.

The Peacock series is a one-hour mystery that follows a card dealer with an innate ability to tell if a person is lying. The card dealer is on the run from her dangerous former casino-owner employer. It was directed by Rian Johnson and produced by T Street, Lyonne, and Nora and Lila Zuckerman. For the one episode, the New Mexico Film Office said the production employed about 300 New Mexico crew members, 20 New Mexico principal actors and approximately 260 New Mexico background talent.

The 81st Golden Globe Awards will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ on Sunday, Jan. 7.