By SAMANTHA ETTUS
Scripps Howard News Service
18-JAN-06

Monday night's Golden Globes were presented to a bevy of winners, and though the awards bestowed by the 70-member Hollywood Foreign Press Association lack the high profile and cachet of  the Oscars, they are often a predictor of how films will fare come Oscar time. This year?s big winner was what many are calling the gay cowboy film, Brokeback Mountain, which won for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Song.  But the film was shut out of the individual categories like Best Actor and Best Actress.  Instead, those accolades went to a wide variety of underdog talent including Felicity Huffman, Joaquin Phoenix, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.  Let's take a look at the careers of these three largely unheralded thespians, and how they managed the winner's spotlight.

Felicity Huffman
Though she and her three Desperate Housewives castmates were passed over for the Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category (an award instead bestowed upon Weeds star Mary Louise Parker), Felicity Huffman emerged a huge winner, bringing home the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture Drama award for her convincing portrayal of a transsexual in Transamerica. After her surprise Emmy win last year, beating out two co-stars for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, it seemed like Huffman had reached the peak of her career, yet winning the Golden Globe this year eclipsed even that milestone, making her an unlikely star of both the big and small screen. Finding success relatively late in her career at age 43, Huffman is more approachable to fans than the average star, and her acceptance speech on Monday night cemented that persona. Rather than playing the Teri Hatcher little ol? me won card, Huffman tearfully explained, The second time I didn't work for a year I gave up every dream that ever looked like this.  Her marriage to fellow actor William H. Macy was in the spotlight last night as well, and he couldn't have looked any happier for his longtime love.  With her belated success, this is one actress whose patience has paid off.

Joaquin Phoenix
Phoenix was the surprise winner in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy category for his role as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, beating out five leading men including Johnny Depp and Pierce Brosnan.  Before the winner was announced, Phoenix bet co-star Reese Witherspoon's husband, Ryan Phillipe, all the money in his pocket that he would not win a wager that he was happy to lose.  The famously intense actor expressed shock onstage in his self-effacing acceptance speech, remarking on the irony of winning an award in the comedy category.  Best known for his dramatic portrayals, Phoenix was most recently the butt of media jokes after a bizarre November interview with an Associated Press reporter, in which he purportedly inquired, Do I have a frog in my hair? After the reporter assured him he did not, Phoenix continued, No, but I feel it. I'm worried about the sensation of my brain being eaten.  Despite this unsettling behavior, the Golden Globe win and Phoenix's very gracious accompanying speech will overshadow any lingering concerns about the inexplicable incident, and will refocus everyone's attention on his sheer talent as both a dramatic and comedic performer.

Philip Seymour Hoffman
Hoffman has bucked the odds, escaping the anonymity of a career as a character actor and morphing into a legitimate leading man by upsetting category favorite, Brokeback Mountain's Heath Ledger, to snag the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Drama. Though Hoffman had previously managed to earn mainstream recognition through acclaimed performances in supporting roles, he probably stands alone as the only Golden Globes winner whose face many can't place by hearing his name.  If seated next to him at a restaurant, you might even spend the night trying to figure out how you know him.  So in Hollywood, where talent is only part of the equation, Hoffman's lack of traditional good looks makes his ascent a triumph that defies probability.  Living in New York's Greenwich Village, Hoffman has stayed far away from the traditional Hollywood spotlight, instead focusing on honing his craft in a series of artistic, independent projects.  Like Felicity Huffman, he is renowned as a masterful stage actor, moving seamlessly from screen to stage and back.   Hoffman has maintained a highly selective approach in choosing his roles, and this attention to detail has clearly worked in his favor.  In his Golden Globes acceptance speech, Hoffman predicted he'll never play as great a role as that of Truman Capote.  We bet otherwise.

Remember: the most dependable road to the top is to treat your brand as your greatest asset.
 
(Samantha Ettus' new book, "The Experts' Guide to Life at Home" (Random House) is now in bookstores. Contact her at Samantha@celebrityassets.com.)