Dying for Sex star Michelle Williams won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television at the 2026 Golden Globes — but she wasn’t on hand to collect her award.
When presenters Melissa McCarthy and Kathryn Hahn announced the winner on Sunday, Jan. 11, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif, they revealed Williams, 45, was not there.
“Michelle Williams could not be here this evening. We accept this award on her behalf,” said McCarthy, to which Hahn quipped, “I’m Michelle Williams.”
The five-time Oscar nominee is appearing in a limited run of the play Anna Christie in Brooklyn, N.Y., through Feb. 1. She plays the title role in the Eugene O’Neill drama, which costars Tom Sturridge and Brian d’Arcy James.
At the Golden Globes, William bested fellow nominees Claire Danes (The Beast in Me), Rashida Jones (Black Mirror), Amanda Seyfried (Long Bright River), Sarah Snook (All Her Fault) and Robin Wright (The Girlfriend).
Williams leads the FX on Hulu series Dying for Sex, which was up for a total of two awards, also including the Best Television Limited Series, Anthology or Motion Picture Made for Television category.
The miniseries follows her character of Molly Kochan, a woman who receives a diagnosis of Stage IV metastatic breast cancer and decides to leave her husband, Steve (Jay Duplass) as she “begins to explore the full breadth and complexity of her sexual desires for the first time in her life,” per a synopsis from the network.
It also features performances from Jenny Slate, Rob Delaney, Kelvin Yu, David Rasche, Esco Jouléy and Sissy Spacek.
Snook plays Marissa Irving in Peacock’s All Her Fault. The thriller follows what happens when Marissa arrives to collect her 5-year-old son, Milo (Duke McCloud), from a playdate only to find that he was never there.
As the family’s frantic search begins, the media is quick to point the finger at Marissa and her friend, Jenny Kaminski (Elle Fanning), whose nanny, Carrie Finch (Sophia Lillis), becomes the prime suspect.
During her speech at the Critics Choice Awards on Jan. 4, Snook said she had an “awesome time with the crew, shooting really great stuff, and I think that’s the main thing, just having a great time while we’re shooting.”
Snook has won two Golden Globes for her work on HBO’s Succession. All Her Fault is also up for Best Television Limited Series, Anthology or Motion Picture Made for Television at the 2026 Golden Globes.
The Beast in Me follows author and grieving mom Aggie Wiggs (Danes) as billionaire Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) moves into her neighborhood and inspires he to dig into his story as a suspect in the disappearance of his wife.
Speaking with PEOPLE during the release of the series in November, Danes said she was pulled in by Aggie’s story.
“I loved this character who was just kind of a wild amalgam of qualities that I hadn’t quite played before,” she said. “She’s really quite introverted and controlled and contained, but also has this animalistic energy, and that was in an enjoyable contrast.”
Danes added, “She finds this very unlikely, very dangerous soulmate in her neighbor. It felt a little Hitchcockian to me. Tasteful and grisly.”
The Beat in Me was also nominated in the categories for Best Television Limited Series, Anthology or Motion Picture Made for Television and Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Matthew Rhys). Danes has won four Golden Globes for her work on My-So-Called Life, Temple Grandin and Homeland.
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Jones’ nod for Black Mirror (as Amanda in season 7 episode “Common People”) comes as the series itself earned recognition in the Best Television Limited Series, Anthology or Motion Picture Made for Television category and Paul Giamatti was recognized in the Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television category.
In “Common People,” Jones, 49, plays a schoolteacher named Amanda who has a health scare and resorts to a high-tech brain system. The episode also features Chris O’Dowd and Tracee Ellis Ross.
“I’m so grateful to be part of the universe in this way and this part is by far the most acting I’ve ever done,” Jones told PEOPLE in April 2025. “I had to play a lot of notes in this show and in quick succession. And so that was a great challenge for me as an actor but also nice to finally be in a Black Mirror episode.”
This is Jones’ first Golden Globe nomination.
Wright plays the overprotective mother Laura Sanderson in the Amazon Prime series, The Girlfriend, who spirals when her son Daniel (Laurie Davidson) brings home his new mysterious girlfriend Cherry (Olivia Cooke).
The show, which was adapted from Michelle Frances’ novel of the same name, is also nominated for best limited series at the 2026 Golden Globes.
Amanda Seyfried’s nod for Long Bright River marks the only nomination for the Peacock drama, which released on the streamer back in March. The series, which was adapted from Liz Moore’s novel of the same name, centers on Seyfried’s Mickey, a police officer who works in the Philadelphia neighborhood of Kensington at the height of the opioid crisis.
“I’ve always wanted to play a cop,” Seyfried previously told PEOPLE of the opportunity. “It’s like a childhood dream to play somebody that I just was always in awe of, even though it’s funny [because] I’m not good with authority.”
Seyfried previously won a Golden Globe in 2023 for Best Actress Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film for her work in The Dropout.
The Golden Globes air live on Sunday, Jan. 11, at 8 p.m. ET on the CBS Television Network, and viewers can stream the show on Paramount+ in the U.S.