Update: On February 9, Hildur Guðnadóttir became the first woman since 1997 to take home the Oscar for Best Original Score. In her speech, she said: “To the girls, to the women, to the mothers, to the daughters who hear the music bubbling within, please speak up. We need to hear your voices.” In the last six months, she’s won an Oscar, an Emmy and a Grammy (for Chernobyl). In other words, she’s now only one Tony away from an EGOT.
The 2019 film Joker took a unique approach to telling the famed supervillain’s origin story. Starring Joaquin Phoenix, the dark drama introduced us to the tortured man behind the green hair and face paint, recounting the key moments that led to his descent into murderous madness.
Joker chilled audiences to the bone, with many of its viewers leaving theaters with a pit in their stomachs because of the disturbing storytelling. Phoenix’s performance was award-winning, but was undoubtedly elevated by the emotional and gritty sounds narrating his story. Thankfully, Joker’s composer Hildur Guðnadóttir, the genius responsible the sonic magic of Joker, saw her hard work on the film pay off in the form of a history-making Golden Globes win for Best Original Score.
The Icelandic musician and composer is the first woman in 10 years to be shortlisted in the category. Tonight, she became the first solo woman ever to take home the trophy in the category, beating out the talented composers behind Little Women, Marriage Story, and Motherless Brooklyn.
Guðnadóttir’s Golden Globes win puts her that much closer to becoming a member of the EGOT elites; she just needs a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony award to complete her prestigious collection. Last year, she won an Emmy for her scoring on HBO’s historical drama mini-series Chernobyl, and the composer is potentially on track to win an Oscar for her work on Joker next month.
Could a Grammy or a Tony win be in her future? Possibly, but only after she takes some time to rest — Guðnadóttir has been very, very busy. “I’m definitely getting a lot of offers. I have been clear about not really wanting to take anything on at the moment; the last year was really intense,” she told Billboard in November. “I just signed a contract with Deutsche Grammophon for a new record, so I’m going to try to create some head space outside of film.”
There have only been two other women to be nominated by themselves in the Best Original Score category since it was added to the Golden Globes in 1948; Guðnadóttir joins the likes of Jocelyn Pook (Eyes Wide Shut) and Rachel Portman (Chocolat).
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