50 | JANUARY 5 • 2023
GOLDEN GLOBES, MIA
KIRSHNER MAKES ME
HAPPY, PINSKY IN THE
DESERT
The Golden Globe
(“Globes”) awards for
excellence in film and TV
will return to network TV
(NBC, Jan. 10, 8 p.m.) after
a hiatus last year. Members
of the sponsoring organiza-
tion, the Hollywood Foreign
Press Association (HFPA),
were credibly accused of
many sins, including rac-
ism, self-dealing and sexual
harassment. At the verge of
extinction, the HFPA agreed
to make (monitored) huge
changes.
Not many Tribe mem-
bers were nominated for a
2023 film Globe. The only
acting nominee is Jamie
Lee Curtis, 64. She got a
supporting actress “nom”
for Everything Everywhere
All at Once.
Honorable mention:
Michelle Williams is a best
actress nominee (drama)
for playing a Jewish
woman (based on Steven
Spielberg’s mother) in The
Fabelmans. Williams’ hus-
band, director Thomas Kail,
44, is Jewish, and Williams
recently said that she would
study Judaism and their two
young children would be
raised Jewish.
Spielberg is nomi-
nated for best direc-
tor (Fabelmans). He is
also nominated for best
screenplay along with his
Fabelmans’ co-writer, Tony
Kushner, 66. Also compet-
ing for the writing Globe is
Sarah Polley, 43 (Women
Talking). Polley discov-
ered as a young adult that
her biological father was
Jewish. She’s not religious.
Justin Chazelle, 37, is
nominated for his musical
score for Babylon. The
best film Globe goes to
the film’s principal produc-
ers. If the Fabelmans wins
best pic, a Globe will go to
Spielberg and Kushner.
Worth noting: Argentina,
1985 is nominated for best
non-English language
film. It’s about the trial of
members of the antisemit-
ic military junta that ruled
Argentina for a decade.
Actor Norman Briski, 84,
has a biggish role in 1985.
Briski fled Argentina in
1975, after threats from
junta goons. He returned in
1983 after the junta’s fall.
Every year, the TV Globes
are a “silly repeat.” Last
September, I covered the
2022 Emmy nominees
and winners. The Jewish
actors nominated for a
2023 Globe were also
2022 Emmy nominees.
Here they are, again: Julia
Garner, 28, for Inventing
Anna (limited series) and for
Ozark (comedy); Hannah
Einbinder, 27, Hacks (com-
edy series); Henry Winkler,
77, Barry (comedy); Seth
Rogen, 40, Pam &
Tommy (limited series) and
Andrew Garfield, 39, Under
the Banner of Heaven
(drama).
Last week, I mentioned
that I had a very good
story about actress Mia
Kirshner, who starred
in the 2020 Hallmark
Channel film Lights, Love,
Hanukkah!. As I will
explain, my recent first
viewing of Lights led me to
this “discovery.”
Kirshner was born (1975)
and raised in Toronto. Her
father, Sheldon, was a
journalist for the Canadian
Jewish News. He still
writes for Jewish media
outlets, and he has an
online journal. Sheldon’s
parents were Holocaust
survivors. He was born
(1945) in a displaced per-
sons’ camp in Germany. In
Israel, he met Mia’s mother,
a Bulgarian Holocaust sur-
vivor.
Mia has one big credit:
She played (star character)
Jenny Schecter, the only
Jewish character in the hit
Showtime series The ‘L’
Word (2004-2009). The
Jenny character was con-
troversial. Message boards
were filled with debates
about Jenny’s “doings.”
Set-up on secret: In The
‘L’ Word, Kirshner was very
pretty. She had strong facial
bones and a nice figure.
In Lights, I saw a different
person. Her face seemed
blown up — really puffy. Her
body was also “puffed up.”
Like “regular” peo-
ple, actors sometimes
change a lot physically.
But Kirshner’s change was
really odd. I googled
Kirshner and found out that
in September 2022 she
wrote on Instagram that
she was now completely
cancer-free. She had never
disclosed, previously, that
she had cancer.
I have to assume that
her cancer treatment had
side effects that included
changes to her face and
body — and I am guessing
her cancer was detected
between 2017 and 2019.
Kirshner had a recurring
role (2017-2019) on Star
Trek Discovery. In a 2017
episode, she looked like
the ‘L’ Word Mia. In 2019,
her face was puffed-up.
I managed to find
a quite recent photo of
Kirshner. It was taken at
a facility for children with
cancer. The photo showed
Kirshner with her arm
around a child. It wasn’t a
great photo, but it seemed
to me that the pretty face
she had on the ’L’ Word
had returned.
All this made me happy
for her and her parents.
This is the first time
a movie turned me into a
“health detective.”
The Fox series Special
Forces: The Ultimate Test,
premieres on Jan. 4 (8
p.m.). It is another celebrity
endurance reality show.
Sixteen “B-list” celebri-
ties are dropped in the
Jordanian desert to train
with a Special Forces team
in a grueling endurance
test.
Dr. Drew Pinksy, 64, the
well-known TV doctor, is a
contestant. I wonder if his
medical training will give
him an “edge.” He’ll need
it: Some contestants are
way younger.
CELEBRITY NEWS
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
ARTS&LIFE
Jamie Lee Curtis
Mia Kirshner
GAGE SKIDMORE
RONALD WOAN