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