HEATH LEDGER
MOUNTAIN MAN

It's what I've always wanted,” says Heath Ledger. “It's marvelous.” Exactly the words one would expect from an actor basking in the afterglow of a career-making, Globe-nominated performance as Brokeback Mountain's emotionally stoic Wyoming cowboy struggling with his attraction to a fellow sheepherder. But Ledger, who professes little interest in awards hype, is talking about life with 2-month-old Matilda, his daughter with fiancée and Brokeback costar Michelle Williams. “She's just adorable,” he says. “A beautifully observant, wise little kid.”

Fatherhood “has overwhelmed him much more than the movie has,” says Brokeback director Ang Lee of Ledger, 26. “I think them both happening at the same time has helped keep him grounded through all the talk.” That would be the Oscar buzz, which has only intensified since Ledger's Globe nod for best actor in a drama and Brokeback's Globes-leading seven nominations. Ledger couldn't care less about “being famous or being invited to cool parties,” says Gregor Jordan, who directed him in 2004's Ned Kelly, but “it means a lot to him that his peers recognize him as an actor.”

Ledger, who grew up on a farm in Perth, Australia, was undaunted by Brokeback's gay subject matter. “It's a shame that it gets classed as daring and risky,” he says. Keeping to himself on set to help replicate his character's isolation “was frickin' lonely,” he adds, but he filled the void when he fell for Williams, 25, who plays his wife, Alma (and got her own Globe nod). “It was nice to come home and snap out of it.”

As he nests with Williams and Matilda in their new Brooklyn brownstone, “I want to keep turning corners,” says Ledger, who woos Sienna Miller in the new comedy Casanova and next plays a lovestruck drug addict in the drama Candy. “Hopefully continue to surprise people.” That won't be a problem after Brokeback, says Jordan: “He can do anything now.”

GEORGE CLOONEY
GOOD LUCK CHARM

Sure, he had money, power, looks and a sweet villa in Italy, but Clooney, 44, got what he really wanted this year—a chance to speak his mind. Result: three Globe nominations for his thought- provoking movies, including nods for directing and cowriting the Edward R. Murrow bio Good Night, and Good Luck and for acting in the geopolitical drama Syriana. “He finally has a chance to step up to the microphone,” says Good Night producer, cowriter and costar Grant Heslov, “and he wants to say something that has some meaning.”

DAKOTA JOHNSON
MISS GOLDEN GLOBE

Stars don't usually bring their teenagers to the champagne-soaked ceremony—unless the kid is Miss Golden Globe, who distributes trophies to the winners onstage. The position, always filled by the child of a celebrity, this year goes to Dakota Johnson, whose mom, Melanie Griffith (dad is Don Johnson), was a Miss Golden Globe herself in 1975. “This is one of the most beautiful Miss Golden Globes we've ever had,” says Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Phil Berk of the 16-year-old (left, with Mom in '04). “I can understand why. She comes from some pretty healthy genes.”

FELICITY HUFFMAN
GENDER BENDER

It's a Globe first—an actress nabbing one nomination for playing a woman (Desperate Housewives' Lynette) and another for playing a man becoming a woman (transsexual Bree in the film Transamerica). Shooting the movie in 120-degree Arizona weather, “I didn't get sunburned,” says Huffman, 43, “because I was covered in all that white makeup and my wig.” The acclaim is “a wonderful surprise,” she adds. “I thought my mom would watch, and that would be about it.”

Eva: No more nomination desperation
Desperate Housewives has one less dramatic subplot this season now that Eva Longoria, the lone Housewife shut out in last year's Globe and Emmy nominations, made the Globe cut this time around (supporting actress Nicollette Sheridan was the odd Housewife out). “I was so surprised,” says Longoria. “I am most honored to be competing with my castmates. I hope one of us wins!”

MASTERING THE GLOBES RED CARPET

The Constant Gardener's Rachel Weisz
THE FIRST-TIMER It's quite a glamorous night from what I've seen in magazines. People really dress up. I think the Globes are pretty classic and glamorous. No cocktail dresses. If you're a girl, it's kind of fun. There are many harder things in life than looking for a dress!

Match Point's Scarlett Johansson
THE FOUR-TIME NOMINEE I'll be there with bells on… with diamonds on, actually. But it's nerve-racking. Right before you get there, you think, “I look fantastic.” Then, on the red carpet, doubts creep in: “Is this dress photographing horribly?” “Do I look like a clown?” I have to egg myself on.

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And the Nominees Are…
Best Motion Picture—Drama

• Brokeback Mountain • The Constant Gardener • Good Night, and Good Luck • A History of Violence • Match Point

Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy

• Mrs. Henderson Presents • Pride & Prejudice • The Producers • The Squid and the Whale • Walk the Line

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy

• Pierce Brosnan, The Matador • Jeff Daniels, The Squid and the Whale • Johnny Depp, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • Nathan Lane, The Producers • Cillian Murphy, Breakfast on Pluto • Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture—Drama

• Russell Crowe, Cinderella Man • Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote • Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow • Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain • David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture—Drama

• Maria Bello, A History of Violence • Felicity Huffman, Transamerica • Gwyneth Paltrow, Proof • Charlize Theron, North Country • Ziyi Zhang, Memoirs of a Geisha

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy

• Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents • Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice • Laura Linney, The Squid and the Whale • Sarah Jessica Parker, The Family Stone • Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

For a complete list, including TV nominees, go to hfpa.org.

Sexiest Category Alive
Who will win Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama? Every woman watching.

Patrick Dempsey, Grey's Anatomy Wentworth Miller, Prison Break Hugh Laurie, House Kiefer Sutherland, 24 Matthew Fox, Lost