If you get a job because of your parents it’s patronage in politics, and nepotism in other fields.
In show business, though, if you and your parents are well liked, it can be three hours of live TV as Miss Golden Globe. Gia Mantegna, daughter of actor Joe Mantegna (“Criminal Minds”), is delighted about her upcoming gig on The 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards Sunday, Jan. 16.
“Every globe will basically go through me,” she tells Zap2it. “I will help escort the winners to their next destination. I’ll be kind of like a mini-female version of [host] Ricky Gervais. I’ll be standing there silently in the corner, with long eyelashes.”
Mantegna, 20, isn’t yet sure about what she’s wearing, but she knows who she wants to bring — her parents.
Her dad has been nominated in the past, and she remembers her parents getting ready to go to the awards ceremony.
“And now I am a young actor and how cool for me to be a part of it.”
“I am just elated,” Mantegna says. “It is such an honor to be a part of this tradition that has been going on for so many years.”
Miss Golden Globe dates back to 1963, and when Mantegna reviewed the list, she found Anne Archer (1971) “who played my mom in the first film I ever did,” she says of “Uncle Nino.”
“That was the coolest thing ever,” she says. “I could not believe my name would be there for 2011. I remember going in for the interview. It was like going in for an audition for a show or a movie. It was extremely intimidating, but at the same time very exciting.”
Given that the Golden Globes really launches the awards season and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association brings together film and TV, Mantegna has her pick of celebrities to meet.
The one she’s most excited about is Claire Danes, nominated for her gripping performance as an autistic woman in HBO’s “Temple Grandin.”
“It is close to my heart because I have a sister with autism,” Mantegna says. “I hope to see her and tell her what a wonderful job she did. Autism has been overlooked.”
Mantegna was most recently seen as the manipulative Vanessa King on “Gigantic,” but has not done anything quite like Miss Golden Globe before. Then again, she says, “I don’t think there is anything like this. It is the only tradition that I know of where they honor someone my age, and the youth of young Hollywood, and include us in something like this. It’s special for me because I myself am a working actress.”
As for being on the only major televised awards show where everyone drinks, it’s definitely a fun one.
“It is such a cool event,” Mantegna says. “They have dinner, and serve alcohol and it’s more laid back and comfortable. That’s the vibe for the whole evening — laughing and drinking and having a good time and conversing with friends in the industry. My job is to do what Miss Golden Globe and Mr. Golden Globe have done in the past — to hand out the award.”
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