Golden Globes nominations 2014: Nominee reactions

Chiwetel Ejiofor, lead actor in '12 Years a Slave,' 'Dancing on the Edge'

Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times

Where are you? I'm in London. It's a quarter past 2. I was just round the corner at a hotel and recently got in from Paris. It came on the TV and was then relayed to me immediately. It's really amazing, and great for the film, as well as the show ["Dancing on the Edge"] Between this and the SAG nominations, it's been a good week for you. It's been an amazing week. I've sort of been talking about the film since we opened it up in Telluride, and I've been excited to talk about it. It hasn't been a labor. It's been a really engaging process, and people have come at it with open hearts and embraced the story we're telling. This movie has been a front-runner for months. After these nominations, do you feel like the pressure is off? It was exciting to have the nominations, but I didn't feel pressure about it. The film was really one of the greatest working experiences I've had. What will you do to celebrate today? I think I'm going to have a large dinner and a glass of wine.

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Ron Howard, director of 'Rush'

Jaap Buitendijk / Universal Studios

To hear you tell it, sounds almost like an emancipation to not have to play by Hollywood or studio rules. "For me, in tackling a project like this you make some sacrifices. You commit a great deal of time, so there has to be a reason for it. For me, the reason as a filmmaker was this was not an opportunity I wanted to let go. I believed it would be thrilling to work on, gratifying and fascinating but had no idea about it commercially. It wasn't an economic decision. [laughs] Artistic ambition overpowers commercial ambition."

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