MANILA, Philippines?The TV-movie world is agog over young stars, who are more popular than ever?and, with reason, because the entertainment audience is now made up mostly of young people. However, the recent Golden Globe awards have proven that, when it comes to citation-worthy quality, veteran stars rule.

The list of experienced thespians who won awards is topped by Johnny Depp, who surprised everyone by winning Best Actor honors for his performance in his very first musical, ?Sweeney Todd.?

Surprising

Depp?s victory was surprising, because most people didn?t even know he could sing! But, sing he does in ?Sweeney Todd,? enabling him to trounce musical stars with better singing voices, through sheer dint of his ?totalized? performance.

On the distaff side, the big winner was Julie Christie, for her painfully realistic portrayal of a woman stricken with Alzheimer?s disease in ?Away From Her.?

Movie fans remember Ms Christie as the lovely star of movies like ?Dr. Zhivago,? ?Far From the Madding Crowd,? ?McCabe and Mrs. Miller? and ?Shampoo.?

Later, however, she pretty much dropped out of sight, so her triumph in her comeback movies is a most welcome reinvention?from romantic lead to grittily dramatic actress.

We?re also delighted that Daniel Day-Lewis has romped off with the Globe?s Best Actor-Drama award. It?s been decades since the acclaimed thespian came on strong in ?My Left Foot,? but film buffs still remember the then young actor?s tragically ?twisted? portrayal of an Irish artist born with cerebral palsy in Jim Sheridan?s brilliant movie.

After ?My Left Foot,? Day-Lewis continued to distinguish himself by way of strong roles in films like ?In the Name of the Father,? ?The Age of Innocence? and ?The Last of the Mohicans.?

But, his award-winning performance in ?There Will Be Blood? is still regarded as a stretch for him, because he plays the ?dark? role of a cold-blooded oil driller.

Even the winners of supporting player awards were relative veterans: Cate Blanchett in ?I?m Not There? and Javier Bardem in ?No Country for Old Men.? Ditto for a number of the awardees for television, like David Duchovny in ?Californication,? Jim Broadbent in ?Longford,? Queen Latifah in ?Life Support? and Jeremy Piven in ?Entourage.?

Why do experienced players rule the roost on ?quality? TV and movie screens? Because film awards jurors look for complex, challenging characters that are difficult to portray, and it takes years to develop the skills required to pull off those compelling portrayals with deceptive ease.

Thus do they separate the grain from the chaff in their continuing search for the elusive prize of excellence in cinema!