JONATHAN RHYS-MEYERS is in agony as he prepares for tonight's (16JAN06) Golden Globe Awards after undergoing surgery on his mouth.

The BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM star, who is nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his role in Woody Allen film Match Point, had "extensive dental surgery" just before jumping on a plane bound for Los Angeles and hoped he'd be able to sleep off the pain during the flight.

But he was still in agony, and sporting a swollen look, when he sat down to chat to talk show host Jimmy Kimmel on Friday night (13JAN06).

The actor told the host he had his entire top row of teeth fixed after putting off surgery for weeks.

He says, "I had everything done... I'm finding it very hard to speak."