The Oscars 2025 Race for Best Actress: A Competitive Field
The Academy Awards’ Best Actress category is shaping up to be a highly competitive field in 2025, with a mix of former winners, nominees, and first-time hopefuls vying for the five available nominations. The category is expected to have some crossover with the Best Picture nominees, with several actresses starring in movies predicted to be outside the Best Picture lineup but still recognized elsewhere among the Oscars 2025 nominations.
Angelina Jolie is currently the frontrunner to win the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in Maria, a biopic about Maria Callas. This would be her second Oscar win, after previously winning Best Supporting Actress in 2000 for Girl, Interrupted.
Other contenders for the Best Actress nomination include Mikey Madison, who stars in the potential Best Picture frontrunner Anora; Nicole Kidman, who plays a CEO in the erotic thriller Babygirl; Karla Sofía Gascón, who plays the titular role in the Best Picture contender Emilia Pérez; and Cynthia Erivo, who stars as Elphaba in the musical film Wicked.
While these actresses have already received recognition from the Golden Globes and other critics’ groups, several others are also in contention for the nomination. These include Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, who co-star in Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door, and Fernanda Torres and Saoirse Ronan, who deliver performances worthy of consideration but may not have the full backing necessary to secure a nomination.
With the Oscars 2025 nominations set to be announced on January 17, 2025, this competitive field is sure to make for an exciting and unpredictable awards season.