The 2025 Best Actress Oscar nominees ranked
There are some years when you go into the Oscars knowing exactly who or what is going to win everything. This year is more exciting as a lot of categories, including Best Actress, are wide open (except supporting!)
Best Actress is a particularly interesting one this year as my favourites didn’t even get nominated! I wanted to see Marianne-Jean Baptiste, Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman in there for Hard Truths, Maria and Babygirl respectively. I was shocked by the lineup we ended up with but it is what it is.
Demi Moore, Fernanda Torres and Mikey Madison have all won awards so far so it’s hard to know who will take home the gold. My guess would be Demi – and that would be huge as horror rarely wins anything – but my list below is about my personal preference. Read on to find out my favourite to my least.
Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here)
The Brazilian actress gives a tremendous performance in Walter Salles’s drama about Eunice Paiva, who has to deal with the fallout of her husband’s forced disappearance during the military dictatorship in Brazil in 1971. She tirelessly campaigns for answers while raising their five kids by herself and trying to run the house with no money. Torres does a fantastic job of keeping that stress and torment simmering below the surface as she puts on a brave face for her family. I highly recommend the film as well.
Demi Moore (The Substance)
I would be satisfied if she won for The Substance but I can’t say I was wowed by her performance in the body horror, except for the memorable mirror scene. I never expected her to be in the awards conversation when I saw it. But, as a fan of horror, it’s always bothered me that the genre never gets the respect it deserves during awards season (Lupita Nyong’o in Us springs to mind) so The Substance’s four Oscars nominations are a huge deal. Plus, Moore is long overdue for this type of recognition.
Mikey Madison (Anora)
I didn’t love Anora as much as most people and that’s affected my view of Madison’s performance as the title character, a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch. However, I appreciated her work much more on a second watch. She had to learn a new accent, a new language and how to pole dance and lap dance. We don’t get to know her character very well but her hard exterior slips sometimes and you can see how heartbroken she is by the whole saga. She’s very good, but I like the other two more.
Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)
I love Erivo’s performance and think she’s the perfect Elphaba but an Oscar nomination never occurred to me when I saw the film. I think she’ll stand a better chance with the second part, For Good, as she’ll get to show off her emotional range more. Here, I was more impressed by her ability to sing like THAT live while performing stunts and pretending to fly. What a stunning voice! However, in my eyes, she was overshadowed by her co-star Ariana Grande, who blew me away with her comedic chops as Glinda.
Karla Sofia Gascon (Emilia Perez)
The Spanish star, who plays the title role in the musical crime drama, tanked all of her chances of a win when her past offensive tweets resurfaced. However, I would have put her in last place anyway. I wasn’t overly impressed by her performance in Emilia Perez and thought the film should have only received nominations for Zoe Saldana, the song El Mal and Best International Feature Film.