Oscars

Oscars 2025 Actress nominees: who are the 5 candidates for the Academy Awards?

From Hollywood legends to breakthrough stars, five actresses are vying for the 2025 Oscar, each bringing a powerful performance to the vote.

Diego Vara

Calum Roche

Sports-lover turned journalist, born and bred in Scotland, with a passion for football (soccer). He’s also a keen follower of NFL, NBA, golf and tennis, among others, and always has an eye on the latest in science, tech and current affairs. As Managing Editor at AS USA, uses background in operations and marketing to drive improvements for reader satisfaction.

Update: Mar 2nd, 2025 05:14 EST

The 97th Academy Awards gives us yet another Best Actress category to be impressed by. This year’s nominees have delivered performances that not only captivated audiences but have also set us up for one of the most exciting races in recent memory.

Follow all the information on the 2025 Oscars

Oscars 2025: Best Actress

Cynthia Erivo - Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón - Emilia Pérez
Mikey Madison - Anora
Demi Moore - The Substance
Fernanda Torres - I’m Still Here

Let’s take a brief look at each one in turn.

Cynthia Erivo: a star reborn in Wicked

Erivo, a powerhouse vocalist and actress, returns to the Oscars stage with her role in the highly anticipated musical adaptation of Wicked. Known for her commanding stage presence and emotional depth, Erivo’s portrayal has earned widespread acclaim, solidifying her status as one of Hollywood’s most versatile talents. Her nomination marks another milestone in a career already filled with accolades, including a Tony, Grammy, and Emmy.

Oscars 2025 Actress nominees: who are the 5 candidates for the Academy Awards? — Cynthia Erivo attends the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards, in Los Angeles, California, U.S., February 23, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake TPX IMAGES OF THE DAYMike Blake

Karla Sofía Gascón: making history with Emilia Pérez

Sofía Gascón has made history as the first openly transgender performer nominated for Best Actress. Her role in Emilia Pérez has been hailed as both groundbreaking and deeply moving, reflecting a pivotal moment for representation in cinema. Gascón’s nomination is a testament to her talent and the industry’s growing recognition of diverse voices.

Oscars 2025: meet the presenters

Mikey Madison: a rising star in Anora

Madison has emerged as a formidable contender for her role in Anora, directed by Sean Baker. Her performance has already earned her a BAFTA and a Spirit Award, and her Oscar nomination cements her as one of Hollywood’s brightest rising stars. Despite facing stiff competition, Madison’s raw and authentic portrayal has made her a favorite among critics and audiences alike.

Demi Moore: a career-defining turn in The Substance

Moore delivers what many are calling the performance of her career in The Substance. Reflecting on her journey from a young actress to an industry veteran, Moore’s role has earned her widespread praise and a SAG Award. She’s a global superstar that has had an enduring impact on Hollywood, reinventing herself along the way.

Why are the Academy Awards called the Oscars?

Fernanda Torres: a historic moment for Brazil

A race too close to call

With such a diverse and talented group of nominees, this year’s Best Actress race is one of the most unpredictable in recent memory. Each actress brings a unique and compelling performance to the table, making it nearly impossible to predict who will walk away with the coveted statuette.

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Who is Jon Hamm married to? What to know about actress wife Anna Osceola

The Mad Men actpr met co-star and bride-to-be in 2015 and began dating during the pandemic. They tied the knot in Anderson Canyon, Big Sur in June 2023.

NEIL HALL

Andy Hall

Update: Apr 12th, 2025 14:06 EDT

One of Hollywood’s most eligible bachelors Jon Hamm married Mad Men co-star Anna Osceola in Anderson Canyon, Big Sur back in June 2023. They walked up the aisle to Nancy Sinatra’s 1967 James Bond theme song, You Only Live Twice.

Jon Hamm marries fiancée Anna Osceola where they filmed ‘Mad Men’ finale https://t.co/nbcbDE81Ub pic.twitter.com/AZ4wgLX04m
— Page Six (@PageSix) June 25, 2023

The couple got engaged in 2021 and had been dating since 2020. Hamm had previously been in a long-term relationship with Jennifer Westfeldt - their 18-year liaison was one of the longest and steadiest among Hollywood’s glitterati before it came full circle in 2015. “With great sadness, we have decided to separate, after 18 years of love and shared history,” they explained in a joint statement to People magazine in September 2015. “We will continue to be supportive of each other in every way possible moving forward.”

Hamm and Westfeldt were more or less the same age, and according to several sources, she was almost like a mother figure to him, so it came as a surprise to some observers when he was rumoured to have started dating a woman 17 years his junior. The actor is believed to have first met Anna Osceola while they were both filming Person to Person in Season 7 of Mad Men. Anna had a cameo role as a receptionist, Clementine, in the final episode.

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Whirlwind romance

Romance blossomed during the Coronavirus pandemic when they began dating. They were photographed walking Hamm’s dog Splash in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles in late 2020. The couple were engaged in February 2023 and appeared together on the red carpet the following month at the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party.

For the first couple of years, Jon and Anna tried to keep their relationship private and away from the limelight so what do we know about the new bride? Anna was born on April 8, 1988 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Anna Osceola, from a large family

Her father, Fuad Phillip Alan Osceola, is fully qualified massage therapist with over 30 years of experience in his field while little is known about her mother Lisa. Curiously, the surname Osceola is of native American origin and relates to the Seminole Tribe of Florida. Anna has two elder sisters - Ariel and Alexandra and a brother Sam - who are now Jon’s new in-laws.

Like all of her siblings, Anna went into higher education after high school, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Drama from NYU Tisch School of the Arts on Broadway, New York City.

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Early career and acting roles

She made her screen debut playing Charlie in spoof Not Another High School Show in 2007 although the pilot never aired and the follow-up series was subsequently scrapped. Minor walk-on parts followed in a number of films, series and TV movies and gradually some recurring roles. She played US soldier Abby Sherman in Rizzoli and Isles, Robin Wylie in the ABC family series Greek and Casey Logan, a fashion model who witnesses a member of the Russian mafia kill someone in USA Network drama, In Plain Sight.

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She made separate appearances in Law & Order, first as Jamie Spears in the season 18 episode Rape Interrupted, then was brought back in 2017, cast as Noelle Terlesky, who listens to Erik Menendez’s grim confession that he and his brother had murdered their parents.

Anna starred as Larry alongside her new husband in the 2022 Miramax production, Confess, Fletch. It was reported that Hamm donated two thirds of his fee to help the producers stay within their budget.