Queer Representation and “Wicked” Get Major Spotlight in Oscar 2025 Nominations!

The nominations for the upcoming 2025 Oscar ceremony have been announced with the list spotlighting queer representation with a whole bunch of noms for Emilia Pérez and Wicked.

The 97th Academy Awards ceremony plans to take place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles. The ceremony will be televised in the US by ABC and simultaneously live-streamed on Hulu. It will be the first Oscar ceremony to be broadcast in such a manner. The upcoming event will be hosted by Conan O’Brien. This will be the O’Brien’s first time hosting the Oscars.

As for the nominations, they were announced at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, by actress Rachel Sennott and actor Bowen Yang. The noms were initially planned to be shared on January 17, 2025, but were delayed to January 23, 2025, due to the unfortunate Southern California wildfires.

Let’s go over some of the list as well as my thoughts!

Best Picture

• Anora
• The Brutalist
• A Complete Unknown
• Conclave
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• I’m Still Here
• Nickel Boys
• The Substance
• Wicked

Opinion: I think this one is going to be between The Brutalist and Conclave. Take note; The Brutalist got into a recent controversy involving AI. So, Conclave might take this one.

Best Director

• Sean Baker – Anora
• Brady Corbet – The Brutalist
• James Mangold – A Complete Unknown
• Jacques Audiard – Emilia Pérez
• Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

Opinion: Yes to Fargeat getting acknowledged for The Substance. I don’t see Fargeat winning the Golden Statue, but yay for the nom!

Best Actor

• Adrien Brody – The Brutalist as László Tóth
• Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown as Bob Dylan
• Colman Domingo – Sing Sing as John “Divine G” Whitfield
• Ralph Fiennes – Conclave as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence
• Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice as Donald J. Trump

Opinion: When I say I let out a sigh of relief when I saw Daniel Craig wasn’t nominated for playing the gay male lead in Queer, I’m not joking. Anyway, I’m so happy about Colman Domingo getting nominated. I’m a fan. And look at Sebastian Stan getting on the Oscar radar. As for who might win this, I think it’s Brody’s to lose.

Best Actress

• Cynthia Erivo – Wicked as Elphaba Thropp
• Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez as Emilia Pérez / Juan “Manitas” Del Monte
• Mikey Madison – Anora as Anora “Ani” Mikheeva
• Demi Moore – The Substance as Elisabeth Sparkle
• Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here as Eunice Paiva

Opinion: Angelina Jolie and Nicole Kidman not getting noms for Maria and Babygirl respectively has definitely surprised certain people in the award-analysis circuit (but not me. Ha!). Another surprise is Demi Moore getting a nom, especially when the Academy doesn’t have the best track record when spotlighting “genre” work.

Also, Karla Sofía Gascón has become (correct me if I’m wrong) the first openly transgender acting talent to be nominated in said category. Good for her! And seeing Erivo make the cut is awesome for Wicked fans. She’s great in the film.

Best Supporting Actor

• Yura Borisov – Anora as Igor
• Kieran Culkin – A Real Pain as Benji Kaplan
• Edward Norton – A Complete Unknown as Pete Seeger
• Guy Pearce – The Brutalist as Harrison Lee Van Buren Sr.
• Jeremy Strong – The Apprentice as Roy Cohn

Best Supporting Actress

• Monica Barbaro – A Complete Unknown as Joan Baez
• Ariana Grande – Wicked as Galinda “Glinda” Upland
• Felicity Jones – The Brutalist as Erzsébet Tóth
• Isabella Rossellini – Conclave as Sister Agnes
• Zoe Saldaña – Emilia Pérez as Rita Mora Castro

Opinion: Yay to Ariana Grande making the list. I still think she was the co-lead in Wicked, but I understand why she was submitted for “supporting” instead of causing unnecessary friendly fire.

Best Animated Feature

• Flow
• Inside Out 2
• Memoir of a Snail
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot

Opinion: I think it’s between Flow and The Wild Robot.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

• A Different Man – Mike Marino, David Presto, and Crystal Jurado
• Emilia Pérez – Julia Floch Carbonel, Emmanuel Janvier, and Jean-Christophe Spadaccini
• Nosferatu – David White, Traci Loader, and Suzanne Stokes-Munton
• The Substance – Pierre-Oliver Persin, Stéphanie Guillon, and Marilyne Scarselli
• Wicked – Frances Hannon, Laura Blount, and Sarah Nuth

Opinion: I would give it to Wicked.

Best Costume Design

• A Complete Unknown – Arianne Phillips
• Conclave – Lisy Christl
• Gladiator II – Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
• Nosferatu – Linda Muir
• Wicked – Paul Tazewell

Opinion: Another one for Wicked to win.

Best Visual Effects

• Alien: Romulus – Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin, and Shane Mahan
• Better Man – Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft, and Peter Stubbs
• Dune: Part Two – Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, and Gerd Nefzer
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes – Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story, and Rodney Burke
• Wicked – Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk, and Paul Corbould

Opinion: Look at Alien: Romulus getting an Oscar nom!

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You can read the full Oscar 2025 Nomination list here.

Who are you rooting for?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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