The 2025 Oscars are just around the corner and ahead of Hollywood's biggest night, we're taking a look at all the best actress nominees.
This year's best actress nominees include Cynthia Erivo, Karla Sofía Gascón, Mikey Madison, Demi Moore and Fernanda Torres.
The 97th Oscars will take place Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood. It will be televised on ABC and stream live on Hulu for the first time.
Read more about each best actress nominee below.
Cynthia Erivo
Erivo earned her best actress nomination for her portrayal of Elphaba Thropp in director Jon M. Chu's film adaptation of the musical, "Wicked," based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 book "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West."
The 1995 book was inspired by L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz."
Erivo starred alongside Ariana Grande's Glinda in the 10-time Oscar nominated film, which explored the complex friendship between the two witches. Since "Wicked's" release, Erivo's epic battle cry riff at the end of the film during the iconic song, "Defying Gravity," has gone viral on social media and her performances has been praised by critics and fans alike.
Erivo has also received nominations for several awards, including a Golden Globe for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture -- musical or comedy, a Critics Choice Award for best actress, a BAFTA award for leading actress and Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role.
At the National Board of Review Gala in January, Erivo told "Good Morning America" about how much Elphaba means to her: "She's always gonna be in my heart, I don't think she's ever gonna go anywhere. But I kind of like that."
Karla Sofía Gascón
Gascón made history for being the first openly trans actor to earn an Oscar nomination for her performance in "Emilia Pérez."
The actress played Emilia Pérez, a Mexican drug cartel leader, who with the help of a lawyer played by Zoe Saldaña, fakes her death and undergoes gender-affirming surgery. Emilia attempts to right the wrongs of her past years later and reconnect with her former wife, played by Selena Gomez, and her children.
The film has taken home major wins at several awards shows this season, including four Golden Globe Awards and three Critics Choice Awards. It is also the most-nominated film at this year's Oscars with 13 nominations.
But it hasn't been without controversy. Some have taken issue with the film's portrayal of the trans community, which critics and LGBTQ advocates, including GLAAD, have called harmful and "a step backward for trans representation." Director Jacques Audiard has also faced criticism for topics related to the film, including his previous comments of Spanish language and his depiction of Mexican cartels and their victims in the film, among other topics.
Despite the mixed reaction to the film, Gascón has already won several awards for her performance. At the Cannes Film Festival in 2024, she earned the best actress award along with her co-stars Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz and Zoe Saldaña. Gascón was also nominated for a Golden Globe, a Critics Choice Award for best actress and a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role.
However, the conversation around the film drastically shifted when many of Gascón's past tweets, which spanned several years and were written in Spanish, were brought to light in January. In them, she took aim at Islam, calling the religion "INCOMPATIBLE with Western values," Oscar's diversity, China's involvement in the coronavirus pandemic and the 2020 death of George Floyd. Since her tweets resurfaced, Gascón has deactivated her X account and apologized.
The director addressed Gascón's tweets in an interview with Deadline earlier this month and called her past comments "inexcusable" and said that she needs to "take accountability for her actions." Gascón responded to Audiard's comments and vowed to stay silent "to allow the film to be appreciated for what it is."
Mikey Madison
Madison's performance as Ani, a young sex worker, in the Sean Baker-directed film "Anora," also earned her her first Oscar nomination. In the film, Ani gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Her fairytale ending crumbles when her husband's parents set out to get the marriage annulled.
The role earned Madison a Critics Choice Award nomination, Golden Globe nomination and a BAFTA Award nomination.
Madison described how the role of Ani has changed her life while speaking to "Good Morning America" at the National Board of Review Gala in January. "I think it really evolved the way that I work as an artist and how I want to approach future projects or characters in the future," she said.
The film sparked conversation when Madison revealed in Variety's "Actors on Actors" conversation with Pamela Anderson that she was offered an intimacy coordinator but declined the use of one on set during her explicit nudity and sex scenes, because she and her co-star, Mark Eydelshteyn, "wanted to keep it small" with director Sean Baker and Baker's wife, Sammy Kwan, who was a producer on the film.
"I think we were able to just really streamline it, shoot it super quickly and there are less sex scenes, more sex shots, that's what Sean likes to say," Madison added. "It was a very positive experience for me."
Her comments drew mixed responses from intimacy coordinators, critics and fans, with some supporting her making her own decision and others insisting that intimacy coordinators should be mandatory on set.
According to SAG-AFTRA's guidelines on intimacy coordinators, the implementation of an intimacy coordinator "will allow productions to run more efficiently, provide a safety net for performers and establish specialized support that empowers both cast and crew."
Demi Moore
Moore took on her most daring role yet as Elisabeth Sparkle in the Coralie Fargeat-directed film, "The Substance." A risk that paid off and helped her earn several awards already this season, including a Golden Globe for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture, musical or comedy and a Critics Choice Award for best actress.
The film follows Moore as a fading celebrity, who takes a black-market drug, which temporarily creates "a younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of herself. The only catch is that Moore's character must share her time with her new self and the balance must be respected.
At the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Moore said she saw Fargeat's script as a "challenge in the best way."
"I look at material that pushes for things that push me out of my comfort zone and if something scares me a little bit, I usually know that there's an opportunity that on the other side it will make me a better person and hopefully a better actor," she said.
She added, "I think that this really touched on so many themes that we all face. We all seek a certain sense of validation, belonging -- and by Coralie doing it in a way that took us to the extreme, I think it really allows for you to kind of step into it in a totally unique way."
Fernanda Torres
Torres' powerful performance in the Walter Salles-directed film, "I'm Still Here," has already earned her a Golden Globe for best performance by a female actor in a motion picture, drama. She was also awarded the Virtuoso Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Torres made history at the time Oscar nominations were announced when she became the second Brazilian actress to earn an Oscar nomination. Her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, who was nominated for best actress in 1998 for her role in "Central Station," was the first.
In "I'm Still Here," Torres plays Eunice Paiva, an activist and mother who is forced to reinvent herself after the disappearance of her husband amid military dictatorship in 1971 Brazil.
Days after Oscar nominations were announced, Torres was back in the news when a decades-old skit she was a part of on the Brazilian TV show, "Fantastico," resurfaced. In the skit, Torres portrayed multiple characters, including one with blackface.
She apologized in a lengthy statement shared by Deadline. "At that time, despite the efforts of Black movements and organizations, the awareness of the racist history and symbolism of blackface hadn't yet entered the mainstream public consciousness in Brazil," she wrote. "Thanks to better cultural understanding and important but incomplete achievements in this century, it's very clear now in our country and everywhere that blackface is never acceptable."
"This is an important conversation we must continue to have with one another in order to prevent the normalization of racist practices then and now," she added. "As an artist and global citizen, and from my open heart, I remain attentive and committed to the pursuit of vital changes needed to live in a world free from inequality and racism."
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