2025 Oscars Noms Include Surprise Donald Trump Nod

This year’s Oscar nominations were revealed at long last Thursday morning—with at least one nod that seemed specifically designed to enrage incoming President Donald Trump. And that does not include the musical about a transgender Mexican cartel leader leading the way with the most nominations.

Emilia Pérez and Wicked were among the films leading the pack, both with Best Picture nominations and Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress nods for their respective stars Karla Sofía Gascón and Zoe Saldana, and Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

With 13 total nominations, Emilia Pérez fell only one short of joining the exclusive club of films receiving the most-ever Oscar nods. It is, however, now the record-folder for nominations for a foreign language film; Gascón is the first openly trans person to be nominated for an Academy Award.

On another note, though, is it to soon to start a “Justice for Fiyero” campaign, asking for a friend?

After decades in the business, Demi Moore landed her first-ever Oscars nod for her role in body-horror drama The Substance; her co-star Margaret Qualley was snubbed in the Best Supporting Actress category, however.

Other noticeable (though arguably not surprising) non-noms included Nicole Kidman missing out for Babygirl, Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths, and Daniel Craig for the Luca Guadagnino-directed Queer—the latter’s omission in the Best Actor category likely opening the spot for Sebastian Stan and his turn as the ‘character’ of Donald Trump in The Apprentice. Stan’s co-star Jeremy Strong (as Trump bestie Roy Cohn) also landed a Best Supporting Actor nomination.

Guadagnino had a particularly tough morning, with an outright lack of nominations for Queer and his buzzy tennis flick Challengers. (Far from a love-fest, if you will.) The latter film falling so short in Oscar voters eyes, and in particular in the Best Score category, saw a torrent of outrage on social media—is it to soon to start a “Justice for Art Donaldson” campaign, asking for another friend?

Challengers star Zendaya’s other big 2024 film, Dune: Part 2, fared somewhat better—it made the cut in the Best Picture category, as well as for cinematography, production design, and other technical categories. Her co-star Timothée Chalamet may have played a veritable messiah as Paul Atreides in that blockbuster, but landed his Best Actor nomination for the Bob Dylan vehicle A Complete Unknown. His double-header gig on this weekend’s Saturday Night Live, then, seems perfectly timed.

After battling cancelation rumors and calls for the ceremony to not be televised or even held at all, the Academy pushed forward with the nominations announcement following its postponement due to L.A. wildfires. The noms were announced by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott, who crushed pronunciations and gamely bantered throughout the announcements.

Here are the nominees in the most hotly-anticipated categories:

Best Picture

• Anora

• The Brutalist

• A Complete Unknown

• Conclave

• Dune: Part Two

• Emilia Pérez

• I’m Still Here

• Nickel Boys

• The Substance

• Wicked

Best Director

• Sean Baker (Anora)

• Brady Corbet (The Brutalist)

• James Mangold (A Complete Unknown)

• Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez)

• Coralie Fargeat (The Substance)

Best Actor

• Adrien Brody (The Brutalist)

• Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown)

• Colman Domingo (Sing Sing)

• Ralph Fiennes (Conclave)

• Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice)

Best Actress

• Cynthia Erivo (Wicked)

• Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Pérez)

• Mikey Madison (Anora)

• Demi Moore (The Substance)

• Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here)

Best Supporting Actor

• Yura Borisov (Anora)

• Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain)

• Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown)

• Guy Pearce (The Brutalist)

• Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice)

Best Supporting Actress

• Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown)

• Ariana Grande (Wicked)

• Felicity Jones (The Brutalist)

• Isabella Rossellini (Conclave)

• Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez)