Biggest Oscar snubs and surprises 2025: Sebastian Stan, Fernanda Torres and more

On By Littum

After a scandal-ridden few years that had the Golden Globes on the ropes, it could be awarded the body’s influence everywhere in the Oscar nominations. Would “I’m Still Here” have outperformed—picking up nominations for picture, international picture and lead actress Fernanda Torres—if Torres hadn’t won a Golden Globe for best actress in a drama just before the extended Oscar voting process began? Would Demi Moore be considered an Oscar front-runner if she hadn’t delivered such a dynamite Golden Globe speech? While the Globes don’t always get it right, it’s hard to beat the impact of a televised awards show, and Oscar strategists will be eager to repeat those wins next season. Not bad for a ceremony that Hollywood put together to run from the air in 2022.

In “Hard Truths,” Marianne plays Jean-Baptiste Pansy, an unhappy woman with an endless list of grievances. Well, you can add one more to the list: Although Jean-Baptiste received top honors from critics’ groups in New York and Los Angeles, as well as the National Society of Film Critics, the Academy paid her dust. What gives? While I predicted that Jean-Baptiste would just barely make the best acting fit, it was hard to shake the number of male voters I spoke to who simply didn’t like the character. When a woman suffers nobly, it’s Oscar bait. But when she makes others suffer, not so much.

Over the past decade, actors who have been nominated at no other major precursors besides the Screen Actors Guild Awards typically do not make the Oscar lineup. Good on Monica Barbaro for beating those steep odds: the 34-year-old actress who plays Joan Baez in “A Complete Unknown” earned a supporting actress nomination over tough competition that included Jamie Lee Curtis (“The Last Showgirl”) , Danielle Deadwyler (“The Piano Lesson”), Margaret Qualley (“The Fabric”) and Selena Gomez (“Emilia Pérez”).

Even though it was one of my favorite movies of the year, I wasn’t bullish on “Challengers” earning any Oscar nominations: The movie was simply too funny and came way too early in the year. Still, you might have been hoping for at least one original score nomination, as the Thrumming Techno Beats composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross gave us the year’s most distinctive soundtrack. Unfortunately, the Oscars completely snubbed their score, even though Reznor and Ross won Golden Globes for it just weeks ago. (Ok, maybe the Golden Globes’ renewed influence only stretches so far.)

How well did “Emilia Pérez” do? With 13 Oscar nominations, the film led the way Thursday, and if Gomez had managed to snag that supporting actress nomination, it would have tied the record of 14 nominations held by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Jord.” But the film still made Oscar history with its leading lady Karla Sofía Gascón, who became the first openly trans actress to be nominated for an Academy Award. Two cisgender actors have won Oscars for playing trans roles, Jared Leto (“Dallas Buyers Club”) and Hilary Swank (“Boys Don’t Cry”), but if Gascón wins, she will become the first trans actor to the.