Thenominations for this year’s Academy Awardshave finally been announced following delays, with the simmering anticipation for the biggest day in the movie calendar now growing to a gentle boiling tension. Unable to honor everyone, The Academy has the tough choice of taking a year brimming with excellent lead performances and choosing just ten across both categories, withthis year’s selection one of the strongest in recent memory.
From unapologetic powerhouse turns to performances that made fanshold space, these lead performances provoked all types of emotions in audiences. They come from a wide selection of genres, including comedy, musical, and even horror, a rarity among the Oscars' usual practices.This link is a ranking of every best lead performance nominee at the 2025 Oscars. Several factors will be considered for the ranking, including the performer’s versatility, the character’s complexity, their role in the movie, and the performance itself, as well as its ability to be engaging and affecting.
10Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump
‘The Apprentice’
WhenThe Apprenticewas first announced, many thought that portraying acharacter as divisive as Donald Trumpwould be nigh on impossible to get right. Step forward,Sebastian Stan, who took to the role with sheer poise. The movie follows the rise of Trump through the New York real estate scene in the 1970s and 1980s, specifically touching on his whirlwind friendship with attorney Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong).
Stan’s performance as Trump is one of two from an acclaimed year for theMCUalumni, with his other as Edward inA Different Manearning him the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at the Berlin International Film Festival and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. As Trump,Stan perfectly walks the line between the very real tensionthat lives at the heart of the man he portrays. Neither a scathing character assassination nor a glorifying appraisal, there’s really no other way this portrayal could’ve been more suitable for a current audience.
The Apprentice
9Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan
‘A Complete Unknown’
Themusical biopic is a genre awash with options, with the success ofBohemian Rhapsodytruly changing the game forever. In the light ofElvis Presley, Elton John, and evenRobbie Williamsas a CGI monkey all getting their shot at the musical biopic,A Complete Unknownneeded to truly pull out all the stops to impress the Academy. The ace upSearchlight’s sleeve wasTimothée Chalamet, whose portrayal of Bob Dylan has made him the third-youngest two-time nominee in the Best Actor category.
With no expense spared in this immersive performance,Chalamet offers a truly nuanced lookat the man behind the music, as well as putting his voice to the songs for good measure. Never obvious and always looking to capture the essence of the title,Chalamet’s performance has left many yearning for more, which is certainly a compliment for a turn that aims to craft a character that oozesA Complete Unknown.
A Complete Unknown
8Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba Thropp
There really has been no movie that has quitecaptured the audience’s attentionin the past six months.Jon M. Chu’s film adaptation of the iconic Broadway showWickedseesCynthia ErivoandAriana Grandeadopt the iconic roles of Elphaba and Glinda to great acclaim. Both have been nominated for Oscars, and both are potential favorites to take their respective crowns.
In the lead role of the Wicked Witch herself,Erivo stuns with a voice of velvet genius and an acting performance to match. Perfectly capturing the true essence of this story of fighting for representation, Erivo never holds back, avoiding nuance to shoot straight to the heart of this rousing tale. Truly, she is gravity-defying.
7Karla Sofia Gascón as Emilia Pérez
‘Emilia Pérez’
The discourse surroundingEmilia Pérezhas been mixed at best. The movie’s certain critical acclaim—showcased by it earning an astonishing thirteen Academy Award nominations—is at complete odds with the often brutal disassembly of the movie’s themes by a global audience that has left the film with a19% Rotten Tomatoesaudience rating. However, one thing is seemingly agreed upon, and that is the terrific central performance ofKarla Sofia Gascónas the titularEmilia Pérez.
It first needs to be noted that whatever is made of the movie, forGascón to become the first openly trans actor ever nominated for an Oscaris a triumph. Whether or not the origin of this success is appreciated by the public, this is a definite move in the right direction for the Academy. Her many real-life controversies notwithstanding, Gascón’s powerful, touching performance deserves to be celebrated, especially considering some of the film’s more haphazard writing.
Emilia Perez
6Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence
‘Conclave’
Described by many as “Gossip Girlset in the Vatican,“Conclavehas become a quiet favorite to pick up a few awards at this year’s Oscars. Chief perhaps among them—especially considering directorEdward Berger’s snub —isRalph Fiennes' portrayal of Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, the man at the heart of the choice to elect the new Pope following the sudden death of the former.
Shockingly, Fiennes has never won an Academy Award. However, a win for the man behind Voldermort would be anything but a legacy choice, with thissubdued, observational central performanceworthy of just as much praise as the many loud turns also receiving notoriety at this year’s ceremony.A studied performance with the grace of his decades of experience,Conclavewouldn’t be the same without Fiennes, and neither would this year’s Best Actor category.
5Fernanda Torres as Eunice Paiva
‘I’m Still Here’
The biggest surprise to this year’s leading actor category nominations also came with enormous applause from fans.Fernanda Torres' nomination forI’m Still Herefeels like the Academy listening to the voice of the many, with this performance as an activist mother who is faced with the enforced disappearance of her husband against the backdrop of political unrest nothing short of mesmeric.
The poignantI’m Still Herehas received three nominations for this year’s Academy Awards, also becoming the first-ever Brazilian title to be nominated for Best Picture. However, it is Torres' nomination that has pleased people the most, with much of the movie’s praise delivered in her direction. Through the smallest of details, from a glance to a deft touch,Torres delivers a quietly powerful performancethat might even upset the odds on Oscars night.
4Colman Domingo as John “Divine G” Whitfield
‘Sing Sing’
Colman Domingo’s nomination forRustinat the previous Academy Awards ceremony was certainly well-deserved, but it is perhaps this performance and nomination as John “Divine G” Whitfield that is even more worthy of acclaim. This unique tale tells the true story of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts program atSing SingMaximum Security Prison and follows a group of incarcerated men as they craft and perform stage shows.
Crucial to this group of incarcerated men is Domingo’s Divine G, a man locked up for a crime he didn’t commit. Facing the reality of his hellish struggle, Divine G finds hope and happiness through this innovative rehabilitation program, withDomingo’s stirring turnthe sort that will live long in the memory of audiences. Both emotional and uplifting,Domingo is a force to be reckoned with inSing Sing.
3Mikey Madison as Anora “Ani” Mikheeva
2024’s winner of the coveted Palme d’Or prize at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival,Anorais a vibrant, whirlwind tale that follows sex worker Ani (Mikey Madison), who marries the son of a Russian oligarch without his parents' knowledge. After his parents receive news of the marriage, their disapproval sees them travel the world to halt proceedings, only for their son to go on the run and for Ani’s life to inexplicably change forever.
This gorgeous, twisting tale isfull of clever humor, action, and a deeply touching emotional core. Pivotal to all three of these is Madison, whose portrayal of Anora is nothing short of career-defining.A truly vulnerable central performancethat carries the heavy weight of this chargedCinderellastory, the sight of Madison lifting the golden statue come March 3 would make many very happy.
2Adrien Brody as László Tóth
‘The Brutalist’
Most likelythe front-runner in the category for Best Actorin a Leading Role,Adrien Brody’s performance as acclaimed architect László Tóth has had the entire industry talking. A Hungarian-Jewish Holocaust survivor,The Brutalistfollows Tóth’s struggle to achieve the American Dream after moving across the world, only for a wealthy industrialist client,Guy Pearce’s Harrison Lee Van Buren, to seemingly change his life. However, is it all too good to be true?
Considering the movie is over three-and-a-half hours long, there is certainly nowhere for Brody to hide throughoutThe Brutalist. Nor should he, with this work the sort that only a master of their craft could pull off. Over 20 years ago,Brody became the youngest actor ever, at 29, to win the Best Actor prize at the Academy Awards, and asmore and more people get the chance to seeThe Brutalist, it is seemingly increasingly likely he is ready to earn his second golden statue for a leading role.
The Brutalist
1Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle
‘The Substance’
WhenThe Substancefirst arrived on public screens, even in light of its Cannes Film Festival success, many saw it as too grotesque a body horror experience to ever trouble the Academy’s main categories. However, as time continued and the movie picked up even more steam, itslowly became a whispered favorite to earn several nominations. Chief among said nominations was forDemi Mooreand her portrayal of Elisabeth Sparkle, a former Hollywood star who, on her 50th birthday, is fired simply for being too old. With nowhere to turn and a grudge to face, Elisabeth turns to a revolutionary black market drug to create a younger version of herself, quite literally, off her own back.
Of all the performances at this year’s Academy Awards, Moore’s is the one that seems to havestruck the strongest chord with audiences. A victim of the same vitriolic societal system that champions self-loathing and body-shaming in women, Moore more than understood the assignment when it came to Elisabeth Sparkle, producing a performance that isn’t just one of the most affecting and powerful of the year but of the decade. Having already won a Golden Globe for her performance, can Moore go all the way and take home a well-deserved Oscar? The answer is probably “yes,” and thank the movie gods for that.
NEXT:From ‘Dune: Part Two’ to ‘Emilia Pérez,’ How This Year’s Best Picture Nominees Fared on Letterboxd
