Welcome to the lead actress race for 2025. With the fall film festival season now in the distance and a few potential contenders still to debut on the horizon, it’s time for our first look at the battle for Best Actress.
Unlike most seasons of recent years, the race for Best Actress isn’t looking all that overcrowded. I’m not sure what that says about the year in film, but it’s hard to deny that there isn’t the usual overwhelming list of lead female performances vying for the five spots. At least we won’t all be pulling our hair out trying to nail down our final predictions this year.
Festival season brought us our undeniable Best Actress frontrunner in Jessie Buckley (Hamnet). With a performance for the ages, Buckley leaps straight into the top spot. Frankly, I don’t think she’s going to budge from there for the remainder of the season, and we’re likely looking at Chloé Zhao directing another performer to a Best Actress win. But there’s still a long way to go yet.
Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value) is a strong contender and is looking likely to ensnare the Best Actress nomination she should have received for The Worst Person in the World in 2021. Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You) scored a Best Actress win at the Berlin International Film Festival, which could (and should) lead to her first Oscar nomination. And, now that Searchlight Pictures has picked up The Testament of Ann Lee, Amanda Seyfried lands straight into contention with a performance you won’t easily forget.
That just leaves all eyes on Cynthia Erivo, who seems highly likely to follow her Best Actress nomination last year with another one this season for Wicked: For Good, which will premiere sometime in November. Elphaba’s journey is obviously darker in the sequel and gives Erivo more meaty material to play with. And we know she’s only an O away from that coveted EGOT. But will she have a better chance in Best Original Song for her songwriting work on “No Place Like Home?”
BEST ACTRESS PREDICTIONS:
1. Jessie Buckley – Hamnet (Focus Features)
2. Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value (NEON)
3. Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)
4. Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)
5. Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee (Searchlight Pictures)
IN CONTENTION
Jodie Foster – Vie Privée (Sony Pictures Classics)
Julia Garner – Weapons (Warner Bros.)
Kate Hudson – Song Sung Blue (Sony Pictures Classics)
Jennifer Lawrence – Die My Love (MUBI)
Julia Roberts – After the Hunt (Amazon MGM Studios)
June Squibb – Eleanor the Great (Sony Pictures Classics)
Emma Stone – Bugonia (Focus Features)
Sydney Sweeney – Christy (Black Bear)
Tessa Thompson – Hedda (Amazon MGM Studios)
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby (A24)
