Among the many riveting films dominating 2025’s awards season, one category in particular is seeing an incredibly tight race. Zoe Saldaña gave an unprecedented performance inEmilia Pérezas lawyer Rita Mora Castro, who helps former cartel boss Emilia Pérez (Karla Sofía Gascón) transition and fake her death. However,Ariana Grande’s performance as GlindainWickedhas also received an astounding amount of acclaim, leading to Grande (credited by her full name Ariana Grande-Butera) and Saldaña being positioned as the two frontrunners in the same category at most major movie awards shows.
Emilia PérezandWickedhave naturally drawn many comparisons,as two major likely Best Picture nominees, both musicals, and both focusing on female casts. Yet the two movies' tones, as well as Saldaña and Grande’s characters and performances, are drastically different. Saldaña plays an ambitious attorney grappling with complex moral dilemmas with nuance and ferocity; Grande delivers a hilarious but still compassionate turn as a future good witch; both with an incredible amount of empowerment behind them. Yet, as the 97th Academy Awards draws closer, the Best Supporting Actress winner is perhaps becoming clearer.
Zoe Saldaña’s Golden Globes Win Strengthens Her Best Supporting Actress 2025 Oscars Portfolio
Zoe Saldaña Won The Golden Globes For Best Supporting Actress Over Ariana Grande
Pretty much everyone in the industry agrees thateither Zoe Saldaña or Ariana Grande will be taking home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 2025.However, the result is starting to seem evident, especially in light of Saldaña’s win forEmilia Pérezat the 82nd Golden Globes, beating Grande in the category of Best Performance by a Female Actor in A Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture. This is followingEmilia Pérez’s monumental win at the Cannes Film Festival, as well as Saldaña being nominated for her performance by many other awarding bodies.
Oscars 2025 Nominations: Predicting The Winners Of All 23 Categories
The Oscars 2025 are rapidly approaching, and with nominations now officially announced, we’re predicting the winners of all 23 categories.
Saldaña was named a co-winner for Best Ensemble Cast at Cannes alongside the rest of the mainEmilia Pérezcast. She also won Best Supporting Actress at the Dallas-Forth Worth Film Critics Association Awards, the Florida Film Critics Circle Awards, and the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards, in addition to winning or being nominated for a slew of other critics' awards. The Critics' Choice Awards is also just around the corner, with Grande again being a nominee in the same category as Saldaña. However, it seems as though the biggest awards this season are favoring Saldaña over Grande.
The Golden Globes Have A Strong History Of Matching The Oscars' Best Supporting Actress Winner
The Golden Globes & Oscars Have Chosen Very Few Different Best Supporting Actresses In Recent Years
The Golden Globes and the Oscars do not necessarily always pick the same winner. However, the basic stats reveal that they have historically often chosen the same winners in their Best Supporting Actress categories.The two awarding bodies have chosen 37 out of 81 of the same supporting actresses overall;this is 15 out of 24 in this century, and 7 out of 10 in the last decade. Thus, while in the eight decades of both shows, they have varied enough to choose different winners half the time, they have been more frequently choosing the same winner in recent years.
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Patricia Arquette forBoyhood
Many years had obvious winners for whom most would have easily voted, such was the case with Viola Davis forFencesand Laura Dern forMarriage Story. However, the category was locked in another tight race barely two years ago with Angel Bassett inBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever, as well as the dual powerhouse performances of Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu inEverything Everywhere All at Once. In years like these, each vote may come down to personal preference. Yet critics will respect other critics' opinions, allowing Golden Globe winners to gain an even stronger footing at the Oscars.
Zoe Saldaña’s Awards Season Tour Shows No Signs Of Slowing Down
Heading into the Oscars, Academy members may be affected, even subconsciously, by the outcome of the Golden Globes, which has long been seen as a preview of the following awards ceremony. While various outlets may have predicted Saldaña before, her win at the Golden Globes will only make her awards-season presence stronger and increase the likelihood of an Oscar win. Had Grande won at the Golden Globes, things might have begun to shift in her favor, encouraging the Academy to vote for Grande’s more comedic performance in the movie with more popular appeal.
Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba vs. Ariana Grande’s Glinda: Who The Real MVP Of Wicked Is
Wicked invites comparisons between Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba and Ariana Grande’s Glinda, who are equally vital to the central story and themes.
As things stand,Saldaña is having a very strong awards season, with one win after another,and she seems primed to sweep the remainder of the major competitions. However, nothing is set in stone, and Grande could still surprise everyone at the Oscars. Grande has also won several critics' awards for her portrayal of Glinda, including at the San Diego Film Critics Society Awards, the Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards, and the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards. However, as far as Ariana Grande andWickedare concerned, Zoe Saldaña inEmilia Pérezis the one to beat, making for an especially thrilling aspect of this awards season.
Emilia Perez
Cast
Emilia Perez is a drama film that follows the life of Emilia Perez, a determined and ambitious individual striving to make a name for herself in a competitive environment. The story explores her journey as she navigates the challenges and obstacles that come her way, all while uncovering the complexities of her own identity.
Wicked
Wicked adapts the Broadway musical into a two-part film, following the unlikely friendship between Elphaba, born with green skin, and Glinda, a popular aristocrat, in the Land of Oz. As they navigate their contrasting paths, they evolve into Glinda the Good and the Wicked Witch of the West.
