Oscar nominations 2025: Who got snubbed

by · The Seattle Times

Nominees for the 97th annual Academy Awards were announced early Thursday morning, with “Emilia Perez” and “The Brutalist,” among others, receiving multiple nominations including best picture. There’ll be plenty of time to celebrate the nominees, but for now, let’s follow tradition and tip our hats to those who didn’t hear their names called this morning — call it the Academy of the Snubbed.

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Normally I would kick off with the name of a neglected famous actor here, but instead I’m going to call attention to the Academy’s most egregious failing this morning: the lack of a nomination for cinematographer Jomo Fray’s transcendent work in “Nickel Boys.” The film wasn’t entirely ignored — it got nods for best picture and adapted screenplay — but come ON, Academy.

OK, over to the actors! In the principal acting categories, Marianne Jean-Baptiste’s fierce performance in Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” got robbed, Angelina Jolie’s lovely turn as opera singer Maria Callas in “Maria” didn’t get an encore, and Nicole Kidman’s buzz in “Babygirl” went silent. On the male side, Daniel Craig in “Queer” got edged out, Jesse Eisenberg was ignored for “A Real Pain,” and wouldn’t it have been fun if Hugh Grant had gotten nominated for “Heretic“? Ah well.

Among the supporting actors, I would have loved to have seen Danielle Deadwyler squeeze in for her beautiful work in “The Piano Lesson” (a film that was entirely snubbed), or Jamie Lee Curtis, so vivid in “The Last Showgirl” (ditto). (In the supporting actress category, let me just say that while Zoe Saldaña is absolutely terrific in “Emilia Pérez,” that is NOT a supporting role.) And it was disappointing that Clarence Maclin, the glorious poet of “Sing Sing,” didn’t make the cut, nor did Stanley Tucci’s sly turn in “Conclave” nor Jonathan Bailey’s delightful song-and-dance in “Wicked.”

The current custom of having 10 best picture nominees but only five directing nominees means that, by necessity, some very good directors get ignored on nomination morning. But if you ask me (and the Academy didn’t), I would have made room for RaMell Ross (“Nickel Boys”). And why “A Real Pain” didn’t make either of those two lists, I couldn’t tell you — maybe writer/director/star Jesse Eisenberg made it all look too easy?

In the writing categories, I wish there had been room in adapted screenplay for Pedro Almodovar’s “The Room Next Door” and Richard Linklater’s sly “Hit Man,” and, in original screenplay, Mike Leigh’s wonderful (and entirely snubbed) “Hard Truths.”

Elsewhere, why did the Academy ignore the electric work of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for original score (“Challengers“)? Or Jacqueline West’s wildly imaginative costumes for “Dune: Part Two“?

What’s the most egregious snub, in your book, on this Oscar morning? Share in the comments below!