The Biggest Snubs of the 2025 Oscar Nominations: Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and Selena Gomez Shut Out

Mar. 15, 2025

Pablo Larraín/Netflix; Niko Tavernise/A24; Shanna Besson/PAGE 114 WHY NOT PRODUCTIONS

The2025 Oscar nominations are here! And when presentersBowen YangandRachel Sennottannounced the lucky few who’d be competing for those 8.5-pound gold trophies on Sunday, March 2, there were some expected names (Demi Moore!Adrien Brody!), but many glaring omissions (Selena Gomez!Nicole Kidman!). Read on for the biggest snubs of the day.

The Oscar winner, 57, gave one of the year’s most dynamic performances as Romy Mathis, a married tech company CEO who begins an affair with a mysterious and manipulative young intern (Harris Dickinson). It’s a juicy role that allows Kidman to show her considerable range: As Romy, she’s tightly-wound one minute and reckless the next. Though Kidman was nominated for a Golden Globe as well as a Gotham Award — andreceived best actress honors from the National Board of Review— the Academy overlooked her performance in a highly competitive year for Best Actress. This one’s a tough pill to swallow, so we’ll wash it down with a tall glass of milk.

Pamela Anderson for ‘The Last Showgirl’

The Last Showgirl.Roadside Attractions

Roadside Attractions

Jamie Lee Curtis for ‘The Last Showgirl’

The tan, leathery skin. The red shag wig. The frosted lipstick. Three years after her tour de force inEverything Everywhere All at Once, Oscar-winner Jamie Lee Curtis once again completely disappears into a character. InThe Last Showgirl, she’s Annette, a struggling Las Vegas cocktail waitress who’s a sounding board for her best friend, Sin City entertainer Shelly (Pamela Anderson). It’s a true supporting role, but Curtis, 66, makes a meal of every scene she’s in. Curtis was snubbed at previous awards shows this season, but her surprise Screen Actors Guild nod suggested she might make the cut at the Oscars in the Best Supporting Actress category. Sadly, she didn’t.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste for ‘Hard Truths’

Hard Truths.StudioCanal

StudioCanal

Reteaming with Mike Leigh, the director who steered her to her first and only Oscar nomination with 1996’sSecrets & Lies, Jean-Baptiste looked to land her second nod thanks to this tart comedy about a deeply unhappy wife and mother whose insults pack a punch. Jean-Baptiste gives an acerbic and unsettling performance — but one not Oscar voters honored.

Angelina Jolie for ‘Maria’

InMaria, director Pablo Larraín’s drama abouttragic opera diva Maria Callas, Jolie, 49, acts with a capital A: she emotes, she sings, she swans around in fabulous costumes. And while promoting the fictionalized biopic — the type that’s normally catnip to Academy voters — Jolie talked about the all prep work she undertook, liketaking voice lessons with a coach. Ultimately, though, it wasn’t enough to land her in one of the five Best Actress slots.

Danielle Deadwyler for ‘The Piano Lesson’

The Piano Lesson.Courtesy of Netflix

Courtesy of Netflix

Clarence Maclin for ‘Sing Sing’

Acting newcomer Maclin, who was formerly incarcerated, plays a version of himself inthe remarkable true story of the Rehabilitation Through the Arts theater program, held at high security prisons. Though he landed several nominations in the past few months, he was shut out of the Oscars' Best Supporting Actor category. On a bright note, he did earn a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination for co-writing ‘Sing Sing.’

Selena Gomez for ‘Emilia Pérez’

Adam Pearson for ‘A Different Man’

A Different Man.Matt Infante/Courtesy of A24

Matt Infante/Courtesy of A24

The season’s major awards shows — the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild and now the Oscars — did not acknowledge Pearson’s performance as a man with a facial disfigurement who becomes the object of obsession of another man (Sebastian Stan) cured of the same condition.

Denzel Washington for ‘Gladiator II’

Gladiator II.Aidan Monaghan/Paramount Pictures

Aidan Monaghan/Paramount Pictures

The two-time Oscar winner, 70, was an early awards season favorite, landing on several Oscar nomination prediction lists. But the Best Supporting Actor race proved to be ultra-competitive. So competitive, in fact, that Washington — whoearned rave reviewsas the scheming villain Macrinus in Ridley Scott’s follow-up to his 2000 epic — was edged out altogether.

Jonathan Bailey for ‘Wicked’

Wickedfeatures Bailey, 36, as Prince Fiyero, the dreamy love interest of Glinda (Ariana Grande). Despite Bailey being left out of the Best Supporting Actor category, theJon M. Chu-directed musical fantasy film, based on the 2003 Broadway production of the same name, racked up 10 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress forCynthia Erivoand Best Supporting Actress for Grande.

Amy Adams for ‘Nightbitch’

Nightbitch.Searchlight Pictures

Searchlight Pictures

Adams, 50, a six-time Oscar nominee, seemed poised to clinch a seventh forNightbitch. As a married mom to a newborn who slowly turns into a canine when the sun goes down, Adams lets loose in a go-for-broke performance that’s unlike anything she’s done before. In a crowded Best Actress field, however, it wasn’t enough to get Oscar voters’ tails wagging.

Daniel Craig for ‘Queer’

‘Moana 2’

‘Will & Harper’

Will Ferrell and Harper Steele in 2024.Anna Pocaro/IndieWire via Getty

Anna Pocaro/IndieWire via Getty

Will Ferrelland best friend Harper Steele’sdocumentary about their 17-day road tripthrough the U.S. was one of the most moving films of the year. While traveling, Ferrell and Steele, a formerSaturday Night Livewriter who came out as a trans woman years ago, catch up, cry and share candid conversations about life. It was one of 15 movies short-listed for Best Documentary Feature Film, but was ultimately not nominated. Fellow SNL alum Kristen Wiig’s theme, “Harper and Will Go West” was also overlooked for Best Original Song.

source: people.com