The 5 Reigning Queens Of Hollywood: Best Actresses Who Defined The 2025 Awards Season

The landscape of Hollywood’s elite has been dramatically reshaped this year, with a cohort of phenomenal talents delivering career-defining performances that captivated critics and audiences alike. As of December 2025, the conversation around the "best actress" is no longer dominated by legacy names alone, but by a fresh wave of stars and incredible career resurgences that defined the entire 97th Academy Awards and BAFTA season.

The cinematic year was marked by challenging, transformative roles, from an explosive turn in a dark comedy to a groundbreaking performance that shattered historical barriers. These five actresses—led by the youngest major winner of the season—are the undisputed queens of the current acting world, setting a new, high standard for what constitutes a truly powerful performance.

The New Hollywood Royalty: 2025's Most Acclaimed Actresses

The 2025 awards season celebrated performances that were bold, raw, and often deeply unsettling. Here is a look at the actresses whose work earned them the highest accolades and the most critical acclaim in film.

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1. Mikey Madison: The Unstoppable Oscar and BAFTA Winner

Mikey Madison, a 25-year-old American actress, cemented her status as the breakout star of the season by sweeping the major awards. Her performance was widely regarded as the most electric and unforgettable of the year.

• Full Name: Mikey Madison
• Born: March 25, 1999, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
• Breakthrough Role: Max Landis in the series Better Things (2016–2022).
• Award-Winning Role: Anora "Ani" Mikheeva in the romantic comedy-drama film Anora (2024).
• Key 2025 Wins: Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Leading Actress.
• Performance Significance: Madison's portrayal of a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch was lauded for its complexity, high energy, and emotional depth, driving the film's success to also win Best Picture.

Madison’s win was a significant moment, marking a definitive shift in the industry toward recognizing younger, edgier talent in independent cinema. Her work in Anora, directed by Sean Baker, is a masterclass in dynamic screen presence, instantly transforming her from a rising star to a global icon.

2. Demi Moore: The Transformative Career Resurgence

Demi Moore delivered what many critics have called the best performance of her entire four-decade career in the body-horror satire The Substance. Her role was a crucial element of the 2025 awards narrative, representing a powerful Hollywood comeback.

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• Full Name: Demi Gene Guynes
• Born: November 11, 1962, Roswell, New Mexico, U.S.
• Iconic Roles: Ghost (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), G.I. Jane (1997).
• Acclaimed 2025 Role: Elisabeth Sparkle in the film The Substance (2024), a role that demanded immense physical and emotional commitment.
• Key Nominations: Oscar Nominee for Best Actress, BAFTA Nominee.
• Performance Significance: Moore’s portrayal of a fading actress who uses an illicit substance to create a younger, more beautiful version of herself was a visceral, unflinching look at female aging and Hollywood's obsession with youth. It earned her widespread praise for its bravery and intensity.

Despite not taking home the Oscar, Moore’s performance in the Coralie Fargeat-directed film earned her a long-awaited reassessment from the industry. She was a frontrunner throughout the season, proving that her artistic power is stronger than ever.

3. Karla Sofía Gascón: The Groundbreaking Historical First

The Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón made history with her deeply moving and transformative role in Jacques Audiard’s musical crime film, Emilia Pérez. Her nomination was a landmark moment for representation in the industry.

• Full Name: Karla Sofía Gascón
• Born: March 31, 1972, Madrid, Spain.
• Historical Achievement: First openly transgender woman to be nominated for a major acting Oscar (Best Actress) and a Golden Globe.
• Acclaimed 2025 Role: The titular character in Emilia Pérez (2024), a Mexican drug lord who transitions to become a woman.
• Key Nominations: Oscar Nominee for Best Actress, Golden Globe Nominee.
• Performance Significance: Gascón’s dual performance was hailed as the "performance of a lifetime," showcasing a profound range as she navigated the character's complex journey of identity and transformation, making her a critical figure in the conversation about transformative female performances.

Her work, alongside co-star Zoe Saldaña (who won Best Supporting Actress for the same film), highlighted a powerful and diverse new era of acting talent being recognized by the Academy and other major bodies.

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The Leading Ladies of Genre and Stage-to-Screen

Beyond the top three, the 2025 season recognized actresses who excelled in major genre films and adaptations, demonstrating incredible vocal and dramatic skill.

4. Cynthia Erivo: The Powerhouse Voice of Elphaba

Cynthia Erivo, already an acclaimed English actress and singer with a storied history in theatre, earned her nomination for tackling one of the most iconic roles in musical theatre history: Elphaba in the film adaptation of Wicked.

• Full Name: Cynthia Onyedinamanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo
• Born: January 8, 1987, Stockwell, South London, England.
• Iconic Roles: Celie in The Color Purple (Broadway), Harriet Tubman in Harriet (2019).
• Acclaimed 2025 Role: Elphaba in Wicked (2024), a role she is set to reprise in the sequel, Wicked: For Good (2025).
• Key Nominations: Oscar Nominee for Best Actress, BAFTA Nominee.
• Performance Significance: Erivo’s powerful vocal and dramatic portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West demonstrated her incredible versatility, transitioning her powerhouse stage presence to a massive blockbuster film. Her nomination was a testament to the high quality of the film's performances, including that of co-star Ariana Grande.

5. The Critically Acclaimed Contenders and LSI Actresses

The sheer depth of talent in 2025 meant many other actresses delivered performances that dominated the conversation and earned significant critical praise, even if they didn't land the major statuettes. These performances are crucial for understanding the full scope of the year's best acting.

Amy Adams, for instance, received strong buzz for her role in the dark comedy Nightbitch, a film that explored complex maternal themes.

Angelina Jolie, another major entity in the season, was highly praised for her intense portrayal in the biopic Maria, focusing on the life of opera singer Maria Callas.

The Emmys also highlighted significant work in television drama, with actresses like Britt Lower winning for her performance in the critically lauded series Severance, and perennial favorites like Keri Russell (*The Diplomat*) and Kathy Bates (*Matlock*) remaining strong contenders for Best Dramatic Actress.

Other notable names from the wider 2025 awards discussion include Jennifer Lawrence (*Die My Love*), Jessie Buckley (*Hamnet*), Marianne Jean-Baptiste (*Hard Truths*), and Fernanda Torres (*I'm Still Here*), all of whom contributed to an incredibly rich year for female performances, solidifying the year as one of the most competitive in recent memory. The industry is clearly rewarding challenging, unconventional, and transformative roles across all genres and platforms.