‘Anora’ Wins Big at the 2025 Oscars
Sean Baker’s film was the big winner at the 2025 Oscars, taking home best picture and four other awards, while ‘Emilia Pérez’ and ‘Wicked’ also received trophies.
Anora was the big winner at the 2025 Oscars, taking home five of the six awards it was nominated for: best picture, best director, best actress for Mikey Madison, original screenplay, and editing. The film’s writer-director-editor Sean Baker has now tied Walt Disney’s record for the amount of Oscars taken home in one night.
Adrien Brody won best actor for his role in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, beating out Timotheé Chalamet as Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s biopic A Complete Unknown. Kieran Culkin won best supporting actor for A Real Pain.
The show, which was hosted by Conan O’Brien, began with a tribute to Los Angeles and a performance by Ariana Grande, who sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from The Wizard of Oz in a glittery red gown. She was joined by her co-star Cynthia Erivo, who performed “Home” from The Wiz. The pair then brought down the house with a rendition of Wicked’s “Defying Gravity.”
Grande, a first-time Oscar nominee, was up for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Glinda in Wicked. Erivo, who played the role of Elphaba, was nominated for Best Actress, making her the second Black actress ever to be nominated twice in the category, following Viola Davis. Wicked, which was nominated for 10 awards in total, received trophies in Production Design and Costume Design, making Paul Tazewell the first Black man to win an award in the category.
Emilia Pérez, which received 13 nominations, took home two awards, best supporting actress (Zoe Saldaña) and original song (“El Mal”). Another song from Emilia Pérez, the Selena Gomez-led “Mi Camino,” was also nominated for original song.
The Oscars paid tribute to the James Bond franchise, honoring Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, who received the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award last November. After actress Margaret Qualley performed a dance number, BLACKPINK’s Lisa, Doja Cat, and Raye each performed songs from the Bond franchise. Lisa handled “Live and Let Die,” Doja did “Diamonds Are Forever,” and Raye sang “Skyfall.” The trio are currently promoting their collaboration “Born Again.”
Later in the night, Queen Latifah paid tribute to the late Quincy Jones and performed “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz.
