There is no shortage of competitors in the Best Actor category hoping to be nominated for the 2025 Oscars and try to win. The Academy Award for Best Leading Actor is one of the biggest awards each year, and it will be no different in 2025. Following in the footsteps of Cillian Murphy’s big win for oppenheimer In 2024, there is a whole new generation of artists who want to win this year. They will be among the nominees in all categories at the 2025 Oscars, as voters decide which five actors deserve nominations before narrowing the number down to a single winner.
Like those in front of the camera, acting awards can often get more attention than the 2025 Best Director Oscar nominations. There is often a lot of overlap between the actors nominated for Best Actor and the selection of films that compete for Best Picture. Since those ten films are considered the best of the best, it’s understandable that they would include the best performances of the year. Whether the 2025 Oscar Best Picture nominees fully cover the acting category or not, On-screen rantBest Actor predictions are below.
|
Actor |
Movie |
|
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Ralph Fiennes |
Conclave |
|
2 |
Adrian Brody |
The brutalist |
|
3 |
Daniel Craig |
queer |
|
4 |
Colman Domingo |
sing sing |
|
5 |
Timothée Chalamet |
A complete stranger |
6 other contenders for the 2025 Oscar as best actor
Many other actors are still in the running
The list of five actors we predict will earn Best Actor Oscar nominations when nominees are announced on January 17, 2025, is subject to change, as several other actors are still in the running. It has been confirmed that Jesse Plemons is seeking a Best Actor nomination for types of kindness. Sebastian Stan has two different movies that could put him in the running, but that depends on how the campaigns go. The apprentice and a different man. John David Washington is also a potential candidate to watch The piano lesson.
There are also some past Best Actor nominees who could still get support on voters’ ballots. Andrew Garfield’s emotional performance in We live in time he could gain support as a former two-time nominee in the category. Paul Mescal is also a dark horse for Gladiator II after getting a nomination for Aftersun previously. There’s still a chance Joaquin Phoenix gets a nomination Joker: Folie à Deux considering he won Best Actor for the first film. Plus, there’s Tom Hanks to Here lurking as a late contender and fighting for his first Best Actor nomination in over 20 years.
5 Timothée Chalamet: a complete unknown
Chalamet already has a nomination for best actor
Near
Timothée Chalamet looks set to earn his second Best Actor Oscar nomination thanks to A complete stranger. He plays iconic musician Bob Dylan in the film, directed by James Mangold. All signs point to this being a somewhat transformative performance by the young Hollywood star, as he masters Dylan’s speaking and singing voice. The Academy has a soft spot for biopics, especially when they involve a celebrity as famous as Bob Dylan, which is another point in Chalamet’s favor.
A complete stranger It would be Chalamet’s first Oscar nomination since 2018, when he entered the race thanks to call me by your name. Since then, she’s become a bigger star, balancing roles with more obvious Oscar potential, such as A complete stranger with its first franchise, Dune. Although his portrayal of Paul Atreides is excellent in Dune: Part Twothe Academy is unlikely to recognize him for it. That could make his Bob Dylan movie a chance for the Oscars to effectively recognize the overall work he put in in 2024 between the two films.
Gary Oldman beat Timothée Chalamet for the Oscar for best actor in 2018
However, the arguments in favor of Chalamet’s nomination and possible victory are still incomplete. no one has seen A complete strangerand important precursor prizes have not yet been awarded. There’s no clear evidence that a Best Actor Oscar nomination is in Chalamet’s future, but it’s still a likely outcome given the buzz around the film and the actor’s standing in the industry.
4 Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
Domingo earned his first Oscar nomination last year
Near
Colman Domingo is back in the awards race and this could be the time he wins the Best Actor award. He had a decisive role when it came to the Oscars in 2023 with Rustin. Domingo’s powerful performance in the biopic garnered strong support from voters when he received his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. While he ultimately didn’t win the category, this suggested it would just take another strong performance to get back into the race.
He is well positioned to earn Best Actor Oscar nominations in consecutive years.
Thanks to sing singAfter its debut at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2023, it was learned that Domingo had already done so before officially losing at the 2024 Oscars. A24 postponed the release sing sing until 2024 so she would be a candidate for the 2025 Oscars, probably in part due to the support that Domingo already had for a nomination for Rustin. He is now well positioned to earn Best Actor Oscar nominations in consecutive years. Support for him to emerge victorious this year should be even greater.
Although major precursors to the 2025 Oscars that could affect the Best Actor race have yet to occur, Colman Domingo has already earned some recognition for his sing sing performance. Her current awards include the Spotlight Award at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and the Impact Award at the Middleburg Film Festival. Neither are direct indicators of the Oscar voting system, but they increase praise for his performance and help bolster his chances for Best Actor.
3 Daniel Craig – Queer
He has never been nominated for an Oscar
Daniel Craig is a great contender for Best Actor at the 2025 Oscars thanks to queer. Luca Guadagnino’s film shows the former James Bond actor as an ex-military man in Texas who begins to fall in love with a younger man. It is Daniel Craig’s performance that has stood out among the critics of queerwhile the majority praises him for having given the best performance of his career. That narrative is strong enough to propel the actor right into the middle of the Best Actor race.
Although Daniel Craig has never been nominated for an Oscar, he has a lot of support in Hollywood to get the nomination in 2025. queer is a clear break with Bond or Knives outtwo franchises that largely dominated the last decade of his career. The dramatic turnaround is worth celebrating. A24’s involvement in the film’s Oscar campaign should also help, as the studio previously helped Brendan Fraser win his first Oscar for the whale Two years ago.
History is also a little on Daniel Craig’s side when it comes to landing a Best Actor nomination for his starring role in a Luca Guadagnino film. The director previously directed Timothée Chalamet to his first Oscar nomination in call me by your nameso the same could happen to Craig. If you are going to win the award, some precursor awards will go a long way to helping build the necessary narrative.
2 Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
He is already the winner of the Oscar for Best Actor
Near
Adrien Brody is likely to return to the Best Actor race for the 2025 Oscars. His role in The brutalist has placed him strongly in contention to win the Academy Award once again. Adrien Brody won the Oscar for best actor in 2003 for the pianistand made history by becoming the youngest actor to win an Oscar. That apparently would have positioned him as a frequent contender for more nominations and wins, but that hasn’t happened. The brutalist It would be Brody’s first Oscar nomination since winning the award more than two decades earlier.
Adrien Brody was 29 years old when he set the record for the youngest actor to win an Oscar
The brutalist It is predicted to be a strong Oscar contender in many categories, but it is unclear which one will actually win. That could do Adrien Brody an extra favor if he becomes the aspect of the movie that voters rally around to show their support. It’s certainly a common point of praise among early critics, but whether the acting branch ultimately recognizes his work in the same way remains to be determined. Even if there isn’t enough support for him to win at the end of the day, The brutalistThe appearance of is a big boost to Adrien Brody’s chances.
Adrien Brody currently doesn’t have any awards to help support the case for his Best Actor nomination at the 2025 Oscars. Finding a spot at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Golden Globes and more could give him more confidence about his chances of winning. And although A24 will have competitive campaigns for Brody and Craig, The brutalistMichael’s stronger position as an overall contender could give the former Oscar winner an advantage over the former James Bond.
1 Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
He is a two-time Oscar nominee.
The Best Actor category at the 2025 Oscars could finally be Ralph Fiennes’ time to become an Oscar winner. He is currently our predicted winner for Best Actor at the 2025 Oscars thanks to his performance in Conclave. Early reviews of the film point to Fiennes’ performance as one of the highlights, and that sentiment should be consistent as more people see the film. That’s a good sign for Ralph Fiennes to earn a Best Actor nomination and stay at the front of the pack of contenders.
It’s been almost thirty years since his last Oscar nomination
The narrative behind Ralph Fiennes being nominated and possibly winning the Best Actor Oscar is also strong. He has been nominated twice before by the Academy. His first Oscar nomination came in 1994 for Schindler’s List in Best Supporting Actor. He followed up with a Best Actor nomination three years later for The English patient. Despite the overall excellence of his career, it has been almost thirty years since his last Oscar nomination and a victory has yet to elude him. The 2025 Oscars may change that.
Conclave is an expected Oscar contender in several categories, which helps Ralph Fiennes’ case, but the film needs to gain more momentum or shift its focus to simply supporting him in order to win. He’s far from a lock to win the award, as any of the aforementioned actors could easily edge him out. As the precursors develop, so will the Best Actor race for the 2025 Oscars and make it clearer.