And, just like that, the 2025 awards season is over. Cinema’s biggest actors, actresses, and directors have been on what seems like a never-ending red carpet since the Golden Globes kicked off proceedings in January, with the BAFTAs in London and the SAG (Screen Actors Guild Awards) in Los Angeles swiftly following in February. All of the glitz and glamour of those awards, of course, merely prelude the most prestigious event in the world of film: the Academy Awards. As the Oscars signify the close of an awards season that saw some surprise wins, arguable snubs and plenty of fantastic film, we look back at 2025’s biggest awards season winners, from Adrien Brody to Demi Moore. 

Demi Moore for The Substance

Image: Alamy

Image: Alamy

Award wins:

• SAG Awards – Best Actress
• Golden Globes – Best Actress
• Critics’ Choice Awards – Best Actress

It’s been a big awards season for Demi Moore – and one many would say has been a long time coming. Having experienced something of a ‘Demissance’, Moore, at 62, has found herself back in Hollywood’s favour after her performance in The Substance gained not only critical acclaim at Cannes last May, but also a number of award nominations that saw her go head-to-head with the likes of Cynthia Erivo in Wicked, and the much-lauded Mikey Madison in the award-winning Anora. Moore’s role as Elisabeth Sparkle – a Hollywood actress-turned-aerobics instructor who uses drugs to reverse ageing, both physically and mentally – bagged her first ever Golden Globe in January after a 45-year career marked by appearances in Ghost (1990) and About Last Night (1986), as well as being one of the world’s highest paid female actors. 

At the SAG Awards in February, Moore took home her second accolade of the season. Having become a member of the Screen Actors Guild at just 15, she said on stage: “It changed my life because it gave me meaning, it gave me purpose and it gave me direction. I was a kid on my own who had no blueprint for life, and I certainly knew nothing about acting. […] I am so, so grateful that I have continued over so many years to be able to try, and sometimes succeed, and sometimes fail, but to be able to keep going.” 

Zoe Saldaña for Emilia Pérez

Image: Alamy

Image: Alamy

Award wins:

• Oscar – Best Supporting Actress
• BAFTA – Best Actress in a Supporting Role
• Critics’ Choice Award – Best Supporting Sctress

• Critics’ Choice Award – Best Song
• Golden Globes – Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
• SAG Awards – Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Emilia Pérez – the Netflix Spanish-language film about Mexican lawyer Rita Mora Castro, who takes on an assignment to help a cartel leader turn their life around – had a record-breaking 13 nominations during the 2025 awards season, and has picked up gongs for best non-English language film at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs, as well as original song at the Oscars. Its leading lady, however, has also had a clean sweep of accolades, with Zoe Saldaña awarded Best Supporting Actress at the SAG Awards, BAFTAs, Golden Globes and, finally, at the Oscars last night. 

Saldaña is best known for starring in James Cameron’s Avatar films, alongside appearances in the Marvel franchises in Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Endgame. Rather unsurprisingly, she has also garnered attention as the world’s highest-grossing lead female actor ever. Having been dubbed one of the frontrunners for an Oscar this year, Saldaña still seemed surprised during her acceptance speech, emotionally reflecting on how she has broken boundaries: “My grandmother came to this country in 1961. I am the proud child of immigrant parents with dreams and dignity and hard-working hands and I am the first American of Dominican origin to win an Academy Award and I know I will not be the last.”

Adrien Brody for The Brutalist

Award wins:

• Oscar – Best Actor
• BAFTA – Best Actor in a Leading Role
• Critics' Choice Award – Best Actor

• Golden Globes – Best Actor

Adrien Brody has made the 2025 awards season look easy, having picked up Best Actor at the BAFTAs, Oscars and Golden Globes for his role in The Brutalist. Up against Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown – who did pip him to the post with a shock win at the SAG Awards – and Ralph Fiennes in Conclave, Brody first came to fame for his portrayal of Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's war drama The Pianist, which saw him pick up an Oscar in 2003 at the age of 29. His role as a Holocaust survivor who emigrates to the United States in The Brutalist follows a similar vein, and, in a full-circle moment, saw him take home another Oscar last night, 22 years after his first. This double-whammy has promoted him to the rare rank of actors who have a 100 per cent win rate at the Oscars from two or more nominations. No biggie then. 

Brody, however, is one to recognise the societal and cultural importance of his roles in films recounting hugely important historical events. He said he was on the podium “once again to represent the lingering traumas and the repercussions of war and systematic oppression and of anti-semitism and racism and othering”, adding, “I pray for a healthier and a happier and a more inclusive world, and I believe if the past can teach us anything, it’s a reminder to not let hate go unchecked. Let’s fight for what’s right, keep smiling, keep loving one another. Let’s rebuild together. Thank you.” 

Mikey Madison for Anora

Award wins:

• Oscar – Best Actress
• BAFTA – Best Actress in a Leading Role
• Independent Spirit Awards – Best Lead Performance

One of the youngest stars sweeping through awards season, 2025 saw Mikey Madison add a BAFTA and Oscar for Best Actress to her trophy cabinet at the tender age of 25. Another heavily-nominated film, Anora – which follows Madison as she portrays the Cinderella story of a New York sex worker who marries a Russian oligarch – was also praised for its directorship under Sean Baker, who has become the first person to win four Oscars for one film. Baker said at last night's Vanity Fair party: "Mikey's win is so important to me. It's something that I was really hoping for. I'm so happy that the industry and the academy are recognising her incredible talent."

Born in Los Angeles, Madison’s flurry of accolades may come as a surprise to some, with her appearances in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) and Scream (2022) gaining only short-lived attention. Her Oscar last night was also a shock to Demi Moore fans, with the veteran actress pegged as the Best Actress winner, but talking last night, Madison said: “I also just want to recognise the thoughtful, intelligent, beautiful, breathtaking work of my fellow nominees. I’m honored to be recognised alongside all of you. This is a dream come true.”

Kieran Culkin for A Real Pain

Image: Zegna/Getty Images

Image: Omega/Getty Images

Awards wins:

• Oscar – Best Supporting Actor
• BAFTA – Best Actor in a Supporting Role
• Critics' Choice Awards – Best Supporting Actor

• Golden Globes – Best Supporting actor - Motion Picture
• SAG Awards – Outstanding Actor in a Supporting Role

The only actor on this list to scoop a quadruple win during the 2025 awards season, Kieran Culkin was awarded Best Supporting Actor at the SAG, Golden Globes, Oscars, and BAFTAs for his role in A Real Pain. The younger sibling of Macaulay Culkin, of Home Alone fame, who is widely recognised as one of the most prolific child actors of the 1990s, Kieran Culkin’s acting portfolio is filled with roles of a different kind, namely ‘distasteful yet sympathetic characters’ such as Igby Slocumb in Igby Goes Down (2002). 

No stranger to the spotlight – prior to this awards season he had already won an Academy Award, a BAFTA, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Golden Globes – last night’s Oscar win was a first for Culkin. His role as Benji in Jesse Eisenberg’s comedy drama A Real Pain saw him play a charismatic and colourful character who supports his cousin on a tour of Poland to discover their Jewish heritage, and received rave reviews at the box office, with the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw praising the “superb comic moments which [Culkin] conjures from serious situations”. In his acceptance speech, Culkin credited the filmmaker that gave him the chance to win such an accolade: "And the movie, Jesse Eisenberg! Thank you for this movie. You're a genius. I would never say that to your face. I'm never saying it again, so soak it up.”

Read more: Inside the 2025 Oscars after parties