Demi Moore Winning Best Actress Would Continue A Weirdly Specific 3-Year Oscars Trend
If Demi Moore wins Best Actress at the 2025 Oscars for her turn in The Substance, then she’ll continue a trend from the past two winners. Last week, the nominations for the 97th Academy Awards were officially announced, with a lot of expected nods and a handful of snubs and surprises. The Best Actress nominees include Moore for The Substance, Cynthia Erivo for Wicked, Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez, Mikey Madison for Anora, and Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here.
The Substance’s nominations at the Oscars have been somewhat of a surprise. It’s been met with universal praise from critics and audiences alike, but it’s rare that the Academy recognizes horror films, especially in major categories like Best Picture and Best Director. If Moore does win Best Actress, then she’ll be just the seventh person in Oscars history to win an award for a horror movie role. It would also continue an oddly specific trend from the past two Best Actress winners.
The Substance's Demi Moore Would Be The Third Best Actress Winner In A Row From A Bizarre Sci-Fi Movie Role
After Poor Things' Emma Stone & Everything Everywhere All At Once's Michelle Yeoh
If Moore wins the Oscar for The Substance, she’ll be the third Best Actress winner in a row to win for a bizarre sci-fi movie after Emma Stone for Poor Things and Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All at Once. In Everything Everywhere All at Once, Yeoh played a laundromat owner who got swept up in an adventure across the multiverse. In Poor Things, Stone played a woman resurrected with the brain of her unborn child. And in The Substance, Moore plays a washed-up Hollywood starlet who takes an experimental treatment to reclaim her youth.
The 97th Academy Awards will be held on March 2, 2025.
The Academy tends to favor straightforward dramatic work over heightened genre fare, but these three performances made a deep emotional connection — not in spite of their sci-fi elements, but because of them. Yeoh used Evelyn’s alternate lives to explore the roads less traveled and the relatable regrets that everyone lives with. Stone used Bella’s rapid neurological development to do things no actor has ever done before. And The Substance’s bathroom mirror scene alone made Moore’s performance worthy of an Oscar nomination.
Is Demi Moore The Favorite To Win Best Actress At The 2025 Oscars?
It Seems To Be Between Moore & Fernanda Torres
As awards season ramps up, it’s looking like the Best Actress race will boil down to Moore and Torres. Wicked is a bit too populist for Erivo to win and Gascón’s chances have been hurt by the controversies surrounding Emilia Pérez. Madison was the previous favorite for Anora, but Moore and Torres seem to have overtaken her. It would be a real win for the sci-fi and horror genres if Moore took home Best Actress at the 2025 Oscars.
