Mikey Madison received her flowers for her performance in Anora when she won Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2025 Oscars.
Madison, 25, earned her first Academy Award for her portrayal of the film’s titular character during the Sunday, March 2, ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, defeating the heavily-favorited Demi Moore, who starred in The Substance. Moore won the Golden Globe and SAG Award earlier in awards season.
“This is very surreal,” Madison said during her acceptance speech. “Forgive me, I’m nervous so I’m going to read off a paper. Thank you so much to the Academy. I grew up in Los Angeles, but Hollywood always felt so far away from me. S to be here standing in this room today is really incredible.”
Madison, who played a stripper in the film, also gave thanks thanks to the “sex worker community” in her speech.
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“I will continue to support and be an ally,” she said. “The women that I’ve had the privilege of meeting from that community have been one of the highlights of this entire incredible experience.”
The actress also competed against Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo, Emilia Pérez’s Karla Sofía Gascón, and I’m Still Here’s Fernanda Torres in the category.
Gascón, 52, Madison, 25, Moore, 62, and Torres, 59, were all first-time Academy Award nominees this year. Erivo, 38, received two previous nods in 2020 for her film Harriet: Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Harriet Tubman and Best Original Song for “Stand Up.”
Moore racked up several key accolades throughout the 2025 awards season, including Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globe Awards in January and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and Best Actress at the Critics Choice Awards in February.
The Substance actress delivered a rousing acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, acknowledging her lengthy tenure in Hollywood without recognition for her work.
“I’m just in shock right now. I’ve been doing this a long time — like, over 45 years — and this is the first time I’ve ever won anything as an actor,” she said. “And I’m just so humbled and so grateful.”
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Moore recalled a producer telling her 30 years earlier that she was a “popcorn actress,” noting that she “made that mean that this wasn’t something that I was allowed to have.”
Although the statement “corroded” her self-esteem over time, Moore believed when she read the script for The Substance, “The universe told me, ‘You’re not done.’”
While Moore was a favorite to win ahead of the Oscars, the 2025 awards season was also kind to Torres, who won Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama at the Golden Globes, and Madison, who received Leading Actress at the British Academy Film Awards.
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Gascón, meanwhile, found herself embroiled in controversy when her past tweets resurfaced in January, leading to allegations of racism and Islamophobia. During an interview with CNN en Español the following month, she declined to remove herself from contention for the Oscars.
“I cannot renounce a nomination because what I have done is a job and what is being valued is my acting work,” she said in February. “I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination because I have not committed any crime, nor have I harmed anyone. I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am.”
