Reader Poll: Which acting nominee will be back again quickly?
Saturday, March 8, 2025 at 1:46PM by Nathaniel R
One of our recent traditions here at TFE is to guess which of the season's most celebrated actors will be the quickets to be enmeshed in Oscar battles again before you know it? VOTE DAILY (for the next week) on who you think it will be:
Some history of how well your votes have fared over the last two seasons follow...
After the 2022/2023 season (the Everything Everywhere, Banshees of Inisherin year) you voted that the following would be back quickly with this degree of confidence: 1st Cate Blanchett, 2nd place Michelle Williams, 3rd place Paul Mescal, and 4th place Barry Keoghan were your votes. No acting nominees during this Oscar season have returned (yet) though Keoghan surely came closest to date (with Saltburn).
After the 2023/2024 season (the Oppenheimer/Barbie/Poor Things year) your collective guesses for returning nominees in order of confidence were: 1st place Emma Stone, 2nd place tie between Ryan Gosling and Colman Domingo, 4th placer Carey Mulligan and 5th placer Bradley Cooper. Those who voted Colman Domingo (Rustin) were the ones on target as he was the only acting nominee from the 96th Academy Awards that immediately repeated the trick the next season with Sing Sing.
Reader Comments (21)
I love seeing how much and how quickly things changed. If you'd ask even 2 years ago which of this century's Best Actor's winners is most likely to come back for a second win I can't imagine Brody being anywhere near the top. Or how quickly people assumed Mulligan would be back in no time for a second nod after An Education and Blind Side would be the one and only for Bullock.
Erivo, Grande and Domingo all have projects in 2025 that are strong possibilities. But I'm fascinated that if I try not to consider that none of the other nominees strikes as someone bound to be back anytime soon. Even for folks Oscar has taken notice of it took them 8+ years to come back (Chalamet, Norton, Jones).
It's hard to say but I know who i want to come back and that's obviously Demi.
I think it'll be unfair if Erivo and Grande take up 2 slots again next season for part of 2 of Wcked as good as they bother were first time out,spread the wealth.
Erivo and Grande have the second part of WICKED coming up, Colman Domingo plays Michael Jackson's father in that upcoming biopic, and Chalamet's got the MARTY SUPREME picture. Honestly, my bet is Domingo, who might just Zellweger is way to Oscar gold.
After Diane Warren’s honorary Oscar in 2022 and Angela Bassett’s honorary Oscar in 2023, I won’t be too surprised to see Demi Moore receive her consolation prize (aka honorary Oscar) next year.
I have a suspicion Gwyneth Paltrow is going to be on the Demi Moore style comeback train for Marty Supreme,maybe this will be Timothee's Oscar year.
I agree with the consensus: Erivo, Chalamet, Domingo.
I'm intrigued by the rumor that they'll be switching campaigns for the second WICKED film with Ariana going lead and Cynthia going supporting. If that DOES happen, I feel like Cynthia will have an easier time next year?
Colman Domingo is playing Joe Jackson so Colman Domingo.
Wish it was Fiennes. The English Patient happened almost 30 years ago! 30 years!
My bets are Domingo and Chalamet.
Domingo is the obvious one and if Michael is at least decent, he will have a shot.
The next one is Chalamet. I am not so sure about Erivo; it really depends if Wicked For Good will be viewed as culmination or a been there done that project.
Jeremy Strong is the other possibility for the Bruce Springsteen movie.
I'm not sold on Marty Supreme. I think Chalamet could make it in, but it's easy to see the academy ignoring a Safdie picture. I just don't think they do academy friendly work. But maybe that changes (though Benny seems more interested in doing conventional work).
I think Erivo is the obvious choice. I suspect she'll go lead, and it will be an issue that she's nominated for the same role, I think her performance will push those concerns aside. She wasn't really in the race this year until people saw her performance, and I think she'll be able to get in on the strength of her performance and contend for the win (in a reverse Bing Crosby).
While she may not show up next year, I think Felecity Jones has broken the second oscar nomination seal. I think, a bit like Mulligan, we'll see her pop up in the awards conversation more frequently now. She's earned a lot of good will with her performance in the brutalist, and I could see her in more prominent supporting roles.
I think Erivo will be back, but for Prima Facie. I don't think they're gonna go for Wicked again in acting categories.
As for the others:
Very likely:
Erivo, Chalamet, Domingo, Fiennes, Norton
Likely, down the road:
Jones, Pearce, Strong, Madison
True wildcards (depending on what they do with their careers)
Grande, Stan, Culkin
Unlikely:
Borisov, Moore, Torres, Brody, Saldaña, Rosellini, Barbaro
No chance:
Gascón
most quickly as in the next 3-4 years: Erivo and Grande as the obvious ones for Wicked 2, Domingo, Chalamet, Madison and maybe Stan since he's now focused on avoiding the "Marvel actor" label, and i know he has Thunderbolts coming, but probably after that he'll be done with Marvel
a return might be likely, but not as quickly: Norton, Fiennes, Moore, Barbaro, Pearce, Strong
maybe, maybe not: Rosellini, Brody, Culkin, Saldana, Torres, Jones, Borisov
LOL no: Gascón, after that fiasco? bye
Since the Academy is up for giving up double (Brody, Stone, C. Walz, Zellweger, Hopkins, Mahersala Ali) & triple (DDL, McDormand) awards, the next poll should be ‘What actor or actress will be the next recipient of the double/triple club?’ My pick would probably be Olivia Colman.
@ TOM
Streep (when you least expect it, à la Hepburn) and DDL (next year?) will be back to snatch their fourth trophies.
who i think is likely to join the double club: Olivia Colman, Viola Davis, Regina King, Daniel Kaluuya. I want to say Nicole Kidman, but the fact that it's getting hard for her to get even nominated makes me doubt
and Blanchett is definitely getting her third, the question is when
I chose Colman Domingo in the poll.
He’s been such fun to have around for the last two seasons, always a red carpet sensation, with high positive energy. Why not have him back? (A further plus that his work is actually good).
But my second choice would be Monica Barbaro.
After her nomination, I went back and watched her in various things: FUBAR with Arnold Schwarzenegger, her tv cop show, etc.
I agree with the commentator who said her nomination gave her the biggest boost.
She comes across as a seasoned industry professional, able to work with all kinds of other actors, self-assured, and versatile in genre. Oh, and beautiful.
And now she’s met the eligibility requirement for being considered for awards for her work.
She reminds me a bit of Sandra Bullock in terms of likeability and industry acceptance.
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My picks for most to least likely:
Cynthia Erivo- Wicked 2 is coming up and she probably has a good shot with songwriting as well
Timothee Chalamet- getting best actor of his generation notices eventually ends up with a win
Colman Domingo- Michael next year promising while being incredibly likeable and fun on the red carpet
Edward Norton- I see him transitioning into character parts and getting more supporting nominations
Ralph Fiennes- Hopefully it isn't 30 years until the next one
Felicity Jones- Got the 2nd nom proving she isn't a one hit wonder
Sebastian Stan- wants to move to more serious stuff but needs a few years to shake off the Marvel tag he has
Guy Pearce- Likely to get another supporting nomination later on
Ariana Grande- Wicked 2 and also possible nominations for songwritting- not ranked higher as Hollywood is going to typecast her too much
Monica Barbaro- great singing voice- can graduate to leading roles if they come her way
Mikey Madison/Adrien Brody- ok you won we are done
Demi Moore- the career one and done nom (think Lana Turner or Ava Gardener)
Jeremy Strong- He has a weird repuation and they might stop further nominations
Kieran Culkin- ok you won but this season was overkill so not eager to nominate again
Fernanda Torres/Yura Borisov- Foreigners have trouble getting another nom
Zoe Saldan- We are happy you won but want to forget about the movie you won for
Isabella Rossellini- already in semi retirement- maybe honorary win?
Karla Sofia Gascon- She would need to deliver a Vivien Leigh Scarlett type performance to even be considered
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