2025 in Review: Leading Ladies and Headlining Men
Tuesday, March 10, 2026 at 5:00PM by Nathaniel R
Chalamet may have talked himself out of an Oscar but if he wins for "Marty Supreme", he won't be undeserving
It's finally time -- well, long past time -- to post my own ballots for Best Actress and Best Actor. As with the Supporting categories, I had to first narrow it down to a top twelve which you can see after the jump...
TOP DOZEN - BEST ACTOR (Alpha Order)
- Timothee Chalamet as "Marty Mauser" in Marty Supreme
- Leonardo DiCaprio as "Bob" in One Battle After Another
- Jacob Elordi as "The Creature" in Frankenstein
- Lee Byung-Hun as "Man-soo" in No Other Choice
- Harry Melling as "Colin" in Pillion
- Dylan O'Brien as "Rocky / Roman" in Twinless
- Paul Mescal as "William Shakespeare" inHamnet
- Wagner Moura as "Armando/Fernando" in The Secret Agent
- Robert Pattinson as multiple Mickeys in Mickey 17
- Jan Gunner Roiser as "Feier" in Sex
- Stellan Skarsgard as "Gustav Borg" in Sentimental Value
- Channing Tatum as "Jeffrey Manchester" in Roofman
You've probably noticed immediately that two of the actual Oscar nominees Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon) and Michael B Jordan (Sinners) aren't accounted for. I don't dislike either performance, exactly, but I also think they're not as strong as a supporting actor (or two) in their own films who are doing more with less. Both were pushing a little too hard for affect if you ask me and both have been a lot better and more Oscar worthy in previous outings. Anyway you can blame their absence on a matter of varying taste -- I wish we could all celebrate that none of us react to art in exactly the same way and we're really robbing ourselves of great conversations and emotional curiousity when we expect everyone to fall in line with the same "correct" opinion about movies (or any art really). This is all a way of leading you into Best Actress without you hating me but more on that in a minute.
This was such a ridiculously strong year for male leading actors (for once there were far more worthy contenders there!). I really wanted to break my standard format and include 15 people. The three I had to leave out that I didn't want to "snub" were Joel Edgerton's quietly beautiful and sad work in Train Dreams, Alexander Skarsgård's best performance yet as an emotionally blocked leather god in Pillion, and either of Everett Blunck's leading star turns this year. The latter young actor is just 16 but his two performances were so wildly different but equally compelling that we can only imagine what range he might have if he keeps at acting (you never know with child actors if they'll keep at it). If you haven't seen the films check out the comedy Griffin in Summer in which he plays a single-minded theater nerd and obnoxious baby gay. He followed that hilarious turn (no nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes is criminal!), with the psychologically tortured drama The Plague in which he plays a generally good-hearted young man who can't quite wrap his head around the cruel scapegoating games of the other boys at his sumner camp. While he didn't make Best Actor twelve he is nominated in both Breakthrough Performer and Best Juvenile Performance in the "extra acting categories" page.
TOP DOZEN - BEST ACTRESS (alpha order)
Jessie Buckley, soon to be an Oscar winner for "Hamnet"
- Jessie Buckley magnificent as "Agnes" in Hamnet
- Rose Byrne rages across the screen as "Linda" in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You
- Jodie Foster is back-back-back with "Lillian Steiner" in Vie Privee (A Private Life)
- Ariana Grande completes her "Glinda" character arc beautifully in Wicked For Good
- Andrea Braein Hovig is a great onscreen listener in that you can tell what she's absorbing AND what she isn't as a single urologist "Mariane" in Love (Sex, Dreams)
- Kate Hudson is charming as it gets as "Claire Stengl/Thunder" in Song Sung Blue and trust me I'm as surprised as you are that I was this into one of her performances.
- Margaret Qualley is so much fun as "Honey O'Donaghue" in Honey, Don't! that I couldn't care less about the very negative review.
- Jennifer Lawrence is feral and committed and fascinating as "Grace" in Die My Love
- Renate Reinsve is exquisite (AGAIN) as "Nora", another woman on the verge, in Sentimental Value
- Amanda Seyfried is exciting as "Ann Lee" in The Testament of Ann Lee but as with Byrne some of the film's choices kept me just slightly outsided of where I needed to be.
- Emma Stone is phenomenal as "Michelle Fuller" in Bugonia despite so many people being "meh" about her nomination. This happens to great movie stars when people get bored of their perpetual excellence.
- Tessa Thompson is ready to burn it all down as "Hedda Gabbler" in Hedda
I have zero problems with Jessie Buckley's steamrolling this season even if I do always wish that about 10 people could win prizes each season in each category. (It's always better to share the wealth) But on the flip side it's a pretty mammoth performance so the steamrolling is understandable. That lopsided smile co-existing with (reflective of?) bone deep childhood traumas. A formidable feminist will that nonetheless bends toward husband and home. This performance is abundant with treasures, conflicts, and ultimately soul-stirring catharsis.
And here's where we get to the part about diversity of opinion and I hope that' you'll forgive this apparently blasphemous opinion: I didn't fully obsess over Rose Byrne in If I Had Legs I'd Kick You. Byrne is a gifted actor (I've nominated her before!) and her characters rage and discomfort with motherhood and caregiving in the film are palpable and even breathtaking at times. But I had a lot of trouble with her film. I literally can't worship at an actress' feet if the director refuses to ever back away from her eyeballs (do people even have corporal bodies in this movie?) The claustrophic gimmicky filmmaking made this a trial to sit through but Byrne and O'Brien were both very good in it.
P.S. A few words about Oscar campaigning as it relates to two of the women in the Best Actress top twelve.
While I know that A Private Live (Vie Privee) is not a film that will have universal appeal I still feel that Sony Pictures Classics did Jodie Foter dirty by not releasing the film earlier. She might not ever have become a factor -- again not everyone will love the picture as it doesn't fit neatly into any genre (in a way it's a thriller but it's also kind of an anti-thriller) -- but Sony Pictures Classics didn't really give it a chance. Will they ever shake off the cobwebs from their sole awards strategy: qualifying release / last minute promotion just before balloting, January or February release? It worked for them for a good long while but it doesn't feel like it's working anymore and yet it's the same playbook each year.
Finally, this is the last moment I can get this off my chest about Wicked (it's probably past the last moment since conversation died real quick with the second half). Wicked For Good suffered immensely from being cleaved in half from its foundation, just as we suspected it would when they first announced that it would be split into two films. The one major improvement from stage to film was Glinda's more fully-fleshed out character arc and self-reflection. While Grande was great fun in Part One, acing the comic elements, she dug into the drama in Act Two beautifully, without sacrificing the character's inherent lightness. If it had been one film as it should have been, it might have been hard to deny her a win. I'm not quite surprised but still happy to see that she is real actress... not just a pop star who acts.
The 26th Annual Film Bitch Awards
Pg 1 - Picture, Director, Screenplay etc
Pg 2 - Acting
Pg 3 - Visual Categories
Pg 4 - Sound and Music
Pg 5 -Extra Acting Categories
Pg 6 - Character Prizes
Pg 7 - Best Scenes & Nomination Tally
Reader Comments (13)
So you have Kate Hudson in top 5, but not Rose Byrne? Are you OK?
Yeah, I'm also going to agree to disagree on Rose Byrne. If I Had Legs sure is *experimental* (not entirely a compliment) but at least the frustrating choices feel confident and intentional—it's not meant to be an easy sit but her performance rewards patience and matches the vision perfectly.
I'm really happy for Kate Hudson—great comeback, feel-good story, lovely performance—although I doubt by the time I've seen *everything* she'd make my top five. If we're coming for people's movies, Hudson's is really poor...honestly, there's almost nothing *good* about it besides her, including Jackman. Some of the worst cinematography I've ever seen. When she was singing at the funeral, why was the camera 40 feet away from her? Why were all of the other characters in JC Penny portrait studio closeups? That's not "the vision," that's just bad filmmaking. Bad writing. When people said it was "old fashioned" they were being very kind, we always expected more from movies than that.
I hope (against hope, perhaps) Chalamet still pulls it off. He needs to get his celebrity image together, but he's been great many times and really nailed it in Marty Supreme.
Firstly I agree what makes film so discussable is differing opinions,I do sometimes have a bit of a hard time seeing what others see in performances,blame that on the spectrum place I hold.
One thing this season I can't understand for the life of me is the adoration for Buckley,you called it a mammoth performance,I just saw it as a Sophie's Choice remake audition,I found the character mundane and the acting while impresive in places highly overpraised from near everyone,this reason soured me on it,second time in a row when I won't be nominating Oscars Best Actress winner in my own awards
Stop it about Jodie,ha ha,that films been buried here in the Uk,I will have to wait for the DVD,I have found her to be killing it this past few years from The Mauritanian onwards,welcome back
Byrne is my pick from the line up but I hear what you're saying,she made an unwatachable film just about watchable,I still say that opening scene is my favourite bit of acting from this year.
Thompson was outshined by Hoss imo and the accent was really bad.
No Julia Roberts,her best in forever.
The being taken for granted Stone should be applauded for not taking paychecks,she just turned down Baman II.
Hudson I was a surpsied as you about my liking of her in this,she was also marvellous as a villian in the little seen Shell,why the Jackman shade.
Wicked II I don't watch the Emmy's.
Reinsve didn't inspire the devotion other foreign actresses have had from me like a Cotillard or a Binoche or a Magnani.
Lawrence I think she went there but for what end.
The men were better than the ladies this year.
Well done naming Channing Tatum his best turn since Foxcatcher.
Mescal in the correct category and the only thing about Hamnet I liked,much better than his co star.
Elordi in the wrong category and the best thing about his film too.
O'Brien would my my Best Actor winner,hope he does more interesting indies.
Leo people take him for granted too.
Timmy C never mind the offscreen stuff which I pay little attention to,he is fabulous in this film and has great chemistry with the ladies Odessa and Gwynnie.
Looks like i'm the only one besides the Globes who liked The Smashing Machines acting by Dwayne and Emily
No Jesse Plemons I think he's one step away from winning an Oscar someday.
Loathed Pillion, why are gay themed films always obsessed with the sex lives of their characters,i'd like to see something dealing with long term gay love.
Robert Pattinson was terrible in Die My Love.
My own nominees in both Actor and Actress
My Winner Timothee Chalamet as good as Call Me By Your Name,hope he wins
Joel Edgerton quietly heartbreaking,he's gonna have to big to get that Oscar nomination.
George Clooney the most i've ever enjoyed him in a film,perfect end scenes.
Dylan O'Brien not only hottie of the year but vulnerable esp that bedroom breakdown.
Leonardo Di Caprio loose and fun,he should keep doing comedy,he's at his best in them
Rose Byrne contains my favourite acting of the year,"This can't be it",more please.
Julia Roberts thorny bitter and the best she has been since 2018's Ben Is Back.
Emma Stone keeps pushing herself,peeling away the layers,thinking on her feet always.
Kate Hudson charm in abundance,never condescends to this woman,sympathetic,great voice
My winner Kathleen Chalfant in Familair Touch who can hold a candle to this performance this year,I felt like I was watching a homemade documentary on a once proud stylish professional woman slowing losing herself,if Glenn Close or any other age appropriate actress had been in this Oscar would have come knocking.
I’ll never understand Emma Stone’s “phenomenal” performance or her “perpetual excellence”
Nice of you to look beyond the naysayers and give props to Ariana Grande - I’ve always said thru both films that she alone was on another level that no costar ever reached.
Sad that no Sinners cast could make it in - but maybe you wanted to spread the wealth after their Oscar nomination haul? Very sad Chalamet makes it in - will NEVER understand his appeal.
Am I the only one that thinks Dylan O’Brien was just gay-baiting in Twinless…
Many talked about and many ‘great’ performances in different people’s eyes this year makes for great discussions, great disagreements, and great edge of your seat waiting for final winner to be announced. Somewhat rare lately so nice change of pace!
Disagree on Dylan O Brien topping Paul Mescal… oh wait, this would be interesting
Flowers -- lol
Tony -- she really is great in those movies (if it had only beeen one film!). As for SINNERS my votes are never about what made the Oscars (I draft these all year long and change as I see things... and as they linger or don't... I really need to get my shit together and start posting before the Oscar nominations. Most of these lists were already decided by the time of the Oscar nominations though I did tweak both Supporting categories in January and February... (not due to the nominations) after I rewatched or skimmed through some things I hadn't seen in a while to be sure of my feelings. . I nominated Sinners in Best Ensemble but none of the individual performances were ever in my top fives (after about October when the competition started to arrive in a major way.
Mr Ripley -- i also don't care much about offscreen stuff. That's no way to judge a performance. It's also much easier for me not to notice the offscreen stuff this past couple of years as I am no longer chronically online. People kept talking about the Marty Supreme controversies, for example, and I literally had no idea what they were talking about (though eventually the ballet / opera comment did reach me and people being in an uproar about that is --- well I just don't get it -- yes we have a problem with the culture not valuing the arts but getting bent out of shape about a cocky movie star discussing the lesser popularity of various categories within the arts is... being angry is so draining and this is what people want to be angry about?
I want to ask everyone who is freaked out when the last time they went to the opera or the ballet is versus the last time they went to the movies. (I *did* go to the ballet a couple of months ago.. and I realized it had been about 3 years since I had been to any dance event (and wondered to myself why i didn't go more often). So if any good comes out of the outrage, I hope people are looking in the mirror first and thinking: maybe *I* should support the performing arts more rather than being mad that Chalamet doesn't. His words were careless but it's not like we don't NEED to have these discussions about how to keep various art forms alive because artforms do go through waves of popularity and sometimes we need to think about why they aren't connecting (in the case of *live* performance arts I think the real problem is the cost. I am extremely into live theater for example but it's not like I can afford to go all that often so I go when I'm invited complimentary OR I have to decide between things. You can't afford to see all four of these new shows, so pick one.
Kuba -- i did warn y'all that people would think it was blasphemy. (the last time this happened to me *to this extent* in terms of not absolutely worshipping a performance all readers seemed to worship was back in 2003 for Charlize Theron in Monster. She's very good in the movie but I just didn't feel better than everyone else around (at all)
Nat, you can disregard what he said about opera/ballet as silly and uninformed without defending (or straining to find a kernel of a point in) it. I support the Met and go all the time, that institution is badly struggling for funds. DC’s fine arts scene has been obliterated by what Trump has done to the Kennedy Center.
This is a very precarious time for opera, ballet and philharmonic companies. It’s not an inevitable consequence of changing tastes or marketing/programming errors. This is about funding, policy and what we choose to elevate or dismiss. Tickets at Lincoln Center are affordable, way less than seeing a Broadway show and sometimes comparable to the AMC across the street. You can get in for about $35, that's an IMAX ticket these days.
These companies are very thoughtfully courting younger audiences; They are not out-of-touch with their attendance numbers. It would be great for people with platforms to drive feet and eyeballs to those artforms, not to dismiss them as dinosaurs “nobody cares about.” But he’s clearly not educated, mature, thoughtful or articulate enough (and too self-regarding) to do that. It's a shame, it struck a nerve for good reason.
The ballet/opera thing blew up around the last day of voting; If he loses I don’t think that’ll be why. Again, I hope he wins.
@Nat How do you feel about Charlize's performance all these years later,she has definitely proven herself,I wish she'd get out of this action rut she seems to be stuck in,she's far too talented for the likes of The Old Guard 2.
@DK I think Nat is saying,separate the Timmy comments from the performance itself,to not vote for a performance because a person doesn't think opera/ballet is so popular any longer is no reason to snub him and vote for someone giving who is giving a lesser performance.
I have never been to the opera or ballet and have no desire too,indorr crowds cause me great anxiety,it's not worth the palpatations but I agree with you that it needs to be supported and having a huge film star dismiss it as nothing was tactless but his acting in Marty Supreme has zero to do with it.
Part of me mourns that we had to cut the IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU split decision, because I'd love to read more in-depth about your frustrations with it and the skepticism toward how it frames and may limit Byrne's work.
Claudio -- i know. i feel bad but I knew I couldn't do it justice -- trying to explain my skepticism without rewatching and the time ran out to do so. Maybe I will one day revisit it and realize I was wrong. Who knows!?!
DK -- i totally agree with you on this actually. But I also am so exhausted by online outrage that when I realized how much anger at him had exploded I expected him to read that he had sexually assaulted someone or something that would be worth people getting this angry about. i would argue -- though maybe I'm wrong -- that if people were thoughtfully dismissive of his comments and it led to more discussion about exactly what you're saying 'what we elevated what we fund, etc' it would lead to more good than just everyone dogpiling and claiming "CHALAMET IS AN ASSHOLE" around social media.
I wonder if category fraud has reached enough minds that it actually works against nominees sometimes. I could totally see Skarsgard winning Best Actor this year, the 5 nominees are all not as good as him imo.