Similarly to Supporting Actor, the Actress in a Supporting Role category is proving to be a difficult one to predict this early in the award season calendar. The only thing that differentiates the two categories is the presence of a clear early frontrunner here, with Ariana Grande looking to right the wrongs of the 97th Academy Awards where she was beaten to this very award by Zoe Saldana in the widely maligned “Emilia Perez”. The popstar will be hoping its second time lucky as she reprises her role as Glinda in “Wicked: For Good” later in the year, and at this early stage I cannot see anyone stepping up to challenger her.
The actresses that have had recieved praise following premieres at the various festivals that have already taken place include; Elle Fanning in potential Best Picture player “Sentimental Value”, Angelina LookingGlass in “The Rivals of Amziah King”, and Jennifer Lopez in the latest musical adaptation of “Kiss of a Spider Woman”. As none of the three actresses have had a previous nomination, I find it it unlikely that the Academy will acknowledge them this time round, especially since Lopez was shockingly snubbed for her outstanding performance in “Hustlers” back in 2020.
This uncertainty leaves me guessing four potential nominees to join Grande that are yet to have their performances seen. Fortunately there are some major names expected to campaign in supporting for various projects with serious Oscar pedigree, including past Oscar winners Gwyneth Paltrow, Laura Dern, Emma Stone and Tilda Swinton. Very tough to call this one, I am sure my predictions will chop and change as movies are slowly released over the coming months.
Full list of Supporting Actress predictions – June 2025:
Strong Contenders
- Ariana Grande “Wicked: For Good”
- Elle Fanning “Sentimental Value”
- Ayo Edibiri “After the Hunt”
- Gwyneth Paltrow “Marty Supreme”
- Laura Dern “Jay Kelly”
Possible Contenders
- Regina Hall “One Battle After Another”
- Emily Blunt “The Smashing Machine”
- Jennifer Lopez “Kiss of the Spider Woman”
- Teyana Taylor “One Battle After Another”
- Glenn Close “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery”
Outsiders
- Mari Yamamoto “Rental Family”
- Angelina LookingGlass “The Rivals of Amziah King”
- *Emma Stone “Bugonia”
- Emily Watson “Hamnet”
- Tilda Swinton “The Ballad of a Small Player”
*Indicates that this actor may be campaigned in Lead Actress
Check out my Movie Reviews and other way-too-early Oscar Predictions via the links below.
Dan Loves Film 
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