‘Emilia Pérez’ tops Oscar nominations with 13; ‘Wicked’ and ‘The Brutalist’ land 10 apiece

FILM

Karla Sofía Gascón in a scene from “Emilia Pérez.” SHANNA BESSON — NETFLIX VIA AP

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By Jake Coyle

The Associated Press

In the wake of devastating wildfires in Los Angeles that struck at the heart of the movie industry, an embattled Hollywood lined up behind the Netflix narco-musical about trans identity “Emilia Pérez” in Oscar nominations Thursday.

Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez,” a Spanish-language, French-made film, dominated the nominations with a leading 13 nominations, including best picture and best actress for Karla Sofía Gascón, making her the first openly trans actor ever nominated for an Oscar. The film also landed nominations for directing, original screenplay, two of its songs and for Zoe Saldaña.

Netflix, despite its starring role in Hollywood, has never won best picture. Many of its top contenders have previously racked up large numbers of nominations (including “Mank,” “The Irishman” and “Roma”) but gone home with only a handful of trophies.

“Emilia Pérez,” though, may be its best chance yet. It became the most nominated non-English language film ever, surpassing Netflix’s own “Roma,” which landed 10 nominations. Only three films — “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land” — have scored more nominations in Academy Awards history.

Another musical — “Wicked,” the smash Broadway adaptation — came away with nearly as many nominations. Jon M. Chu’s lavish “Wizard of Oz” riff collected 10 nominations, including best picture and acting nods for its stars, Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

“The Brutalist,” Brady Corbet’s postwar epic filmed in VistaVision and released by A24, also came away with a commanding 10 nominations, including best picture, best director and acting nominations for Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce and Felicity Jones.

The 10 nominees for best picture are: “Anora”; “The Brutalist”; “A Complete Unknown”; “Conclave”; “Dune: Part Two”; “Emilia Pérez”; “I’m Still Here.”; “Nickel Boys”; “The Substance” and “Wicked.”

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In a wide-open Oscar race, the six most honored films — “Emilia Pérez,” “Wicked,” “The Brutalist,” “Anora” (six nominations) “Conclave” (eight nominations) and “A Complete Unknown” (eight nominations) — all fared as expected. The biggest surprises were the Brazilian film “I’m Still Here,” a portrait of political resistance under Brazil’s military dictatorship that also landed Fernanda Torres a best actress nomination, and RaMell Ross’ “Nickel Boys,” a daringly crafted first-person POV-shot drama that reconsiders how Black life and pain is depicted on screen.

“Nickel Boys” director RaMell Ross watched the nominations with popcorn Thursday morning in Providence, Rhode Island.

“This film forces a subjective response. It forces someone to speak their mind,” said Ross. “This film is a film that needs discourse. It’s a film that’s built for discourse. The film is a discourse amongst itself. I can’t wait to do it more.”

Those nominees likely displaced a few best picture possibilities in the prison drama “Sing Sing,” the journalism thriller “September 5” and the tender comedy “A Real Pain,” though those films all landed nominations elsewhere.

One of 2024’s most audacious films, “The Apprentice” landed a surprising pair of nominations, for Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong. The film dramatizes the formative years of President Donald Trump (Stan) in New York real estate under the tutelage of attorney Roy Cohn (Strong). Trump has called those involved with the film “human scum.”

“He called us ‘human scum,’ and I actually feel afraid talking to you about that right now. And that is an alarming feeling to be having in this country in 2025,” Strong said by phone Thursday from his home in Brooklyn.

“On a level of artistry, today, for me personally, is an incredible day and I feel very happy,” Strong added of his first Oscar nomination. “And I have complicated feelings about the character I played. It was the role of a lifetime and at the same time his legacy is real and it’s playing out in situ in front of our eyes in very frightening ways.”

In the best actor category, where Stan and Brody were nominated, the other nominees were Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) and Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”). Most notably left out was Daniel Craig, acclaimed for his very un-James Bond performance in “Queer.”

Best actress, a category that Demi Moore has appeared to have locked up for her full-bodied performance in “The Substance,” saw nominations for Moore, Gascón, Torres, Erivo and the star of “Anora,” Mikey Madison.