Mikey Madison wins Best Actress over Demi Moore at Oscars 2025

Though Anora ends on a somber note, star Mikey Madison just capped the character’s ferocious journey with a golden accolade upon winning the 2025 Oscar for Best Actress at Sunday night’s ceremony, becoming one of the category’s youngest winners in history in the process.

The 25-year-old Scream and Better Things performer pulled off a momentous category feat in recent weeks, after gaining traction to overtake previously presumed frontrunner Demi Moore (The Substance) at the BAFTA Awards and Indie Spirits for her turn as a sex worker in Sean Baker’s comedy-drama, which also went on to win Best Picture after scoring other trophies for Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and more.

“Wow, this is very surreal. Forgive me, I’m nervous. I’m going to read off of a paper. Thank you so much to the Academy. I grew up in Los Angeles, but Hollywood always felt so far away from me. To be here standing in this room today is really incredible,” Madison said upon accepting the prize from last year’s winner, Poor Things star Emma Stone. “I want to recognize and honor the sex worker community. I will continue to support and be an ally. All the incredible people, the women I’ve had the privilege of meeting from that community has been one of the highlights of this incredible experience.”

Madison is the ninth-youngest actress to win in the category, sitting between Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry) and Julie Christie (Darling) on the list of youngest stars to win Best Actress in Oscars history. Marlee Matlin holds the record for youngest Best Actress winner, with her 1987 award for Children of a Lesser God at age 21.

Madison won the award over strong competition from the likes of Moore, who rose through the ranks of awards season after first receiving a sustained standing ovation at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, and later mounting a campaign centered around her status as an unsung, vital force in Hollywood across a four-decade career. Madison became a real threat to Moore’s “overdue” narrative in recent weeks, especially after tumultuous developments in the Best Actress category.

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Embattled Spanish star Karla Sofía Gascón, whose historic nomination as the first trans woman competing for the prize for her role in Emilia Pérez was overshadowed by a controversy over resurfaced past problematic posts on social media. Other contenders included Wicked‘s Cynthia Erivo, who kicked off the 2025 Oscars with a musical performance alongside fellow Oscar nominee Ariana Grande, and Brazilian star Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here).

Madison previously told Entertainment Weekly that she wanted to do justice to the character’s emotions in preparation for the film, which follows the titular sex worker as she meets and quickly marries the son of a wealthy Russian family, only to draw the intense ire of his overbearing parents across a search across New York City for her spouse after he goes missing.

“I wasn’t really thinking about confidence. I was just mentally preparing myself or planning what I think I may need to do to get ready for the film. So it had nothing to do about how I felt,” Madison said. “It was just like, this is what I’m going to have to do and I’ll get there eventually. So I just have to put the work in, and I definitely did because it was so incredibly important to me to just give justice to this character and all of her different attributes. So I wanted to be very, very prepared in all aspects, physically and mentally.”

See the full list of 2025 Oscar winners