2025 Best Actress Winner and Ceremony Facts
The 97th Academy Awards ceremony for Best Actress in a Leading Role took place on March 2, 2025, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. The event was produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment and directed by Hamish Hamilton. The ceremony was broadcast live in the United States by ABC and streamed internationally on Disney+ and other platforms. The winner was announced by host Conan O'Brien during the main telecast. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) reported a total of 19,104 eligible voting members across 17 branches as of the 2025 voting cycle. The ceremony started at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time and lasted approximately three hours and 20 minutes, including commercial breaks. The Best Actress category was one of the final awards presented on the main stage. The 2025 Oscars also marked the return of the traditional in-person nominees seating arrangement on the floor of the theater. The official tally of votes was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) for the 63rd consecutive year. The ceremony took place after a one-week delay from the original February 28, 2025, date due to a scheduling conflict with the Super Bowl LVIII halftime show production timeline. The Dolby Theatre has hosted the Oscars continuously since 2002. The 2025 telecast drew an estimated 18.4 million viewers in the United States according to early Nielsen estimates reported by ABC. The AMPAS Board of Governors approved the return of a five-film shortlist for Best Actress for the second consecutive year. The winner received a gold-plated statuette manufactured by Polich Tallix Fine Art Foundry in New York. The ceremony was held in Los Angeles for the 10th consecutive year, with security coordinated by the Los Angeles Police Department and the U.S. Secret Service. The official after-party was held at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The Academy's official website, oscars.org, provided live updates and nominee profiles throughout the evening. The 2025 Best Actress award was the 14th time the prize was presented under the current title format, which was standardized in 1944. The ceremony's opening montage highlighted the 100th anniversary of the first Academy Awards held in 1929. The AMPAS headquarters, the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, served as the venue for the Scientific and Technical Awards earlier in the season. The official nominee announcement for the 97th Oscars was made on January 23, 2025, by actors Randall Park and Ana de Armas at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles. The 2025 ceremony introduced a new digital voting interface for members who could not attend in person. The Academy's official Twitter account, @TheAcademy, posted the winner's name within 12 seconds of the envelope reveal. The Dolby Theatre's seating capacity for the Oscars is 3,400. The 2025 ceremony featured a total of 23 competitive award categories. The AMPAS Membership Committee reported a 12% increase in new member invitations for the 2025 cycle compared to 2024. The official Best Actress trophy is 13.5 inches tall and weighs 8.5 pounds. The ceremony's opening number was performed by a 60-piece orchestra conducted by Rickey Minor. The Academy's official rules state that the Best Actress winner must have appeared in a minimum of 50% of the film's running time. The 2025 ceremony's broadcast was available in over 200 countries and territories through the Academy's international distribution partners. The official after-party was hosted by a private security firm contracted by AMPAS. The Dolby Theatre's stage dimensions for the Oscars are