Dharitri Ganguly
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked: British singer-actress Cynthia Erivo is the first black actress to play Elphaba, the green-skinned Wicked Witch of the West in Wicked. Cynthia's Elphaba forges and unlikely yet profound friendship with Glinda, played by Ariana Grande. And as most will agree, Cynthia's interpretation of Elphaba is different than most of the actresses who have played the character on stage.
Mikey Madison, Anora: Anora, an American comedy drama film, follows the beleaguered marriage between Anora Mikheeva (Mikey Madison), a sex worker, and Vanya Zakharov (Mark Eydelshteyn), the son of a Russian oligarch. How the couple try to save the marriage, but the powerful parents of Vanya disrupts everything to annul the marriage, forms the crux of the story. The film won the Palme d'Or, earned two British Academy Film Awards, six nominations at the 97th Academy Awards and five nominations at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards.
Karla Sofia Gascón, Emilia Pérez: Emilia Pérez, a 2024 Spanish-language French musical crime film, follows a Mexican cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) who enlists a lawyer (Zoe Saldaña) to help the cartel leader to disappear and transition into a woman. Karla is the first openly trans woman to have been nominated for the Best Actress at the Oscars. The film received 13 nominations at the 97th Academy Awards, won four awards at the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, and two at the 78th British Academy Awards.
Demi Moore, The Substance: Demi Moore in The Substance plays a fading celebrity who, after being fired by her producer (Dennis Quaid) due to her age, uses a black market drug that creates a younger version of herself (Margaret Qualley) with unexpected side effects. The film is a body horror film noted for its satirical elements and grotesque, hyper-realistic imagery. It received five nominations each at the 97th Academy Awards and the 82nd Golden Globe Awards. Moore's performance won her a Golden Globe Award, Critics' Choice Award and Screen Actors Guild Award.
Fernanda Torres, I'm Still Here: The film is based on Marcelo Rubens Paiva's 2015 memoir of the same name. It stars Fernanda Torres and Fernanda Montenegro as Eunice Paiva, a mother and activist coping with the forced disappearance of her husband, the dissident politician Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), during the military dictatorship in Brazil. At the 82nd Golden Globe Awards, Torres won the Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama category.