The 3 biggest snubs and 3 biggest surprises from the 2025 Oscar nominations

• The 2025 Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday.

• Surprises include a best-actor nod for Sebastian Stan and a best-picture nod for "The Substance."

• Snubs include Pamela Anderson for "The Last Showgirl" and the "Challengers" score.

The 2025 Oscar nominations were announced on Thursday, with a lot of love given to titles like "Emilia Pérez" and "Wicked."

But there were some actors and movies that weren't called out.

Below, the Business Insider staff breaks down the three biggest surprises and three most upsetting subs from this year's nominations.

SNUB: Pamela Anderson for 'The Last Showgirl'

Anderson came out of nowhere to wow audiences in 2024 with her performance in "The Last Showgirl" as Shelly, a 57-year-old Vegas showgirl who hits a crossroads when the French-style revue she's performed in for three decades closes its doors.

Mixing a coquettishness reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe with a crushing vulnerability no one knew she could pull off, Anderson delivers the best performance of her career. Sadly, she won't be recognized for it on Hollywood's biggest night.

SNUB: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the 'Challengers' score

Reznor and Ross masterfully captured the messy dynamic between Tashi (Zendaya), Patrick (Josh O'Connor), and Art (Mike Faist) in their pulsating "Challengers" score, while also providing a techno backdrop for all the tennis matches and relationship warfare.

Throbbing tracks like "The Signal," "Brutalizer," and "Match Point" worked perfectly next to the cinematography to yank the audience through the screen and onto the court.

It's impressive for a score to be so engaging while also delivering pure bangers that could fit right in at an underground rave — which might've livened up the Oscars if the academy had been bold enough to recognize Reznor and Ross' work.

SNUB: Marianne Jean-Baptiste for 'Hard Truths'

Jean-Baptiste didn't just give the best female performance of the year in "Hard Truths" — she gave the best performance, period. The angry, depressed Pansy Deacon in "Hard Truths" could have easily become a caricature in the hands of a lesser actor, as the miserable woman lashes out, often in absurd ways, at anyone and everyone who crosses her path. But Jean-Baptiste instilled humanity and even evoked sympathy in the unlikeable character with her layered performance.

She and the director Mike Leigh, who directed Jean-Baptiste to her first Oscar nomination almost 30 years ago in "Secrets & Lies," were tapping into something we never see represented on screen. They both should have been acknowledged for it, but Jean-Baptiste was the more egregious snub, particularly since she swept nearly all the critic and indie awards where she was nominated.

SURPRISE: Yura Borisov for 'Anora'

Borisov plays the sensitive henchman Igor in "Anora" with a disarming calmness opposite the outlandish antics of the movie's lead, Mikey Madison.

His quiet-guy act left a mark on not just audiences but members of the academy.

Borisov's nomination is the first time in almost five decades that a Russian actor has been nominated for an Oscar. The last was Mikhail Baryshnikov in 1977 for "The Turning Point."

SURPRISE: Sebastian Stan for playing Donald Trump in 'The Apprentice'

Though "The Apprentice" got little marketing and most of Hollywood didn't want to touch the movie after its premiere at last year's Cannes Film Festival, Stan's performance as Trump made it to the big dance.

Stan is convincing as a young Trump trying to build his real-estate empire under the tutelage of the lawyer Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), getting the mannerisms down and even giving his character a sense of empathy.

SURPRISE: Multiple nominations for 'The Substance'

The academy has historically been reluctant to award Oscars to horror movies. While things have started to look up in recent years — Jordan Peele broke through with "Get Out" — the amount of love "The Substance" got this year is pretty astounding.

Demi Moore was deservedly a lock for best actress with her raw performance as the washed-up celebrity Elisabeth Sparkle. It's thrilling to see her get this recognition for the first time after decades in the business.

It's more surprising, though, that the French director Coralie Fargeat landed first-time nominations for both directing and writing the outrageous body-horror film and that the movie itself got a best-picture nod. It's a watershed moment for the genre.

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