Mikey Madison has taken home the gold.
During the Oscars 2025 ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 2, the 25-year-old Anora star seemed stunned as she nabbed her first-ever Academy Award, in a surprising win over frontrunner and fellow first-time nominee Demi Moore.
After taking the stage at the Dolby Theatre and accepting the Best Actress statuette from last year’s winner Emma Stone, Madison began her emotional speech by reflecting on the “surreal” experience and growing up in Los Angeles, though “Hollywood always felt so far away for me. So to be here standing in this room today is really incredible.”
She went on to shout out her team, those behind the film, her family in attendance, the sex-worker community and her fellow Best Actress nominees: Cynthia Erivo for Wicked, Karla Sofía Gascón for Emilia Pérez, Moore for The Substance and Fernanda Torres for I’m Still Here.
“This is a dream come true; I’m probably gonna wake up tomorrow,” Madison added, also thanking her Anora director Sean Baker: “I adore you. This is all because of you.”
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NEON
Mark Eydelshteyn and Mikey Madison in Anora (2024)
Related: Oscars 2025 Winners List (Live Updates)
Madison leads writer-director Baker’s Anora in the titular role, a sex worker experiencing a whirlwind Cinderella story. The breakthrough star earned nods at multiple precursor ceremonies, eventually winning at this year’s BAFTA Awards ceremony.
She recently spoke with PEOPLE in an exclusive interview for the 2025 Oscar Portfolio and said she’s “definitely” been getting some exciting offers since the film debuted last year to great acclaim.
“There are some things that I am really excited about and have my fingers crossed,” shared the L.A. native and first-time Oscar nominee.
MUBI/YouTube
Demi Moore in The Substance (2024)
Related: How Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley Physically Prepared to ‘Pump It Up’ for Oscar-Nominated Film The Substance
Moore’s performance as actress Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance, Coralie Fargeat’s body-horror satire hit, earned wins throughout awards season, including at the Golden Globes, Critics Choice Awards and more.
In her Globes acceptance speech, the 62-year-old actress said she was “in shock,” “humbled” and “grateful” upon winning, explaining, “I’ve been doing this a long time, like over 45 years, and this is the first time I’ve ever won anything as an actor.”
Universal Pictures
Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande in Wicked (2024)
Erivo, 38, netted her third nomination with the Academy (making the Harriet star the only previous nominee in the category), as well as nods from several other voting bodies, for her work as Wicked‘s Elphaba a.k.a. the so-called Wicked Witch of the West.
Director Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the hit Broadway musical will continue with Wicked: For Good, flying into theaters Nov. 21.
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Emilia Perez
Related: The Biggest Snubs of the 2025 Oscar Nominations: Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and Selena Gomez Shut Out
For her performance as the titular Mexican kingpin-turned-activist in Emilia Pérez, Gascón, 52, made history at the Oscars and other awards as the first openly transgender performer nominated.
After the Jacques Audiard-directed musical-thriller led this year’s list of Oscar nods, old social-media posts from the Spanish star resurfaced, causing her to deactivate her X account, give several statements and interviews addressing the controversy and later apologize, vowing silence.
Alile Onawale. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics
Selton Mello and Fernanda Torres (above) in I’m Still Here (2024)
Torres, 59, made Oscars history as only the second Brazilian actress to be nominated for best actress — after her mother, Fernanda Montenegro, who was the first in 1999.
An award winner in her native country for decades of powerful performances, she leads the Walter Salles-directed I’m Still Here, about Brazil’s 1971 military dictatorship, as the real-life Eunice Paiva.
Earlier in the evening, the film won Best International Feature.
See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 97th annual Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien and airing on ABC.
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