As the2025 Oscarsapproach, fans ofWickedwould hope that the smash-hit musical phenomenon will get at least one award, with one of the biggest possibilities being Ariana Grande winning Best Supporting Actress and breaking an Oscars record — but she has tough competition. WhenWickedhit theaters and began to break box office records, critics and audiences alike were quick to praise the particular standout performance by Grande (credited as Ariana Grande-Butera) as Glinda, the future Good Witch of Oz. Brilliantly, Grande balances the over-the-top comedy of the character and her deep kindness with equal profundity.
With the2025 Oscar nominationsnow confirmed,Wickedis nominated for Best Picture but doesn’t seem likely to win, as it isn’t nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, nor its director Jon M. Chu for his achievement. TheWickedmovie’sElphaba, Cynthia Erivo, is nominated for Best Lead Actress but also isn’t a frontrunner; the movie overall could still win in one or multiple technical categories. WhileGrande is one of the strongest parts ofWickedand her win would be a milestone for the Oscars itself,another movie musical is dominating at the Academy.
Ariana Grande Would Set A New Screentime Record For A Supporting Actor At The Oscars
Grande Could Break The Record For The Most Screentime
Should Grande win for Best Supporting Actress, she will be the winner (in either supporting actor category) with the most screentime in her movie. 2025’s supporting actors' races in particular highlight roles that are arguably more co-leads than supporting, including Zoe Saldaña inEmilia Pérezand Kieran Culkin inA Real Pain. While deciding which actors to submit for supporting is determined by a variety of factors,Grande is nonetheless on-screen for almost half ofWicked— 44.59% of the runtime, to be exact, while Erivo is on-screen for just over half (viaMatthew Stewarton X).
1:06:58
65.49%
1:05:43
61.67%
59:37
49.88%
47:49
46.1%
51:30
39.6%
53:32
38.6%
40:20
37.51%
40:06
37.27%
45:44
37.06%
35:06
37.03%
There is great flexibility in these categories; Judi Dench won Best Supporting Actress for 1998’sShakespeare in Love with barely 6 minutes of screen time (4.75% of the movie). Offering the strongest comparison to Grande’s status in recent history is Alicia Vikander, who is in just under half ofThe Danish Girl. Regardless of the definitions of these categories, should Grande win, she will have the most screentime of any supporting actor winner, as she appears in one hour and 11 minutes ofWicked. She is already the Supporting Actress nominee with the second-longest screentime, after Jennifer Jones for 1944’sSince You Went Away.
Why Zoe Saldaña Is The Best Supporting Actress Favorite, Not Ariana Grande
Emilia Pérez Is Seemingly The Academy’s Favorite
However, there is a major obstacle to Grande breaking this record:Emilia Pérez, which stars the currently favored winner of 2025’s Best Supporting Actress award. Zoe Saldaña has also been praised as a tour de force as lawyer Rita Mora Castro in her musical movie and won (rather than Grande) for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes this year.Long before the official nominees were announced, many realized that Supporting Actress would be a race between Grande and Saldaña,with the latter seemingly now ahead.
Selena Gomez Could’ve Helped Emilia Pérez Tie An All-Time Oscar Record
Emilia Pérez was so close to tying an all-time Oscar record, and would have achieved it if Selena Gomez was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Emilia Pérezalso emerged with 13 Oscar nominations, leading with more than any other nominee this year. WhileEmilia Pérezgot a boost in its nominations by being an original musical that could submit multiple tracks for Best Original Song (whileWickedis largely ineligible due to its songs coming from an existing Broadway show), it is clear that the Academy likes Jacques Audiard’s musical crime drama. Additionally, while critics and audiences will all have their own opinions on which performance is actually better, Academy members may vote for Saldaña when she has been a prestige actress for longer.
Don’t Be Surprised If Ariana Grande Pulls Off An Oscars 2025 Win
It Wouldn’t Be The First Time There Is A Surprising Acting Win
However, the race is not over yet, and Grande could still surprise everyone.Multiple other upcoming awards bodies could choose Grande and sway Academy votes,including SAG and Critics' Choice.Deadlineargues for SAG’s influence on the Oscars, and theWickedcast is heavily featured this year, with Grande, Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, and the ensemble all being nominated.Wickedprobably also won’t win in any of the major categories, and the Academy may be included to elevate any technical wins it gets with Grande as Best Supporting Actress.
Ariana Grande vs Kristin Chenoweth: Whose Glinda Is Better
Kristin Chenoweth and Ariana Grande both were fantastic as Glinda in their respective versions of Wicked, but which version is a better performance?
The same can be said aboutEmilia Pérez. Yet many are saying thatEmilia Pérez’s nominations make no sense, a debate that is probably only going to get more heated as the Oscars draws nearer, with mounting criticism of the movie’s problematic elements. Voting for Saldaña in support of the movie could lose merit, especially when it still has multiple chances at Best Original Song. However, Best Supporting Actress is proving to be such a close call forOscars 2025because both performances are very strong, although Grande’s win would certainly thrill a larger fanbase while making Oscars history.
