2027 Oscar Predictions: BEST ACTRESS (May)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Is Sandra Hüller about to nab four acting Oscar nominations in the same year?
Ok, realistically, no. But it’s kind of fun to think of the possibility of it since it’s actually a possibility now. Over in supporting, I have her in the top two spots with Digger and Project Hail Mary and over here in lead I have her for Fatherland and her Berlin Film Festival-winning performance in Rose (both set for distribution by MUBI). Now, until Fatherland is seen next week, she could have more of a supporting role there but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. But, if she is then Rose becomes her vehicle here.
Still, at this very early stage a handful of names make sense as both returning recent nominees like Renate Reinsve (with NEON’s Fjord this year), Cynthia Erivo in Prima Facie and recent/past winners here like Mikey Madison with The Social Reckoning (Sony Pictures/Columbia), Julianne Moore with the currently Untitled Jesse Eisenberg Musical Comedy aka No One Cares (A24) and Cate Blanchett with Sweetsick (Searchlight Pictures). Balance that with a host of potential first-timers like Daisy Edgar-Jones in the newest adaptation of Sense and Sensibility (Focus Features) and Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan in Saturn Return (Netflix), you have a healthy start.
The Academy’s embracing of international films and performances (even when the Screen Actors Guild doesn’t) can’t be ignored and the Cannes Film Festival will bring contenders as well, I’ll be keeping a close eye on the Best Actress winner there, obviously, but even more so if their film already has a studio behind it (and, all things considered, it’d probably be NEON). That opens the door for European actresses that haven’t broken into the Oscar side of awards, like Virginia Efira (in All of a Sudden) and Léa Seydoux (in The Unknown and/or Gentle Monster). Although not at Cannes, the actresses from Netflix’s Possible Love, Jeon Do-yeon and Cho Yeo-jong, will be on my radar.
This initial list is, at first sight, bled of color and a sea of white. Outside of Erivo and Sophie Okonedo in Clarissa (NEON) it just looks… bleak. Erivo’s film doesn’t have a distributor (it screams TIFF premiere, derogatory) and NEON has so many other films that I find it hard to imagine they’ll prioritize Okonedo (having Origin flashbacks here). Along with Jeon and Cho above, there’s also Tao Okamoto in All of a Sudden. I currently have her pegged for supporting in Hamaguchi’s 3h+ opus but she could align with co-star Virginie Efira for screen time. Hafsia Herzi in The Birthday Party is also on my list, as is Zendaya for The Drama. If I’m missing someone on my list, don’t hesitate to flag it in the comments.
Here are my very early 2027 Oscar nomination predictions in Best Actress for May.
| 1. Renate Reinsve – Fjord (NEON) |
| 2. Sandra Hüller – Fatherland (MUBI) |
| 3. Mikey Madison – The Social Reckoning (Sony Pictures/Columbia) |
| 4. Daisy Edgar-Jones – Sense and Sensibility (Focus Features) |
| 5. Julianne Moore – Untitled Jesse Eisenberg Musical Comedy aka No One Cares (A24) |
| 6. Rachel Brosnahan – Saturn Return (Netflix) |
| 7. Virginie Efira – All of a Sudden (NEON) |
| 8. Michelle Williams – A Place in Hell (NEON) |
| 9. Cate Blanchett – Sweetsick (Searchlight Pictures) |
| 10. Sandra Hüller – Rose (MUBI) |
Next up: Cho Yeo-jong – Possible Love (Netflix), Penélope Cruz – Bunker (TBD), Cynthia Erivo – Prima Facie (TBD), Patsy Ferran – Jack of Spades (TBD), Jeon Do-yeon – Possible Love (Netflix), Scarlett Johansson – Paper Tiger (NEON), Ruth Madeley – Being Heumann (Apple Original Films), Tao Okamoto – All of a Sudden (NEON), Sophie Okonedo – Clarissa (NEON), Léa Seydoux – Gentle Monster (TBD), Léa Seydoux – The Unknown (NEON), Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada 2 (20th Century Studios), Zendaya – The Drama (A24)
Pamela Anderson – Love Is Not the Answer (TBD)
Marion Bailey – Untitled Mike Leigh Film (Bleecker Street)
Juliette Binoche – Queen at Sea (TBD)
Cate Blanchett – Sweetsick (Searchlight Pictures)
Emily Blunt – Disclosure Day (Universal Pictures)
Rachel Brosnahan – Saturn Return (Netflix)
Ellen Burstyn – Place to Be (TBD)
Nastya Golubeva Carax – The Rays and Shadows (TBD)
Jessica Chastain – Heartland (TBD)
Cho Yeo-jong – Possible Love (Netflix)
Arden Choi – Perfect Girl (TBD)
Olivia Colman – Wicker (Black Bear)
Jodie Comer – The Death of Robin Hood (A24)
Jodie Comer – The Last Disturbance of Madeline Hynde (TBD)
Penélope Cruz – Bunker (TBD)
Ana de Armas – Sweat (TBD)
Daisy Edgar-Jones – A Place in Hell (NEON)
Daisy Edgar-Jones – Sense and Sensibility (Focus Features)
Virginie Efira – All of a Sudden (NEON)
Cynthia Erivo – Prima Facie (TBD)
Hannah Einbinder – Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma (MUBI)
Patsy Ferran – Jack of Spades (TBD)
Hafsia Herzi – The Birthday Party (TBD)
Anne Hathaway – The Devil Wears Prada 2 (20th Century Studios)
Sandra Hüller – Fatherland (MUBI)
Sandra Hüller – Rose (MUBI)
Isabelle Huppert – Parallel Tales (TBD)
Jeon Do-yeon – Possible Love (Netflix)
Scarlett Johansson – Paper Tiger (NEON)
Rinko Kikuchi – Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! (Sony Pictures Classics)
Barbara Lennie – Bitter Christmas (Sony Pictures Classics)
Veronica Llinas – The Most Intimate Betrayal (Netflix)
Ruth Madeley – Being Heumann (Apple Original Films)
Mikey Madison – The Social Reckoning (Sony Pictures/Columbia)
Helen Mirren – A Talent for Murder (TBD)
Julianne Moore – Untitled Jesse Eisenberg Musical Comedy aka No One Cares (A24)
Sandra Oh – Child’s Play (TBD)
Sophie Okonedo – Clarissa (NEON)
Jenna Ortega – Klara and the Sun (Sony Pictures/Columbia)
Natalie Portman – Good Sex (Netflix)
Natalie Portman – Photograph 51 (TBD)
Noomi Rapace – Hot Spot (Focus Features)
Mason Reeves – Josephine (Summerian Films)
Renate Reinsve – Fjord (NEON)
Andrea Riseborough – Queen of Fashion (TBD)
Julia Roberts – Panic Carefully (Warner Bros)
Adeline Rudolph – Perfect Girl (TBD)
Léa Seydoux – Gentle Monster (TBD)
Léa Seydoux – The Unknown (NEON)
Amanda Seyfried – The Life and Deaths of Wilson Shedd (TBD)
Meryl Streep – The Devil Wears Prada 2 (20th Century Studios)
Marisa Tomei – She Gets It From Me (TBD)
Rachel Weisz – Seance of a Wet Afternoon (TBD)
Olivia Wilde – The Invite (A24)
Michelle Williams – A Place in Hell (NEON)
Rachel Zegler – She Gets It From Me (TBD)
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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