At the 2025 Golden Globes , young stars Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande were both nominated for Best Supporting Actress , making this category exciting and interesting .

Unfortunately, neither of them were named, allowing the award to slip into the hands of senior Zoe Saldana . The Golden Globe win was considered convincing, helping to solidify the Avatar star’s position in Hollywood.

She is also predicted to be a strong candidate in the upcoming Oscar race.

First time called by name

Zoe Saldana is not a strange face to movie lovers. The Dominican-American actress once set a record as the only person to appear in three blockbusters, the highest-grossing films of all time: Avatar (2009), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).

However, this is the first time Zoe Saldana has received an acting nomination at the Golden Globes and has excelled over many strong competitors.

Zoe Saldana was emotional when her name was called for the first time at the 2025 Golden Globes.

The 1978-born star was highly appreciated for her supporting role in the musical comedy crime film Emilia Perez . The work received a nine-minute standing ovation at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, causing the jury to break the rules and award the Best Actress award to four actors Selena Gomez, Karla Sofía Gascón, Adriana Paz and Zoe Saldana.

This is the passion project of French director Jacques Audiard, written and produced by him.

The story follows the journey of the main character Manitas (Karla Sofia Gascón) – a notorious Mexican gang boss who longs to live as his true gender.

To fulfill his wish, he kidnaps lawyer Rita (Zoe Saldana), forcing her to help him change his gender and identity.

In the film, Zoe Saldana does not play the main role but leaves a good impression on the audience. She is the lens that helps the audience understand more clearly the hidden inner corners of the crime boss Manitas, while also contributing to the appeal of the story.

Image from the movie Emilia Perez .

During her 25-year career, Zoe Saldana has been fortunate to star in many blockbuster sci-fi and action films. However, she has not had many opportunities to showcase her acting skills because she has mostly appeared in computer-generated images.

Typically in the two Avatar films , Saldana plays a fictional Na’vi character with amber skin. She mainly expresses emotions through body movements and motion capture techniques instead of using real facial expressions.

Therefore, edgy films like Emilia Perez are an opportunity for Zoe Saldana to prove her talent and show her mettle in front of the camera.

In Emilia Perez , she not only acted but also sang and danced, while portraying the complex aspects of the character. Her careful preparation and dedication to the role helped the star shine, winning the hearts of both the jury and the audience.

Oscar 2025 odds

2024 is also a pretty brilliant year for Zoe Saldana. She not only appeared in Emilia Perez but also stirred up the small screen with the series Lioness . The actress plays an experienced female CIA officer, leading a special program to train female spies to carry out secret and dangerous missions.

The series has been produced for two seasons and received very positive reviews when it aired. Although the crew has no plans to produce a third season, many viewers are still looking forward to continuing the story with Zoe Saldana in the lead role.

At the 2025 Golden Globes, Zoe Saldana’s opponents are all strong, including two formidable names, Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande.

Previously, Ariana Grande was expected to win for her role as the capricious witch in the musical Wicked . Not only did she win the audience’s sympathy, the star also led Variety ‘s predictions , not any other names.

Selena Gomez is Zoe Saldana’s co-star in Emilia Perez . But the role is still not much of a breakthrough compared to her senior.

Zoe Saldana has another chance at the 2025 Oscar race.

In recent years, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has tended to award veteran names, especially actors with more dedication to the profession, rather than young faces.

With this criterion, Zoe Saldana is more suitable because she has a lot of experience, started acting at a very young age, and demonstrated diverse abilities in roles in many different film genres.

Therefore, Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez still have a chance to receive their first acting nominations at the 2025 Oscars, but the possibility of Zoe Saldana winning is very high.

Emilia Perez is also a formidable contender for this year’s Oscars, after winning the Golden Globe for Best Comedy/Musical .

The only name standing in Emilia Perez’s way is The Brutalist – the Golden Globe winner for Best Drama . However, all is still just a prediction because AMPAS has not yet finalized the list of names to receive nominations.