Though there is a clear frontrunner for Best Actress, recency bias still does have a little sway in who wins the Oscar.

Some of the biggest and best actors have never won competitive acting Oscars. Some of those names might completely shock you as they have certainly put in the performances that make them worthy of winning the awards.

A look ahead to the frontrunners and big contenders at this year's Academy Awards

We update our picks through awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2025 Oscar predictions. While the other acting categories have a very clear frontrunner, the Best Actor Oscar race is pretty evenly split between "A Complete Unknown" star Timothée Chalamet and "The Brutalist" star Adrien Brody,

The Oscars 2025 are rapidly approaching, and with nominations now officially announced, we're predicting the winners of all 23 categories.