N.J. Oscar nominees: ‘Anora,’ ‘A Real Pain,’ ‘Emilia Pérez,’ ‘A Complete Unknown,’ Trump film ‘The Apprentice’

It was yet another Oscar morning in Hollywood, and once again, Jersey showed out.

The nominees for the 2025 Oscars, aka the 97th Academy Awards, are here.

See below for a rundown of New-Jersey connected films and nominations, announced Thursday.

The 2025 Academy Awards, hosted by Conan O’Brien, will air 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT Sunday, March 2 on ABC and will stream live on Hulu.

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Sean Baker’s ‘Anora’ and Mikey Madison

New Jersey’s indie film auteur, Sean Baker, saw the promise of heavy Oscar buzz for his film “Anora” deliver in a big way, with six nominations.

Not only is the Brooklyn-set movie nominated for best picture, but its star, Mikey Madison, is also nominated for best actress in a leading role for playing sex worker Ani Mikheeva, while Baker is nominated for best director, best original screenplay and editing.

READ MORE: With ‘Anora,’ Sean Baker’s moment has arrived. N.J. director on the movie eyeing Oscar gold.

Madison’s co-star, Russian actor Yura Borisov, is nominated for best supporting actor, too. These are the first Oscar nominations for Madison, Borisov and Baker, who was born in Summit and grew up in Short Hills and Branchburg.

“Anora” got a big boost into awards season after winning the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

For more, see our “Anora” interview with Sean Baker.

‘Emilia Pérez’ and Zoe Saldaña

The film with the most Oscar nominations in 2025?

“Emilia Pérez.”

The Netflix musical drama is nominated 13 times at the Academy Awards, and Zoe Saldaña is a big part of the film’s success story.

Saldaña, who was born in Passaic and grew up in Queens and the Dominican Republic, plays lawyer Rita Mora Castro in the Spanish-language film, which is set in Mexico. Earlier this month, Saldaña won her first Golden Globe for her performance in the movie, which sees her rapping and dancing as well as acting.

READ MORE: N.J. Golden Globes wins: Zoe Saldaña, Sebastian Stan and more take home awards

The actor, who is widely known for the “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Avatar” movies, is a frontrunner for best supporting actress headed into the Oscars.

“Emilia Pérez,” helmed by French director Jacques Audiard, is also nominated for best lead actress for Saldaña’s co-star Karla Sofía Gascón, best picture, director, adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound, score, original song (twice), editing, makeup and hairstyling and best international feature film (representing France).

James Mangold’s ‘A Complete Unknown’ and Timothée Chalamet

Timothée Chalamet’s turn as a young Bob Dylan in “A Complete Unknown” has propelled him to his second Oscar nomination for best lead actor.

Director James Mangold filmed extensively in New Jersey, from Blairstown down to Cape May, with Hoboken, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, Newark and more in between.

The movie, set during Dylan’s rise to stardom in 1960s New York, is nominated for best picture and director, and a total of eight Oscars.

READ MORE: The ‘Complete Unknown’ next door: N.J. actors on Bob Dylan movie filmed in Jersey

Monica Barbaro received her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her performance as folk singer Joan Baez in the film, while Edward Norton received his fourth. Norton is up for best supporting actor for playing Baez’s fellow folk hero Pete Seeger.

“A Complete Unknown” is also nominated for best adapted screenplay — the script, co-written by Jay Cocks (”Gangs of New York”) and Mangold, is based on the 2015 book ““Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties” by Elijah Wald — as well as best sound and costume design.

See our interviews with the Jersey cast of “A Complete Unknown” and a full list of filming locations.

Video contains profanity

Jesse Eisenberg’s ‘A Real Pain’ and Kieran Culkin

East Brunswick’s own Jesse Eisenberg received his second Oscar nomination for his work in “A Real Pain.”

Eisenberg, who wrote and directed the film, is up for best original screenplay for a story inspired by his family’s connection to Poland.

Eisenberg stars in the film alongside a charismatic, volatile Kieran Culkin (”Succession”), who is an Oscar frontrunner for best supporting actor.

READ MORE: N.J.’s Jesse Eisenberg talks ‘A Real Pain,’ inherited trauma and his family promise

Eisenberg and Emmy winner Culkin play cousins David and Benji Kaplan, who head to Poland for a Holocaust tour after their grandmother dies. They filmed the movie in Poland at sites including the Majdanek concentration camp.

See our interview with Eisenberg about “A Real Pain,” the family history that ties him to Poland and why he’s becoming a Polish citizen.

‘The Apprentice’ and Sebastian Stan

Sebastian Stan received his first Oscar nomination for playing a young Donald Trump in “The Apprentice.”

The film, directed by Ali Abbasi, tracks Trump as he tries to make real estate moves in ’70s and ’80s New York.

Stan, an Emmy nominee who studied acting at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts before becoming Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is up for best lead actor for the Trump film.

READ MORE: How ‘The Apprentice’ star Sebastian Stan went from N.J. to Trump and ‘A Different Man’

His co-star, Emmy winner Jeremy Strong (”Succession”), is nominated for best supporting actor for playing Roy Cohn, the powerbroker and attorney who served as a mentor to Trump. (Strong, another first-time nominee, will square off against his old “Succession” co-star Kieran Culkin in the category.)

Stan was a double nominee at the Golden Globes, nominated for both “The Apprentice” and “A Different Man.” The actor won for “A Different Man.” While he isn’t nominated for that film at the Oscars, Jersey makeup and prosthetics artist Mike Marino is. He worked on Stan’s radical transformation in the film as Edward, a man whose face completely changes after a medical treatment.

See our interview with Stan about getting his start as an actor in New Jersey.

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Amy Kuperinsky may be reached at [email protected] and followed at @AmyKup on Twitter/X, @amykup.bsky.social on Bluesky and @kupamy on Instagram and Threads.

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