Award Nominations for RADA graduates
Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards were announced this week, 23 January 2025. You can see the full list here.
RADA graduate and Vice-President Cynthia Erivo received a nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Elphaba in the adaptation of the musical Wicked. The film has received 10 nominations in total, including for Best Picture. Watch a Q&A with Cynthia at a special screening for RADA held in December 2024.
Alongside this, RADA graduate Ralph Fiennes was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his role in the papal thriller Conclave, as the senior cardinal tasked with overseeing the election of a new pope.
BAFTA nominations were announced on 15 January. RADA Graduates Cynthia Erivo and Marianne Jean-Baptiste have received BAFTA nominations for Best leading actress for their performances in Wicked and Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths, respectively. Ralph Fiennes has been nominated for Best leading actor for his performance in Conclave. Marisa Abela and David Jonsson have been nominated for the BAFTA EE Rising Star Award; you can vote for them here.
The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) Award nominations were announced on 14 January, with nominations for a number of RADA Graduates. Jessie Buckley has received a nomination for Lead Actress – Film, for Wicked Little Letters. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor has been nominated for Supporting Actor – Film, for Baltimore and Supporting Actor – Drama for Say Nothing. Ciarán Hinds has been nominated for Lead Actor – Drama for The Dry. Chris Walley has been nominated for Supporting Actor – Drama for Bodkin. Fiona Shaw has been nominated for Supporting Actress – Drama for Bad Sisters. Ralph Fiennes has been nominated for Best International Actor for Conclave and Cynthia Erivo has been nominated for Best International Actress for Wicked.
Congratulations to Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who won Best Lead Performance for her role in fellow RADA Graduate Mike Leigh’s Hard Truths at the British Independent Film Awards. Wicked Little Letters also picked up Best Ensemble Performance; the cast includes RADA Graduates Jessie Buckley, Gemma Jones and Timothy Spall.
Congratulations too to Jeremy Strong, who trained on one of RADA's short courses and who is nominated for an Oscar and BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in The Apprentice.
The IFTAs will take place on 14 February; the BAFTAs on 16 February and the Oscars will air on 2 March 2025. Congratulations to all nominees.
