There was no scarcity of nice performances this yr. A lot of 2025’s finest motion pictures have included actors doing unimaginable work, and Tessa Thompson’s efficiency as Hedda Gabler in Hedda is actually amongst that group. The actress, who’s finest recognized for her roles in main franchises like Creed and as Valkyrie within the MCU, is extraordinary in Nia DaCosta’s seductive, chaotic interval drama.
Thompson tackles a sophisticated position within the reimagining of Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler play. Hedda is highly effective in any scenario, nearly at all times in management. She’s charming with a fast wit, enchantingly beautiful, and determined to have the whole lot she needs. Hedda will also be chilly as ice, candy and earnest, and a grasp manipulator, all as she tries to cover the heartache driving her actions.
By each flip of Hedda, Thompson delivers. It is a large little bit of appearing that showcases her versatility as a performer, as she will flip between the characters’ wide-ranging feelings at an prompt each time the film requires it. It is the kind of efficiency that screams Oscars consideration, and but, there are actual questions on whether or not Thompson can be acknowledged by the Academy Award voters.
Tessa Thompson’s Oscar Possibilities & The State Of The Greatest Actress Race
The trail to an Oscar nomination for Tessa Thompson is thru the Greatest Actress class. She’s firmly the lead of Hedda, so there is no such thing as a room for campaigning shenanigans to maneuver her to Supporting Actress.
Nonetheless, Thompson shouldn’t be at the moment seen as a serious contender for a 2026 Oscar nomination in Greatest Actress. She did decide up a Gotham Awards nomination for Excellent Lead Efficiency, which does present that each one shouldn’t be misplaced on getting a nomination if momentum can decide up. However, she’s firmly behind different performers based mostly on public notion.
Jessie Buckley (Hamnet) is seen because the frontrunner to win, whereas Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Worth) and Emma Stone (Bugonia) have sturdy probabilities to be nominated. Cynthia Erivo (Depraved: For Good), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs, I might Kick You), Amanda Seyfried (The Testomony of Ann Lee), Jennifer Lawrence (Die, My Love), and Chase Infiniti (One Battle After One other) are different main contenders.
This has left Thompson exterior of most Oscars 2026 Greatest Actress predictions. In my newest evaluation of the race for the positioning, she remained in my “within the combine” part moderately than being among the many 5 predicted nominees. I want this weren’t the case after seeing Hedda, however nearly each Oscars knowledgeable is in the identical boat.
Selection‘s Clayton Davis has her in eleventh place, and THR‘s Scott Feinberg has her in tenth place beneath the “Potentialities” part. She’s exterior the consensus high 10 for your entire NextBestPicture employees, and nobody there has her formally of their high 5.
Then on GoldDerby, she’s eleventh total, combining knowledgeable and consumer predictions, with odds of 1.28% of getting nominated. Of the 34 consultants the positioning counts, just one, Shawn Edwards of WDAF-TV Fox, has Thompson getting an Oscar nomination.
Betting markets even have her as a protracted shot, as she’s +3500 on DraftKings.
That each one paints the image for a way a lot of an uphill climb it seems to be for Thompson to get an Oscar nomination. However, once more, her Gotham nomination may be the beginning of a marketing campaign that turns issues round, which Amazon will look to do now that Hedda is streaming on Prime Video and getting extra consideration.
Amazon’s Oscar Historical past & What It Means For Tessa Thompson
Studio marketing campaign methods are at all times vital to altering award season narratives. Thompson’s efficiency may decide up steam naturally as extra individuals see Hedda and her work in it, however Amazon’s involvement can be an element price contemplating.
Whereas their streaming rival Netflix has racked up loads of Oscar nominations and wins in previous years, Amazon has not been as constant or highly effective a drive on the Academy Awards. The studio began sturdy with Manchester by the Sea in 2016, turning into the primary streamer to get a Greatest Image nomination.
The film additionally secured Amazon its first Oscar nominations in an appearing class, as Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, and Michelle Williams obtained recognition in Greatest Actor, Greatest Supporting Actor, and Greatest Supporting Actress, respectively. Affleck even received Greatest Actor.
After that, Amazon motion pictures have did not win one other appearing Oscar. Leslie Odom Jr. was nominated for Greatest Supporting Actor for One Night time in Miami, Riz Ahmed and Paul Raci had been nominated in Greatest Actor and Greatest Supporting Actor for Sound of Metallic, Maria Makalova was nominated in Greatest Supporting Actress for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, and Being the Ricardos introduced nominations for Nicole Kidman (Actress), Javier Bardem (Actor), and J.Okay. Simmons (Supporting Actor).
So, Amazon does have some historical past of campaigning performances in its motion pictures to Oscar nominations, however they hardly ever win. That risk for Thompson is getting nicely forward of ourselves, as she must get nominated first. And whereas Amazon has solely delivered one Greatest Actress Oscar nomination earlier than, doing so once more in 2026 may come right down to who they again.
For as a lot as Thompson would possibly give a efficiency worthy of Oscar recognition, Amazon can be dealing with Julia Roberts’ marketing campaign for After the Hunt. The Luca Guadagnino film hasn’t been wherever close to as beloved as anticipated. The poor response to the movie has made Roberts’ probabilities of really contending look much less probably.
With After the Hunt‘s stumble, Amazon may flip to Hedda as its finest probability to be featured on the 98th Academy Awards. The studio has no different potential awards contender. There’s actually extra pleasure round and assist for Hedda in the mean time in awards circles, so it’d make sense for this movie to turn into Amazon’s precedence for the remainder of the marketing campaign season.
In the event that they take this strategy, Thompson may have a extra legit probability of getting into the highest 5. FYC screenings of the movie and any post-screening Q&As that the actress can do would go a great distance. The extra consideration Amazon can carry Hedda‘s approach, the higher the percentages turn into of Tessa Thompson getting a Greatest Actress nomination early subsequent yr and never being a snub.
- Launch Date
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October 22, 2025
- Runtime
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107 minutes
- Director
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Nia DaCosta
- Writers
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Nia DaCosta, Henrik Ibsen
- Producers
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Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Tessa Thompson, Gabrielle Nadig