The 2025 Oscars are set to take place on Sunday night. This year, Ralph Fiennes is nominated for Best Actor for the first time in nearly 30 years for his work in the Netflix movie Conclave. Unfortunately for Fiennes, however, it looks like his chances of actually winning the Oscar are slim for one very unfair reason.
Academy Voters Make Huge Fiennes Mistake
Two Academy voters told Variety that they didn’t vote for Fiennes simply because “he won before.”
There’s one big problem: Fiennes has not won before.
He has been nominated before – in 1994 and 1997 for Schindler’s List and The English Patient respectively – but he didn’t win either year. Oops?
“Oh [expletive]!” one of the voter exclaimed when told of their mistake.
Both of these voters were under the impression that Fiennes had won Best Supporting Actor for Schindler’s List. However, he actually lost that award to Tommy Lee Jones for The Fugitive.
Ironically, each of the voters cast their ballots for Adrien Brody for The Brutalist. They did this even though Brody famously won the Best Actor Oscar for the 2002 Holocaust drama The Pianist. It appears that this victory somehow slipped the minds of these confused voters.
Brody is widely considered to be the frontrunner to win Best Actor on Sunday. For The Brutalist, he has already won the BAFTA, Critics Choice Award and the Golden Globe. The other Best Actor Oscar nominees aside from Brody and Fiennes are Timothée Chalamet (A Complete Unknown), Colman Domingo (Sing Sing), and Sebastian Stan (The Apprentice).
Related: Here’s Who Will Likely Win An Acting Oscar On Sunday
Fiennes Isn’t Focusing On The Oscars
Thankfully, Fiennes doesn’t seem to be too wrapped up in the Oscars. Instead, he just cares about making high quality movies. And that he does in spades.
“That talk is essentially pleasing because it’s recognizing people are feeling this is a good film and the performances are working. But I think you can’t invest in it,” Fiennes, 62, told The Playlist back in October, referring to the Oscars. “I mean, if such a thing comes to pass, I’d be delighted. Of course, any actor it would be, I’d be very happy.”
“But you can’t invest in it,” he continued. “It’s a thing to get; it has to be the way that if life gives it to you, how wonderful. If it doesn’t, the most important thing is that there’s a friend of mine who says, ‘You do good work,’ and I’ve got lots of work to prepare for next year, and that is where I want to put my mental energy into the work I’ve got coming up.”
Related: The Oscars Blows Millions of Dollars On Swag Bags for Nominees – You Won’t Believe What’s In It
Conclave
Conclave has indeed scored rave reviews. Alongside Anora, it is considered to be a frontrunner to win the Best Picture Oscar.
“Conclave is reportedly stronger with older voters and members in the artisan branch while Anora is popular with all demographic groups especially younger people in the Actors Branch,” The New York Post reported.
Check out a trailer for Conclave in the video below.
Conclave is up for a total of eight Oscars. These nominations include Best Picture, Best Actor for Fiennes, and Best Supporting actress for Isabella Rosselini, the daughter of the late great Casablanca star Ingrid Bergman. Only time will tell how the movie does on Oscar night!
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