2025 Oscars: Best Makeup and Hairstyling Predictions

Nominations voting is from January 8-12, 2025, with official Oscar nominations announced January 17, 2025. Final voting is February 11-18, 2025. And finally, the 97th Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 2, and air live on ABC at 7 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. PT. We update our picks throughout awards season, so keep checking IndieWire for all our 2025 Oscar predictions.

The State of the Race

The 12th annual MUAHS Guild Awards nominations were announced on December 10, dominated by horror contenders “The Substance”(MUBI), “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (Warner Bros.), and the surprising “The Deliverance” (Netflix), which led with three nominations apiece. The awards will take place Saturday, February 15, 2025, at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel.

“The Substance,” Coralie Fargeat’s body horror fairy tale, earned nominations for Best Contemporary Makeup, Best Special Makeup Effects, and Best Contemporary Hairstyling. Prosthetics makeup designer Pierre Olivier Persin conjures a series of bizarre transformations for Demi Moore’s Elisabeth, who is reborn as twenty-something Sue (Margaret Qualley), thanks to a miracle drug. The horrifying metamorphosis finds Elisabeth becoming the decaying mutation called Gollum and both of them transforming into the hideous Monstro Elisasue.

Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” which marks the return of Michael Keaton’s foul-mouth ghoul from the afterlife, snagged Best Period and/or Character Makeup, Best Special Makeup Effects, and Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling. “Beetlejuice” won the makeup/hair Oscar, which sets a high bar. Christine Blundell serves as makeup and hair designer, but it’s a deep prosthetics team for all of the creature work.

“The Deliverance,” Lee Daniels’ supernatural horror film based on the Ammons haunting case, also scored nominations for Best Contemporary Makeup, Best Special Makeup Effects, and Best Contemporary Hairstyling. Glenn Close’s Alberta, a cancer victim, gets possessed by the devil and wore black sclera contact lenses and a host of prosthetics from special effects makeup artist Jason Collins that made her unrecognizable.

Right behind with two nominations were “Wicked” (Universal, Best Period and/or Character Makeup and Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling), “Gladiator II” (Paramount, Best Period and/or Character Makeup and Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling), “Deadpool & Wolverine” (Marvel/Disney, Best Period and/or Character Makeup and Best Special Makeup Effects), and “It Ends with Us” (Sony, Best Contemporary and/or Character Makeup and Best Contemporary and/or Character Hairstyling).

Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba in ‘Wicked’Universal Pictures

The rest of the nominees included “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix, Best Contemporary Makeup), “A Different Man” (A24, Best Special Makeup Effects), “The Last Showgirl” (Roadside Attractions, Best Contemporary Hairstyling), “Smile 2” (Paramount, Best Contemporary Makeup), “MaXXXine” (A24, Best Period and/or Character Makeup), “Megalopolis” (Lionsgate/Zoetrope, Best Contemporary Hairstyling), “Bob Marley: One Love” (Paramount, Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling), and “Shirley” (Netflix, Best Period and/or Character Hairstyling).

We will get further clarity on the Oscars picture with the announcement of the shortlist on December 17.

“Wicked,” Jon M. Chu’s adaptation of the Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz and Winnie Holzman, delivers the backstory between the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda. Before they become bitter enemies, an unlikely friendship forms at the magical Shiz University in the Land of Oz between Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo), a misunderstood girl with green skin, and the popular Galinda (Ariana Grande). Oscar winners Frances Hannon (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”) and Mark Coulier (“Poor Things,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Iron Lady”) handle makeup/hair and prosthetics inspired by the original drawings from L. Frank Baum’s novel. Hannon was tasked with creating makeup and hair that could withstand singing, dancing, flying, and 14-hour shoot days. The meticulous transformations for Elphaba and Glinda took over two hours each day of filming. She went through a thorough testing process to create the perfect shade of green for Erivo’s skin tone, making sure the product looked good in all lighting.

“Nosferatu,” director Robert Eggers’ reworking of F.W. Murnau’s legendary silent vampire film (remade by Werner Herzog in 1979), is a new take on the pre-Victorian haunted tale of Gothic horror and the occult. It stars Bill Skarsgård as the infamous Count Orlok; Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter, the object of his desire; and Nicholas Hoult as her husband, Thomas. It was led by David White, prosthetic & makeup FX designer. For Skarsgård’s Orlok, this involved carefully manicured 19th century hairdos and facial hair, which soon devolves into full body work as he becomes increasingly more involved Ellen and Thomas. They become devastated, which shows in their MUAH.

“A Different Man,” the black comedy from Aaron Schimberg, stars Sebastian Stan as an aspiring actor who undergoes experimental facial reconstructive surgery to cure his Neurofibromatosis (NF). After his successful transformation, he tries to land a part in a play based on his former self wearing a mask but loses out to the charismatic Adam Pearson (a British actor with NF). Oscar-nominated prosthetic makeup designer Mike Marino (“The Batman,” “Coming 2 America”) creates multiple layers with realistic detail to emulate the look of NF, using Pearson as a visual connection.

Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan in ‘A Different Man’Matt Infante

“Emilia Pérez,” the Spanish-language musical crime thriller from Jacques Audiard, stars Zoe Saldaña as a disgruntled lawyer who assists the titular escaped Mexican cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) in undergoing gender confirmation surgery. The makeup and hair departments were overseen by makeup department heads Julia Floch-Carbonel and Simon Livet, as well as hair department head Romain Marietti. The centerpiece is our introduction to Gascón as the cartel leader prior to the transformation.

In “Dune: Part Two,” the Oscar-nominated makeup and hair designer Donald Mowat returns to transform Stellan Skarsgård into the horrifying Baron Harkonnen while introducing the Baron’s nephew, Feyd-Rautha, a bald, sociopathic gladiator played by Austin Butler. In addition, Rebecca Ferguson’s Lady Jessica boasts more elaborate makeup when she joins the Fremen’s cave-dwelling Sietch.

Osgood Perkins’ “Longlegs” transforms Nicolas Cage into a creepy serial killer for the ages, courtesy of head of makeup Felix Fox and special makeup effects artist Harlow MacFarlane. The androgynous, disfigured Marc Bolan glam rock vibe was topped off with powdered makeup inspired by Bob Dylan. The seven-piece prosthetic application provided the damaged and puffy skin that was seemingly derived from a series of botched surgeries.

“Gladiator II,” Ridley Scott’s sequel to his Oscar winner, takes place two decades later as the Roman Empire continues to implode. Lucius (Paul Mescal), the former heir to the Empire, is forced to enter the Colosseum as a ruthless gladiator and rises to face Pedro Pascal’s Roman general, Marcus Acacius. There’s plenty of period MUAHS opportunity, along with blood and gore. The head of departments and designers in charge of the look of the film are Jana Carboni (makeup designer) and Giuliano Mariano (hair designer).

“MaXXXine,” which completes Ti West’s “X” horror trilogy, finds adult-film star and aspiring actress Maxine (Mia Goth) getting reinvented in ’80s Hollywood. She’s got bleached hair and colorful face paint done by Sarah Rubano, Mandy Artusato, and Akiko Matsumoto.

Potential nominees are listed in alphabetical order; no film will be deemed a frontrunner until we have seen it.

Frontrunners

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”
“The Deliverance”
“Gladiator II”
“The Substance”
“Wicked”

Contenders

“A Different Man”
“Dune: Part Two“
“Emilia Pérez”
“Longlegs”
“MaXXXine”
“Nosferatu”