At just 25 years old, Mikey Madison recently earned the Best Actress Oscar for her role as the titular sex worker in the Best Picture-winning comedy-drama Anora. Her achievement places her among an elite group of actors who have won an Academy Award before the age of 30, a remarkable feat in the history of the Oscars.
Madison’s victory over 62-year-old Demi Moore, a frontrunner after receiving several accolades for her role in the body horror film The Substance, makes her one of the youngest to win this prestigious award.
In the Best Actor category, 51-year-old Adrien Brody triumphed for his role in The Brutalist, a post-war epic. Brody, who was competing against 29-year-old Timothée Chalamet for his role in the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown, retained the title of the youngest-ever Best Actor Oscar winner, a record he initially set in 2003 when he won at 29 for his performance in The Pianist.
Brody is among just five men in history to win an acting Oscar before turning 30. Others include Heath Ledger, who received the Best Supporting Actor Oscar posthumously for his portrayal of the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) just over a year after his death. Ledger was 29 when he passed away, a few months shy of his 30th birthday.
On the women’s side, Mikey Madison is now one of 46 actresses who have won an acting Oscar for a lead or supporting role before the age of 30. Two of these women—Luise Rainer and Jodie Foster—have won the award twice before turning 30. Rainer, at 27, won back-to-back Best Actress Oscars in 1937 and 1938, while Foster earned the Best Actress Oscar at 26 in 1989 and again at 29 in 1992.
Full List of Actors Who Won an Acting Academy Award Before Age 30
Men Who Won an Acting Oscar Before Age 30:
- Adrien Brody – The Pianist (2003) – 29 years old
- Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (2008) – 29 years old (Posthumous)
- Mickey Rooney – The Human Comedy (1943) – 19 years old
- Timothy Hutton – Ordinary People (1980) – 20 years old
- Daniel Day-Lewis – My Left Foot (1989) – 29 years old
Women Who Won an Acting Oscar Before Age 30:
- Mikey Madison – Anora (2025) – 25 years old
- Luise Rainer – The Great Ziegler (1937) & The Good Earth (1938) – 27 & 28 years old
- Jodie Foster – The Accused (1988) & The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – 26 & 29 years old
- Shirley Temple – Bright Eyes (1934) – 6 years old
- Tatum O’Neal – Paper Moon (1973) – 10 years old
Mikey Madison’s win solidifies her place in a long tradition of young, talented actors who have left an indelible mark on film history, and her future in Hollywood looks incredibly promising.
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