Selena Gomez, Zendaya, Ariana Grande & More Star in W’s Best Performances Issue 2025: See All the Photos

In 2024, movies were singing. And dancing. There was an exuberance in creating work that was vivid and often highly theatrical. In shades of pink and green, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo revived the classic musicals of the Golden Age of Hollywood with Wicked. Emilia Pérez, which was part telenovela, part transformation story, used its musical moments and the remarkable troika of Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, and Selena Gomez to depict complicated emotions and shocking plot developments. Saoirse Ronan sang a rallying anthem on the radio during World War II in Blitz, and Nicholas Galitzine played a boy band heartthrob in The Idea of You.

There were also biographical studies of singers as varied as the opera diva Maria Callas, played by Angelina Jolie, and the reggae superstar Bob Marley, personified by Kingsley Ben-Adir. Some films stuck to dance: In a breakthrough role, Mikey Madison dominated Anora as a stripper who becomes entangled with the Russian mafia; Harris Dickinson seduced Nicole Kidman with beguiling moves in Babygirl; and Pamela Anderson was heartbreaking as she glided across a Vegas stage in The Last Showgirl. Maisy Stella channeled her best Bieber in My Old Ass, and Demi Moore aerobicized in The Substance. Music provided the dramatic backdrop for The Piano Lesson, starring Danielle Deadwyler as the anchor of a family at war over their most treasured heirloom—a piano. In Sing Sing, Colman Domingo was brilliant as an incarcerated man who finds creative freedom in the prison’s theater program.

This year, we are celebrating 34 actors who were thrilling, mesmerizing, and, ultimately, unforgettable. It’s the kind of moment that makes us want to break into song.

Here, we present our 16 cover stars. Check back here tomorrow as the rest of this year’s portfolio is unveiled.