Furious BAFTA followers slam nominations as Zendaya’s largest hits of the 12 months get snubbed – claiming the award present is a ‘joke’

Furious BAFTA fans have slammed this year’s nominations, as Zendaya‘s biggest hits of the year have been snubbed.

The nominees were announced on Wednesday morning, but there was no recognition for high profile movies such as Queer, Challengers, Babygirl, and Paddington In Peru. 

Luca Guadagnino’s duo Queer and Challengers were both Golden Globe nominated, including for leads Daniel Craig and Zendaya, but neither made the cut, with both having made the BAFTA longlist.

Challengers stars Euphoria actress Zendaya, 27, as Tashi, a former professional tennis player turned coach who is helping her husband have his own comeback in the sport. 

As of May 6, 2024, Challengers has grossed $30.3million in the United States box office and $23million in other territories.

Fans shared their thoughts on social media platform X, with one penning: ‘Challengers being snubbed for Best Score in an awards ceremony is idiotic’;

‘Get rid of Complete Unknown and Emilia and add Challengers’; ‘No Challengers is crazy’

Ralph Fiennes has beaten box-office juggernauts Gladiator 2 and Wicked to win 12 BAFTA nominations including best actor and best film for his movie Conclave.

The British actor, 62, won his first and only BAFTA 32 years ago for his hit holocaust film, Schindler’s List, and is tipped to win again for his role in the thriller about finding a new Pope based in the Vatican City.

Back on home soil, Conclave has been nominated for twice as many gongs at the BAFTAs than it was earlier this month at the Golden Globes in Los Angeles .

The hit thriller starring Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and Isabella Rossellini is about a secretive and high-stakes election of a new Pope, where power, ambition, and personal secrets collide among the warring cardinals.

It has beaten the Golden Globes’ big winner, the Spanish drama Emilia Perez, which has come in second in the number of nominations with 11 BAFTA nods after sweeping up 10 gongs in the US award ceremony.

Gladiator 2 has yet again been snubbed by Award judges after it was shunned for Best Film and its leading man, the Irish star Paul Mescal, 28, failed to make the BAFTA longlist for Best Actor.

It comes after Ridley Scott’s epic was snubbed at the Golden Globes in the US earlier this month after it was nominated for just two awards and failed to take any home.

Denzel Washington, 70, who played Macrinus, was long-listed as a supporting actor but has been bumped off the nominations list by BAFTA judges.

British actress, Kate Winslet, 49, has similarly dropped out of the running for a BAFTA for her role as Lee Miller in the war photographer’s biopic after being included in the longlist last month.

Demi Moore, 62, who picked up her first acting accolade ever at the Globes for her role in Substance has been nominated for Leading Actress along with Wicked’s Cynthia Erivo, 38, and Saoirse Ronan, 30, for the Outrun.

Film industry insiders believe the Ghost star’s admission into the BAFTA shortlist will raise her hopes of securing her first Oscar.

During her acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, the mother of four said: ‘Thirty years ago, I had a producer tell me that I was a “popcorn” actress and that I could do movies that were successful but I couldn’t be acknowledged. But tonight I learned, I do belong.’

Elsewhere in the BAFTA nominations, the Succession brothers, Jeremy Strong and Keiran Culkin will battle it out for Supporting Actor for their performances in A Real Pain and the Trump biopic, The Apprentice.

Strong, 46, is known for being difficult to work with on set for his ‘F***ing annoying’ acting methods – according to Brian Cox who he starred opposite alongside the younger Culkin brother, 42, in the HBO hit series. 

Meanwhile, Adrien Brody’s film The Brutalist has received nine BAFTA nominations, followed by Dune 2 and Wicked – both getting seven nominations.

Pamela Anderson’s latest film, The Last Showgirl, tipped as her glorious return to the silver screen has only managed to secure one nomination for Jamie Lee Curtis in the category for Best Supporting Actress.

In the same category, The Brutalist star Felicity Jones is the only British actress nominated this year as American actresses Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez are both nominated for Emilia Perez.

Also getting nominated for this prize is US singer and actress Ariana Grande for Wicked and Italian-born US star Isabella Rossellini.

American stars lead the supporting actor category with Kieran Culkin up for the prize for A Real Pain, Edward Norton for A Complete Unknown and Jeremy Strong for The Apprentice.

The other nominees in this section are Russian actor Yuriy Borisov for Anora, US star Clarence Maclin for Sing Sing, and American actor Guy Pearce for The Brutalist.

Timothee Chalamet, 29, is up for leading actor for his role as Bob Dylan in the biopic, A Complete Unknown, which celebrated its London premiere on Tuesday night .

A firm fixture by his side at award ceremonies, his girlfriend the beauty mogul Kylie Jenner is expected to make the Transatlantic flight to London in February to support her new boyfriend.

Other nominees for leading actor include British stars Hugh Grant for Heretic, Ralph Fiennes for Conclave, as well as US actor Adrien Brody for The Brutalist.

Hollywood stars Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice and Colman Domingo for Sing Sing are also among the nominated stars in the category.

The Leading Actress category includes British star Cynthia Erivo for Wicked and Marianne Jean-Baptiste for Hard Truths among those nominated with American actress Demi Moore for The Substance.

Also getting a nod in this category is US-born Irish actress Saoirse Ronan for The Outrun, American actress Mikey Madison for Anora, and Spanish actress Karla Sofia Gascon for Emilia Perez.

BAFTA chairwoman Sara Putt told the PA news agency the nominations list was “just such a brilliant variety”.

She added: ‘But then also, when you look at the 10 films in best film, I think you’ve got six different genres in there.

‘You’ve got sci-fi, you’ve got comedy, you’ve got horror… you’ve got straight drama, you’ve got musicals, and to see horror, with Nosferatu and The Substance and Heretic, all getting nominated.

‘You know, films with music in them that you can go from Wicked through to Kneecap. It’s an amazing list with real breadth and depth, which is very exciting.’

Jane Millichip, CEO of BAFTA, said: ‘The 42 films nominated today span a fantastically broad spectrum of genres with enormous breadth in creative expression; from the most intimate character pieces to epic societal commentaries via genre-bending dramas, musicals and comedies.

‘The film industry has delivered in spades once again. We look forward to acknowledging this amazing body of work at the 2025 EE BAFTA Film Awards.

‘With just over a month to go, we encourage film fans everywhere to watch as many films as possible – there really is something for everyone.

‘And, depending where in the world you live, please tune in on 16 February to BBC One, iPlayer, BritBox, and many other platforms worldwide.’